In July 2019, a Facebook user shared a text-based status update about the census-related “citizenship question,” which claimed that such a question had existed on the United States Census for 160 years — until President Obama outlawed
Search Results (3653) for: court
Snopes→ Judge Restricts Social Media Use of Trump Friend Roger Stone
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Stone's behavior was more appropriate for middle school than a court of law.
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Doctors NOT Confessing To Intentionally Diagnosing Healthy People With Cancer To Make Money
Have doctors confessed to intentionally diagnosing healthy people with cancer to make money? No, that's not true: It is a misleading claim, as there was only one doctor cited as admitting to faking cancer diagnoses for profit. Stories about fa
FactCheck.org→ Citizenship, the Census and Obama
Quick Take Memes circulating online claim that former President Barack Obama removed the citizenship question from the 2010 census. He didn’t. The citizenship question in 2010 was handled the same way it had been since 1970. Full Story The Tr
FactCheck.org→ Biden on the 1994 Crime Bill
Former Vice President Joe Biden defended his support decades ago for a controversial crime bill, saying in a speech in South Carolina, “There’s another part of my long record that’s being grossly misrepresented: the 1994 crime bill.” W
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Amnesiac Man Did NOT Wake From Coma Speaking Only Ancient Hebrew
Did a man named Jamal Miller wake up from a coma forget who he was and could he only speak ancient Hebrew after presumably being assaulted in Los Angeles? No, that's not true: the story was made up in 2015 by a Canadian entertainment website t
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Numbers July 2019 Update
Summary Since President Donald Trump took office: The jobless rate fell further, to the lowest in nearly 50 years. The number of job openings grew to the highest in at least 18 years. Economic growth picked up, but remained far short of what Trump pro
Truth or Fiction?→ Was the U.S. Women’s National Team Defeated by Teenaged Boys in a 2017 Soccer Match?
After the United States Women’s National Team beat the Netherlands 2 to 0 to win the World Cup in July 2019, the fans of the nation’s soccer team were delighted. It also lent serious heft to the players’ demand for pay and treatment
Snopes→ Woman Says Jeffrey Epstein Raped Her When She Was 15
Jennifer Araoz filed court papers seeking information from Epstein in preparation for suing him.
FactCheck.org→ Trump Twists Facts in Environmental Speech
In a July 8 speech dedicated to the environment, President Donald Trump made a series of misleading or false statements as he played up the U.S.’s environmental achievements, many of which predate his time as commander-in-chief. The president false
FactCheck.org→ Bogus Photo Combines Trump, Epstein Images
Quick Take A photo circulating online has been manipulated to show Jeffrey Epstein with Donald and Ivanka Trump in 1993. Full Story Two photos taken 12 years apart have been combined to show Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy money manager charged with sex t
Snopes→ Judge Blocks 9 Government Lawyers from Quitting Census Fight
Rules for federal courts in New York City require that any attorney requesting to leave a case provide satisfactory reasons for withdrawing.
Truth or Fiction?→ Is a ‘Perfect Road Trip’ of Obscenely-Named Towns Real?
On July 4 2019, the Facebook page “Gringott’s Bank of Enchanted Memes” shared a meme (archived here) illustrating a purported route through the United Kingdom with a number of licentious and salacious location names: From top to b
FactCheck.org→ Trump Retweets Made-up Reagan Quote
Quick Take There’s no evidence President Ronald Reagan predicted Donald Trump would become president, as a meme shared by Trump falsely claims. Full Story A viral falsehood about President Ronald Reagan that has circulated repeatedly since 20
Snopes→ Police Break Up Huge ‘Modern Day Slavery’ Ring in UK
Jurors in two separate trials at Birmingham Crown Court heard testimony from more than 90 victims, with indications that at least another 350 had been trafficked by the criminal gang.
Snopes→ Trump Says He’s Mulling Executive Order for Census
Such an action would perhaps give administration lawyers a new basis to try to persuade federal courts that the question could be included.
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Did NOT Suffer Massive Stroke
Did Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg suffer a massive stroke and was she taken to the ICU at a Washington, D.C. hospital on Wednesday evening, July 3, 2019? No, that's not true: It is a fake FOX News alert posted by a conservative conspiracy Facebo
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Say If ‘Owning Guns Was a Right It Would Be in the Constitution’?
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) has captured the attention of the internet and its trolls, which means that memes and rumors about her are quite common — most of which seem to attribute either motives or quotes to her with no cit
FactCheck.org→ Confusion at the Border
In recent days, contradictory claims have been made about border issues, including the living conditions for migrants being housed at U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention facilities: Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan claimed t
Snopes→ Group Say Conditions Dire for Asylum Seekers Stuck in Mexico
Several asylum seekers were attacked, kidnapped or sexually assaulted in Mexico while waiting for court hearings.
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Man Get Plastic Surgery and Change His Name to Circumvent a Restraining Order?
