REVIEW In early February 2022, multiple social media posts and articles published by various outlets, including Fox News (see here and here) and the Daily Mail, widely touted a “Johns Hopkins study” purportedly showing that lockdowns only reduce
Snopes→ French Cave Tells New Story About Neanderthals, Early Humans
Researchers from Europe and the United States described finding fossilized homo sapiens remains and tools sandwiched between those of Neanderthals in the Mandrin Grotto.
PolitiFact→ Nicole Sirotek – No, hospitalized COVID-19 patients weren’t killed by remdesivir
Says remdesivir is responsible for killing patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
FactCheck.org→ Florida Video Shows Legal Migrant Workers, Not ‘Busloads of Illegals’
Quick Take Dozens of people stayed at a Florida hotel in January while employed as temporary farmworkers for a wholesale plant nursery. But a Facebook video and a tweet by State Rep. Anthony Sabatini falsely claimed they were “illegals” &#
PolitiFact→ PPP loans do not need to be reported as taxable income on tax returns
Businesses need to report that they received a PPP loan if they are deducting related expenses, but the money isn’t considered taxable income.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Ottawa Police Are NOT Exempt From COVID-19 Vax Mandate
Are members of the Ottawa Police Service exempt from mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations? No, that's not true: The Ottawa Police Service released a statement in 2021 announcing that all members of the service who did not have official exempti
PolitiFact→ Greg Casar – Texas US House candidate led passage of Austin paid sick leave ordinance, but it never took effect
“Greg Casar passed paid sick leave."
PolitiFact→ Facebook posts – No, MSNBC didn’t announce Donald Trump won the 2020 election
“MSNBC announced Trump won 2020 election.”
Truth or Fiction?→ Ayn Rand Institute PPP Controversy
On February 10 2022, Imgur user @PrincessPicklebricks shared a screenshot of the following tweet, suggesting that the Ayn Rand Institute “sought, and was granted, a PPP loan from the government”: Never letting ‘Atlas Shrugged’ fans li
Snopes→ Venmo Email Scam Promises $1,000 Gift Card for Survey
If Venmo were to send its users an email, it probably wouldn't come from an email address that was registered on a brand new website.
Snopes→ Congress Approves Sex Harassment Bill in #MeToo Milestone
The measure bars employment contracts from forcing people to settle sexual assault or harassment cases through arbitration rather than in court.
Snopes→ AOC Did Not Say ‘I Don’t Need Truckers, I Get My Food from the Grocery Store’
Some "satirists" simply repeat old jokes.
The Dispatch→ Fact Checking Charlie Kirk’s Claim About R. Kelly and Spotify
R. Kelly in concert in 2018. (Photo by Scott Legato/Getty Images.)In a tweet, Charlie Kirk claimed that while the presence of Joe Rogan’s podcast on Spotify has been controversial, convicted sex offender and trafficker R. Kelly’s music is s
Full Fact→ McDonald’s doesn’t use mechanically separated chicken
A viral post on Facebook depicting a smooth extrusion of bubblegum-pink substance claims this is “mechanically separated chicken” which is used in the production of fast food chicken items. 'Mechanically separated meat' is obtained by forci
Snopes→ Costco and T-Mobile Email Scam Promises ‘Exclusive Reward’
The email scam was notable for its urgent subject line: "We have been trying to reach you - Please respond!"
Snopes→ States Get Go-Ahead to Build Electric Car Charging Stations
The administration announced the availability of $5 billion federal money, sketching out a vision of seamless climate-friendly car travel from coast to coast.
PolitiFact→ Viral image – Kendall Jenner said she didn’t edit, share altered BLM photo
Kendall Jenner edited a photo to look like she was holding a “Black Lives Matter” sign.
Logically→ A viral video shows Samajwadi Party supporters raising a pro-Pakistan slogan during an election rally in Bithoor, Kanpur.
Kanpur District Magistrate Neha Sharma clarified that no slogans in favor of Pakistan were raised during the Samajwadi Party rally in Bithoor.
Logically→ Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has 138 criminal cases against him.
Yogi Adityanath's election affidavit had no criminal case pending against him, the Election Commission of India stated.
PolitiFact→ Facebook posts – C.S. Lewis didn’t write this pandemic-like passage
Says C.S. Lewis wrote, “They believed blindly everything they heard or read in the papers. They gave up their freedoms.”
Logically→ Unemployment rates haven’t risen in India.
The unemployment rate in India has slightly risen to 7 percent. Pre-pandemic rates usually ranged between 5 and 6 percent.
