Did former Price Is Right host Bob Barker die aged 95 after splitting his head due to a fall? No, that's not true: a brand new fake news site is simply recycling an old death hoax while updating just the age The story originated from an articl
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FactCheck.org→ Social Posts Distort Facts of 2013 Shutdown
Quick Take Viral Facebook posts say that former President Barack Obama “shut down the government to force Obamacare.” That’s misleading. Full Story The current partial government shutdown that began Dec. 22 arose as a result of an im
Truth or Fiction?→ Does This Grandma Want You to Share Her Photo to Mark Her 100th Birthday?
On January 7, 2019, the Facebook page “Animals & Nature” shared a seemingly wholesome plea on the part of the purported poster’s 100-year-old grandma: Alongside the purported centenarian’s image, a caption pleaded: Today’
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Banks Collect $30 Billion in Overdraft Fees in 2018?
In January 2019, the following meme appeared on social media about overdraft fees collected by banks: The meme read: Banks collected over $30 billion in overdraft fees last year. Another way of saying that, banks took $30,000,000,000 from people who
FactCheck.org→ FactChecking Trump’s Immigration Address
In a national address, President Donald Trump called on Congress to provide $5.7 billion for a border wall to address what he called a “crisis” on the border. The president made some false and misleading claims, and provided some facts with
Truth or Fiction?→ United States President Donald Trump’s Immigration Speech
On the evening of January 8, 2019, United States President Donald Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office on the topic of immigration and what he calls a humanitarian and national security crisis on the country’s southern border as a shut
FactCheck.org→ Misleading Border Crime Statistic
U.S. Border Patrol encountered 6,259 immigrants with criminal convictions, many of them for illegal entry charges, in fiscal 2018, according to the most recent statistics. Yet, White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney misleadingly claimed authorities &
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Democrats Put Up a Four-Mile Fence Around the DNC in 2016?
On December 28, 2018, a Facebook user commented on a debate over border wall funding by sharing a photograph of a purported four-mile long fence erected around the Democratic National Convention (DNC): Alongside the image, the user posted a comment: A
Truth or Fiction?→ Did President Barack Obama Shut Down the Government to ‘Force Obamacare’ in 2013?
On December 29, 2018, a Facebook user posted a status update claiming that a federal shutdown over border wall funding was similar to one in 2013 — and it was purportedly initiated by President Barack Obama: This was nearly identical to a December 2
Truth or Fiction?→ Is the IRS Suspending Tax Refunds During the Government Shutdown?
On December 22, 2018 the United States government shut down, suspending the functions and payrolls of numerous federal agencies. As the shutdown continued into January 2019, concern and rumors began to spread over whether tax refunds issued by the Int
FactCheck.org→ Democratic Spin on Border Security Funds
Democrats say the Trump administration is asking for more money for a border wall even though it has spent only 6 percent of the funds that Congress has appropriated for border security over the past two years. That’s misleading. About 60 percent has
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Pelosi Daughters NON EXISTENT Drug Trafficking Charges DID NOT Mysteriously Disappear
Did the drug trafficking charges against two of Nancy Pelosi's daughters mysteriously disappear after their mother became Speaker of the House? No, that's not true: the charges didn't exist in the first place. The story was published by a lib
Truth or Fiction?→ Are Deaths Listed in a ‘2018 Muslim Threat’ Tweet Accurate?
On January 1, 2019, civil rights lawyer and podcast host Qasim Rashid, Esq. tweeted a purported breakdown of the so-called “Muslim threat” relative to other risks to Americans in 2018: 2018 Recap of the “Muslim threat” Americans killed
Truth or Fiction?→ Was a Snake Head Found in a Can of Green Beans?
In late December 2018, a Facebook user shared a photograph set showing what appeared to be a snake’s head, claiming that she had found it in a can of Glory Foods green beans: Accompanying the images was a post, which read: Snake for supper anyon
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Border Blunders
On the day he met with congressional leaders to discuss the budget stalemate, President Donald Trump repeated several false and misleading claims about the Southwest border and the wall he wants to build: Trump tweeted that “Mexico is paying fo
Truth or Fiction?→ Do Two-Thirds of Millennials Not Know What Auschwitz Is?
In late December 2018, the Facebook page for Yahoo! Now shared a link to an article with a comment that two-thirds of millennials “don’t know what Auschwitz was”: The post linked to an article aggregated to Yahoo! from Newsweek on Apr
Washington Post→ A year of unprecedented deception: Trump averaged 15 false claims a day in 2018
Trump made nearly three times as many false or misleading claims in 2018 than during his first year as president
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Coast Guard NOT Reselling Seized Cocaine Amid Government Shutdown
Is the U.S. Coast Guard selling seized cocaine shipments to cover salaries and expenses during the current government shutdown? No, that's not true: the story was made up by a military themed satire weblog and went massively viral. Rest assu
Truth or Fiction?→ How to Slow the Spread of Disinformation: A Guide for Newsrooms
Every day, a new fake story emerges with the power to affect policy or further corrode relationships, from interpersonal to international. This is corrosive disinformation, as different from garden-variety scams and hoaxes as a molehill is from a mount
Snopes→ More US Police Officers Die on Duty Than Before
The most common cause of death was gunfire, and vehicular accidents claimed nearly as many officers' lives.
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Twitter User Claim a Border Wall GoFundMe Campaign Got ‘Almost Halfway’ to a Billion Dollars?
