Is a post saying "Harriet Tubman is not a real person" accurate? No, that's not true: Multiple historians told Lead Stories this claim is false. One of them, the author of "Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom," wrote, "I can suggest that
Snopes→ Did Dr. Oz’s Family Business Illegally Hire Immigrants Using Fake Names?
A "family business" is a familial operation at which someone is employed, or they have authority over, in some capacity.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Thousands Of Americans DO Die Each Year Of Medical Errors But It’s Unclear Whether Doctors Kill More People Than Guns
Are you six times more like to be killed by a doctor than a gun in the United States? We don't know. The estimates are too scattered to form a conclusion. Official mortality statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (
Snopes→ Snopestionary: The ‘Straw Man’ Logical Fallacy
Logical fallacies are behind many of the harmful misunderstandings, rumors, and conspiracy theories our newsroom investigates.
FactCheck.org→ Examining Uvalde’s Police Spending
For the fiscal year ending in September, spending on police is expected to account for 37% of general fund expenditures in the city of Uvalde, Texas. But police spending is projected to make up about 17% of the city’s total operating expenditures
PolitiFact→ Facebook posts – No federal payments on the way for gas price relief
"President Biden confirm(ed) everyone will receive their $1k gas checks this week!!"
Snopes→ Did Amnesty International Issue Travel Advisory for US After Shootings?
Incidents of gun violence have not abated in the country.
Snopes→ Did Trump Tweet ‘Stay Peaceful’ on Day of Capitol Riot?
We looked at the context behind a meme that showed two messages purportedly tweeted by Trump on the day of the Capitol riot.
Snopes→ Is ‘Chicama’ the World’s Only Legally Protected Wave?
A genuine photo? The longest wave series in the world? We had questions.
PolitiFact→ Karine Jean-Pierre – White House gets it wrong on unemployment level when Joe Biden took office
When Joe Biden “walked into this administration … 20 million people were on unemployment insurance benefits.”
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: It’s NOT True That No Athletes Assigned Female At Birth Transitioned, Tried To Compete In Men’s Sports
Is it true that there are no athletes who were assigned female at birth, transitioned and tried to compete in men's sports? No, that's not true: Although transgender female athletes such as swimmer Lia Thomas have received attention for t
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: McDonald’s Did NOT Place 5,000 Condoms In Happy Meals — It’s From Humor Website
Did McDonald's accidentally give out 5,000 condoms with Happy Meals? No, that's not true: The site this claim originated from is satirical. There is no evidence from any trusted news organizations that this event has ever occurred. The cl
FactCheck.org→ Trump Ignored Aides, Repeated False Fraud Claims
At the second hearing of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, former President Donald Trump’s top aides testified that they told him his claims of election fraud were baseless. What Trump char
Snopes→ Stocks Dip Deeper into Bear Market Ahead of Big Fed News
Wall Street is dipping further in its first trading after tumbling into a bear market on worries that high inflation will push central banks to clamp the brakes too hard on the economy
PolitiFact→ Viral image – Fake mugshot showing badly bruised Paul Pelosi circulates online
Image shows Paul Pelosi, bruised, in a booking mugshot.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence Of Rice Made With Rubber Or Plastic Passed Off As Real
Is the supply of rice in the United States or Ghana corrupted with a fake rice product containing plastic or rubber that is making people sick? No, that's not true: Rumors about plastic rice have circulated around the world since at least
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Tweet Claiming Biden ‘Will Be Banning Switchblades Alongside Semi-Automatic Rifles’ Is Fake
Is President Joe Biden "banning switchblades alongside semi-automatic rifles in the coming months as a result of the recent mass shootings"? No, that's not true: The tweet making the claim is fake and was never posted by the account shown
Truth or Fiction?→ Uvalde Body Cam Footage Suppressed?
On June 13 2022, a Reddit user on r/WhitePeopleTwitter shared a screenshot of two tweets about the purported refusal by Texas police to release body cam footage from the Uvalde school shooting: yup yup yup from WhitePeopleTwitter
Snopes→ Danish-Canadian Deal Ends 49-Year-Old Feud over Arctic Isle
A territorial dispute between Denmark and Canada over a barren and uninhabited rock in the Arctic that has led to decades of friendly friction has come to an end.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: There Was NO Trump Extradition ‘Already In Motion’ As Of June 13, 2022 — It’s A Spoof
Was an extradition of former President Donald Trump "already in motion" as of June 13, 2022? No, that's not true: That claim is a satirical take on one of the first documented posts from "Q," the mysterious figure that sparked the QAnon m
Snopes→ European Star Survey Reveals Celestial Treasure Trove
The European Space Agency released a trove of data Monday on almost 2 billion stars in the Milky Way, collected by its Gaia space observatory in an effort to create the most accurate and complete map of our galaxy.