Full Fact→ Moving ‘crisis actor’ in body bag is actually climate change protester
A video on Facebook is being circulated with claims that it shows “crisis actors”. The footage shows a news reporter in front of people appearing to be in body bags, before one of those people moves and uncovers themself, and then a woman r
Full Fact→ No link between Covid-19 vaccines and new HIV strain
A post on Facebook draws a link between high Covid-19 vaccination rates in the Netherlands and the discovery of a new, more virulent HIV variant in the country. The post reads “Congratulations, you VAIDS’ed yourself”. The term “
Full Fact→ Income tax, fuel tax and inheritance tax all existed 100 years ago
A post on Facebook, shared almost a thousand times, lists dozens of taxes alongside the logo for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), claiming that “not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago”. This is not true. Income tax, which is inclu
Snopes→ COVID-19 Truck Blockade in Canada Shuts Down Ford Plant
The protest by people mostly in pickup trucks entered its third day at the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.
PolitiFact→ Facebook posts – Republicans opposed Build Back Better as a whole, not necessarily insulin price caps, as post claims
"Biden and most Democrats want to cap insulin prices at $35 per month. All 50 Republicans in the Senate are opposed to it.”
Full Fact→ Rain tornado off Jersey is CGI
A video on Facebook appears to show a column of rain dramatically descending from the sky over the sea and then rotating like a tornado. It has the caption: ‘Rain from a Distance’. In fact the video is a CGI simulation. The original shows a
Snopes→ Did ‘The Simpsons’ Predict 2022 Super Bowl Winner?
"The Simpsons" is not nearly as good at "predicting" things as the internet believes the show to be.
Logically→ There is a secret multi-billion dollar market for adrenochrome.
The myth surrounding adrenochrome is part of an anti-semitic conspiracy theory. It has not basis in fact.
Snopes→ US Inflation Jumped 7.5% in the Past Year, a 40-Year High
The acceleration of prices ranged across the economy, from food and energy to apartment rents and electricity.
AllSides→ Latest CDC Data: Unvaccinated Adults 97 Times More Likely to Die from COVID-19 Than Boosted Adults
https://www.factcheck.org/2022/02/scicheck-latest-cdc-data-unvaccinated-adults-97-times-more-likely-to-die-from-covid-19-than-boosted-adults/
Logically→ U.K. Government Data Shows Fully-Vaccinated British People may have developed AIDS due to the COVID-19 vaccine.
There is no basis for the claim that being fully vaccinated causes AIDS or otherwise suppresses the immune system.
Snopes→ SpaceX Satellites Falling out of Orbit After Solar Storm
Up to 40 of the 49 small satellites launched last week have either reentered the atmosphere and burned up, or are on the verge of doing so.
Full Fact→ Photo of Meryl Streep on the subway is not after King Kong audition
A misleading meme about the actressMeryl Streep is being shared again on Facebook. The post shows a picture of Ms Streep on the New York subway many years ago beside a story she supposedly told about it. The photograph is real, but the story, which is
Snopes→ Family: Bob Saget Died After Accidental Blow to the Head
The comedian and “Full House” star was found dead Jan. 9 in a Florida hotel room.
Logically→ Insurance providers are rejecting life insurance payouts to those who received the COVID-19 vaccine.
Individuals who get the COVID-19 vaccine will not be denied the life insurance benefits. The claim circulating is baseless and false.
Full Fact→ Mirror’s claim that households will be £2,000 a year poorer overstates impact of inflation
“Families to be left £2,000 a year worse off as cost of living continues to soar” Daily Mirror, 2 February 2022. The Daily Mirror has reported on the rising cost of living by claiming families could be left over £2,000 poorer t
Logically→ Instagram has changed its algorithm that allows only around seven percent of a user’s followers to see a post.
Instagram feeds and stories ranking works on how a person uses it. There is no fixed algorithm that limits the followers to view it.
Full Fact→ Keanu Reeves did not say ‘humanity is showing signs of breaking free from the matrix’
A number of posts on Facebook, shared hundreds of times, falsely claim that actor Keanu Reeves said that “humanity is showing signs of breaking free from the matrix”. The lengthy alleged quote from the star of the Matrix franchise goe
Poynter→ There’s no scientific evidence that vaccines are responsible for strange blood clots observed by embalmers
Embalmers and funeral home workers say they are noticing an increase in unusual blood clots among the deceased. Some of them, without evidence, are attributing it to the COVID-19 vaccines. […] The post There’s no scientific evidence that va