A December 2018 article headlined, “Man gets plastic surgery and name change to date his ex-girlfriend after she obtains restraining order” has appeared intermittently on social media after its publication. No obvious date appeared on the
FactCheck.org→ FactChecking the First 2020 Democratic Debate
Summary The debate season for the 2020 presidential election kicked off with 10 Democratic candidates taking the stage in Miami and exaggerating or garbling the facts on Iran, wages, Medicare, the opioid crisis and guns. Sen. Cory Booker claimed the I
Truth or Fiction?→ There Is No Credible Evidence Rep. Ilhan Omar Married Her Brother
On June 23 2019 pundit Dinesh D’Souza tweeted a very old claim: That Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) once married her own brother: I’m trying to keep the @IlhanMN story straight. She marrried her brother to evade immigration laws? Then she div
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s New Twist on False Voter Fraud Claim
President Donald Trump falsely suggested that California admitted that “a million votes” were cast as part of “much illegal voting” in that state during the 2016 presidential election. The president made those remarks — an
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Photos Of Children On Cement Floor With Aluminium Blankets NOT Taken During Trump Administration
Did two photos tweeted by actress Nancy Lee Grahn show immigrant children sleeping on cement floors covered in aluminium blankets during the Trump administration? No, that's not true: the pictures were taken in 2015 during the Obama administra
Snopes→ Woman Jailed for Turning in Husband’s Guns
Courtney Irby was arrested while giving her husband's guns to police after he was charged with trying to run her over.
Lead Stories→ Fake News: NOT A BOMBSHELL! NOT Proof Sean Hannity Was Spied On By Obama
Was the release of Paul Manafort's text messages with Sean Hannity proof that the FOX News host was spied on by President Obama? No, that's not true: The texting transcripts released under a court order were collected during the Trump administ
Truth or Fiction?→ Have Arrest Warrants Been Issued for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama?
Despite fears of “deepfake” videos and other high-tech ways disinformation could potentially proliferate in the very near future, the stories that still get the most traction are often decidedly low effort. Take, for example, the case of a
FactCheck.org→ ‘Satirical’ Story Gets Serious Treatment Online
Quick Take A bogus story fueling theories that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will be arrested has been shared over 100,000 times on Facebook, but it started out as satire. Full Story A completely fabricated story promoting the unfounded claim that
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Campaign Kickoff Claims
At a rally in Orlando on June 18, President Donald Trump officially launched his reelection campaign. Trump boasted that under his leadership, the country is “thriving, prospering and booming,” and he asked voters for four more years to
Truth or Fiction?→ Razor Blades on Slides: Urban Legend or Legitimate Risk?
A meme shared by the page “Explore Talent” (archived here) including several images alongside a warning about razor blades purportedly affixed to playground equipment such as slides has been circulating on social media for years: The te
Truth or Fiction?→ Scams and Hoax Accounts Proliferate on Instagram
April 2019 saw the culmination of a months-long popular uprising in the country of Sudan, when its former president Omar al-Bashir stepped down from his post. The Sudanese military quickly took control of the country in what it called a transitional p
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Police Investigating Death Of Former Senator Who Did NOT Believe She Was Closing In On Child Trafficking Ring
Are police investigating the death of a former Arkansas state senator who believed she was closing in on a child trafficking ring? No, that's not true: Linda Collins, who lost her state senate post to another Republican last year, was shot to
FactCheck.org→ Meme Mangles Constitutional Rights
Quick Take A meme making the bogus claim that the U.S. Constitution confers rights only to citizens is circulating online. Actually, many of the rights granted in the Constitution apply to noncitizens, too. Full Story Many provisions in the U.S. Cons
Snopes→ Botswana Decriminalizes Gay Sex in Landmark Africa Case
Botswana's High Court said in its ruling that penalizing people for who they are is disrespectful and discriminatory, and that the law should not deal with private acts between consenting adults.
Snopes→ 5-Year-Old Girl Paralyzed by Rape Shocks Sierra Leone
The man accused in the 5-year-old’s case — who is her uncle — remains jailed without bail while his case is before the country’s high court.
FactCheck.org→ Gillibrand Misleads on Trump’s Bump Stock Ban
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand claimed President Donald Trump failed to keep his promise after a mass shooting in Las Vegas to ban bump stocks. Trump may not have moved as quickly as Gillibrand would have liked, but Trump did enact a bump stock ban, which wen
Lead Stories→ Old Video: Crowd in the UK Chants "We Love Trump"
Is there a video of a crowd in the UK chanting "We Love Trump" during President Trump's current state visit and is the media ignoring it? No, that's not true: the video is from a demonstration in 2018 (when Trump also visited the UK) and has n
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Malia And Sasha Were NOT Loaned To Obamas By Their Real Parents
Were Malia And Sasha loaned to Barack and Michelle Obama by their real parents? No, That's not true: This is a conspiracy theory based on a purported resemblance of the Obama daughters to longtime friends of the family, a purported lack of bab
Snopes→ Carnival Will Pay $20m Over Pollution from Its Cruise Ships
The cruise line acknowledged in court documents it violated terms of probation from a 2016 criminal conviction for discharging oily waste from its Princess Cruise Lines ships and covering it up.