Full Fact→ Figures on benefit and tax fraud investigators misrepresented
Data uncovered by an MP about the number of fraud investigators employed by HMRC and the DWP has been reshared on social media. But the figures are out of date and misleadingly presented.
Full Fact→ A US federal agency did not say that Covid-19 was a planned ‘scamdemic’
A retired neurosurgeon expressed this opinion in a journal article, which can be found by searching PubMed on the agency’s site.
Snopes→ Bronx Zoo Elephant Named Happy Isn’t a Person, Court Rules
New York's top court rejected an effort to free Happy the elephant from the Bronx Zoo, ruling in a closely watched case that she does not meet the definition of a “person” who is being illegally confined.
Snopes→ Pope Blasts Russian ‘Cruelty,’ Lauds Ukrainian ‘Heroism’
Pope Francis has blasted the “ferocity and cruelty” of Russian troops in Ukraine while praising the “heroism” and “courage” of Ukrainians to defend their land.
The Dispatch→ Fact-Checking Day 2 of the January 6 Hearings
(Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)The second day of hearings by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol focused on Donald Trump’s role in knowingly perpetuating the false narrativ
Health Feedback→ SADS is caused by genetic mutations affecting the electrical system regulating heartbeat; no evidence it is caused by COVID-19 vaccines
REVIEW On 8 June 2022, political commentator here and here, demonstrating the article’s ability to mislead online users. Sudden arrhythmia death syndrome (SADS), sometimes incorrectly called sudden adult death syndrome, occurs in young, apparently
Logically→ Justin Bieber’s Ramsay Hunt Syndrome is linked to the COVID-19 vaccine.
There's no evidence a COVID-19 vaccine caused the singer's facial paralysis. The benefits of COVID-19 vaccines outweigh the risks.
Snopes→ Spears’ Ex Who Appeared at Wedding Charged with Stalking
A man once briefly married to Britney Spears who showed up uninvited at the pop star's wedding to longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari was charged with felony stalking.
Logically→ Humanity’s inability to access the Earth’s core is a clue that the Earth is flat.
The inaccessibility of the Earth’s inner layers are explainable by science and not proof of a design to stop humans from discovering the flat Earth.
Snopes→ Yellowstone Officials Assess Damage After Historic Floods
While numerous homes and other structures were destroyed, there were no immediate reports of injuries.
PolitiFact→ Most Republicans falsely believe Trump’s stolen election claims, a year and a half after the Jan. 6
Multiple recounts and election audits have confirmed the accuracy of the election results. But most Republicans agree with Donald Trump that the election was stolen.
Logically→ The Red Cross has been involved in the organ trafficking of over a thousand Ukrainian children in Mariupol.
There is no evidence to support this allegation. The International Committee of the Red Cross has categorically denied organ trafficking.
Snopes→ World Shares Wobbly After Wall Street Sinks into Bear Market
Global stocks drifted lower in the wake of Wall Street's tumble into a bear market, as investors anxiously contemplated a new and uncertain world of higher interest rates, international conflict and recession fears.
Snopes→ Jan. 6 Panel Hears: Trump ‘Detached from Reality’ in Defeat
Donald Trump’s closest campaign advisers, top government officials and even his family were dismantling his false claims of 2020 election fraud ahead of Jan. 6, but the defeated president seemed “detached from reality” and kept clinging to outlan
Logically→ Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s daughter, Lilibet Diana, doesn’t exist.
Lilibet has a birth certificate that reveals her date and place of birth, proving her existence.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Poem About School Prayer Is NOT New And The Author Is Unknown
Did a 15-year-old school kid from Minnesota get an A+ for writing a poem, "New School Prayer"? No, there is no evidence that is true: This poem has been circulating for decades with some revisions. There is no record of a grade given, no
Snopes→ Were Starbucks Charity Food Donations Left in a Dumpster?
We reached out to both Starbucks and Feeding America to ask about a viral tweet that supposedly showed discarded food meant for people in need.
PolitiFact→ Jan. 6 hearings: What insiders told Trump about him losing the election
If former President Donald Trump believed he won the 2020 election, it wasn’t because his hand-picked team told him he had. They told him precisely the opposite.
Snopes→ Are Folded, Fentanyl-Laced Dollar Bills a Safety Threat?
A warning issued by a sheriff's office in Tennessee prompted scary headlines in several other states.