In late December 2018, a screenshot of a tweet attributed to a Twitter user who goes by “@MAGA_diane” began circulating on social media: The tweet appeared with a link to a GoFundMe campaign to fund a border wall between the United States
Truth or Fiction?→ Did the FBI Declare That ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ Was ‘Communist Propaganda’?
In December 2018, claims that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had once deemed the holiday classic film It’s a Wonderful Life to be “communist propaganda” circulated on various social media sites: Fun Fact: Months after It’
FactCheck.org→ Trump Administration Distorts the Facts On Climate Report
Since the National Climate Assessment dropped on Black Friday, members of the Trump administration have inaccurately attacked the report for lacking transparency and factual basis, and for focusing on an “extreme” climate scenario. The EPA has als
FactCheck.org→ Rep.-elect Green Wrong About Vaccines, CDC Fraud
At a town hall event on Dec. 11, Rep.-elect Mark Green of Tennessee inaccurately claimed that vaccine preservatives might cause autism. He also repeated an unsubstantiated claim that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “fraudulently manage
Climate Feedback→ Climate misinformation video reaches broad audience with help from Youtube recommendation algorithm
YouTube’s recommendation algorithm recently began promoting a video about climate change on dozens of popular Youtube channel; the video has been promoted to between 300,000 and 2,000,000 people according to AlgoTransparency. That video (which cu
FactCheck.org→ The Whoppers of 2018
Summary For the fourth year in a row, Donald Trump dominates our list of the whoppers of the year. Before he entered politics as a presidential candidate in 2015, we had never singled out one person as the most egregious teller-of-falsehoods in these y
FactCheck.org→ The Viral Spiral of 2018
Summary All this month, we’re celebrating 15 years of holding politicians accountable. We’ve been writing about false and misleading viral claims for nearly as long. Early on, we mostly fact-checked viral messages in the form of chain email
Truth or Fiction?→ Could Robert Mueller’s Investigation Turn a Profit Thanks to Asset Seizures?
On December 14, 2018, documents released by the Department of Justice clocked the cost of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election at over $25 million: The Justice Department’
FactCheck.org→ Missing the Mark on the Edwards Case
Quick Take A popular meme suggests prosecutors are applying a double standard in a campaign finance case involving President Donald Trump, but it distorts the facts of the case against former Democratic Sen. John Edwards. Full Story In 2011, a grand j
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Woman NOT Charged With Murder, Did NOT Torture Cheating Husband with Hydrochloric Acid in Anus
Did a woman from Baytown, Texas (or anywhere else) murder her husband with hydrochloric acid up his anus because she found out he was cheating? No, that's not true: the story was pushed by the latest in a long string of websites pretending to
FactCheck.org→ Trump Wrong About Poverty ‘Record’
The U.S. Census Bureau officially estimates that close to 1 million fewer people were in poverty in 2017 compared with 2016. President Donald Trump called the decline “a record,” but it’s not. The drop in the number of people in pover
Truth or Fiction?→ Are ‘SJWs’ Demanding a Gender Neutral Santa?
Manufactured controversy about millennial affectations have nearly become a tradition all their own, and in 2018, news outlets took a shine to claims that “social justice warriors” (often shortened in internet parlance to the more derogato
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Trump Did NOT Step In by Executive Order to Restore Christmas to Dearborn (Because It Was Never Abolished)
Did president Donald Trump step in via an executive order to restore Christmas in Dearborn, Michigan after it had been allegedly abolished by muslims? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to educa
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Stores Did NOT Report Donald Trump Action Figure is the Hottest Seller of Season
Is a Donald Trump action figure the hottest seller of the season in toy stores? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to educate gullible Trump supporters and Republicans about the need to actuall
FactCheck.org→ Quote Falsely Tied to Ocasio-Cortez
Quick Take A viral meme mocks Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for a statement about capitalism versus socialism that she never actually made. Full Story Since her victory in the Democratic primary in New York’s 14th Congressional District in
FactCheck.org→ Is Mexico Paying for the Wall Through USMCA?
President Donald Trump declared via Twitter that he is keeping perhaps his most famous campaign promise, claiming that “MEXICO IS PAYING FOR THE WALL!” through a recent trade agreement negotiated with Mexico. Economic and trade experts we i
FactCheck.org→ Video: FactChecking Oval Office Meeting Claims
In this week’s fact-checking video, CNN’s Jake Tapper reviews some of the claims that we wrote about following the contentious Oval Office meeting on Dec. 11 between President Donald Trump and the Democratic congressional leaders, Rep. Nan
PolitiFact→ PolitiFact’s 2018 Lie of the Year coverage
Here are links and summaries of our 2018 Lie of the Year coverage. The 2018 Lie of the Year: Online smear machine tries to take down Parkland students. Read our special report on how attacks after the Florida school shooting were the mos
PolitiFact→ PolitiFact’s 2018 Lie of the Year coverage
Here are links and summaries of our 2018 Lie of the Year coverage. The 2018 Lie of the Year: Online smear machine tries to take down Parkland students. Read our special report on how attacks after the Florida school shooting were the mos
Truth or Fiction?→ Can Airbags Send Your Knees ‘Through Your Eye Sockets’ When Deployed?
When the meme below appeared on Facebook via the page The Pink Shorts Movement on November 28 2018, we were skeptical: The text read: DID YOU KNOW: Airbags deploy between 100 & 220 MPH. If you ride with your feet on the dash, you may send your knee