SciCheck Digest Members of the World Health Organization are in the process of developing a new agreement to prevent, prepare for and respond to pandemics. A preliminary draft presented in February reaffirms nations’ sovereign right to make t
Search Results (933) for: baseless
FactCheck.org→ No Evidence Pfizer Conducting Any Inappropriate Coronavirus Experiments
SciCheck Digest Scientists say the experiments Pfizer has performed on the coronavirus are standard for the industry. Baseless claims that the company is mutating the virus for profit, however, have been circulating since the release of a
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Biden Did NOT Promise Zelenskyy A ‘Stake In The United States’
During his February 20, 2023, trip to Ukraine, did President Joe Biden promise Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "stake in the United States" as a reward for "staying the course"? No, that's not true: This claim was published by a
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Marines Did NOT Catch, Kill FBI Agents At Idaho Electrical Substation On February 12, 2023
Did members of the U.S. Marine Corps kill FBI agents at an electrical substation in Meridian, Idaho, on February 12, 2023, Super Bowl Sunday? No, that's not true: The claim was made by Real Raw News, an online publication that repeatedly
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: US Military Did NOT Arrest Vaccine Scientist For Mass Murder
Did the U.S. military arrest vaccine scientist Richard Tillyer for "accessory to mass murder and negligent homicide" in regards to the COVID-19 vaccine? No, that's not true: The U.S. military does not have the authority to arrest civilian
Health Feedback→ Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, didn’t say that Moderna was already producing COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in 2019
REVIEW Since its beginning in early 2020, some people developed the narrative that the COVID-19 pandemic was planned. Related claims usually revolve around the alleged existence of COVID-19-related patents or products ahead of the pandemic onset. He
FactCheck.org→ Thai Princess’s Coma Due to Infection, Country Not Banning Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine
SciCheck Digest Thai officials attributed the collapse of the king’s eldest daughter in December to a bacterial infection, not to COVID-19 vaccination, as some have baselessly claimed online. Rumors about the country banning Pfizer’s vaccines a
FactCheck.org→ COVID-19 Vaccines Can Slightly Alter Menstrual Cycle Temporarily, But Don’t Harm Fertility
SciCheck Digest Research suggests COVID-19 vaccination can cause changes in a person’s menstrual cycle. But the changes are small and short-lived — and studies have shown there’s no effect on fertility. Yet people on social media are
Health Feedback→ COVID-19 vaccines don’t cause immunodeficiency and aren’t associated with excess mortality
REVIEW Inaccurate claims that COVID-19 vaccines weaken the immune system instead of boosting our immune defenses against SARS-CoV-2 have repeatedly surfaced on the internet. Health Feedback reviewed several of them and found them to be baseless, com
Logically→ The Bilderberg group is part of the Illuminati and wants to establish a New World Order.
The claims of a New World Order are baseless and lack evidence. The Bilderberg group is not part of the Illuminati.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Chicken Egg Yolk Antibodies (IgYs) Research Is NOT Connected To Farm Fires — Study Was About Eggs From Hens Immunized For Testing
Does a 2020 study published before the approval of any COVID-19 vaccine prove the existence of a conspiracy to burn chicken farms to prevent populations from getting access to eggs that allegedly can protect from COVID? No, that's not tru
Truth or Fiction?→ Mass Shootings, Violence in California Highlight Issue of Disinformation in Immigrant Communities
Two mass shootings in California in the first weeks of 2023, both committed by immigrants in their sixties, have highlighted the issue of disinformation and propaganda targeting American immigrant communities, and how the prods and pulleys of stochasti
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: US Marines And FBI Did NOT ‘Clash’ At Camp Pendleton, California
Did FBI agents "clash" with U.S. Marine Corps guards at Camp Pendleton in California? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that such a "clash" happened. Real Raw News, which originated the claim, has a history of writing false storie
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Outside Agitators’ Have Always Been a Racist Myth
In January 2023, the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of police in Memphis, Tennessee drew widespread outcry in the United States. Ditto for the death in Atlanta, Georgia that same month of protestor and environmental activist Tortuguita — Ma
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence Russian Special Forces Destroy ‘Adrenochrome Lab In Ukraine’ As Of January 23, 2023
Did Russian special forces, under the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin, destroy an "adrenochrome lab in Ukraine" as of January 23, 2023? No, that's not true: This claim comes from a website that regularly publishes fabricated
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Actor Michael B. Jordan Did NOT Die Suddenly At Hospital As Of January 16, 2023
Did the actor Michael B. Jordan die suddenly in Chicago on January 13, 2023? No, that's not true: This is a baseless claim by a clickbait website that routinely publishes death hoaxes. There is no evidence that Jordan has died although hi
FactCheck.org→ No Surge in Athlete Deaths, Contrary to Widespread Anti-Vaccine Claims
SciCheck Digest Sports medicine experts say there has been no increase in sudden death or cardiac injury among U.S. athletes since the COVID-19 vaccines became available. Yet anti-vaccine campaigners, comparing unreliable numbers to an unrelated st
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Special Forces Did NOT Raid Biden Beach House
Did the Special Forces, a branch of the U.S. Army, raid the Biden family beach house in Delaware? No, that's not true: There is no evidence to back up the claim, and Real Raw News has a history of writing about fake Special Forces raids.
FactCheck.org→ No Evidence for Kari Lake’s Claim that Maricopa County Ballots Lacked Chain of Custody Records
Quick Take A judge on Dec. 24 dismissed Kari Lake’s claim that there was no chain of custody for 300,000 mail-in ballots in Maricopa County, Arizona, during the 2022 election, yet posts on social media continue to spread the baseless claim. E
Truth or Fiction?→ Joe Biden ‘Classified Documents’ Controversy
On January 9 2023, conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) tweeted that U.S. President Joe Biden “took classified documents from the White House,” claiming that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Archives
Health Feedback→ Evidence shows that COVID-19 vaccines don’t increase the risk of death, contrary to claim by financier Edward Dowd
REVIEW In a video published on 4 January 2023, businessman and podcaster Aubrey Marcus interviewed Edward Dowd, a former investment portfolio manager at BlackRock, regarding his book “Cause Unknown: The Epidemic of Sudden Deaths in 2021 and 2022
Health Feedback→ Simulation exercises such as “Catastrophic Contagion” are a normal part of pandemic preparedness; they don’t predict future pandemics
REVIEW On 23 October 2022, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, together with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, held a pandemic preparedness training called “Catastrophic Contagion”. This exe
Truth or Fiction?→ Brazil Insurrection Had Familiar Faces, Themes
A January 8 2023 attempted right-wing coup in Brazil’s capital Brasília followed the victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (popularly known as “Lula”) over right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in the South American nation’s pres
Logically→ Dwayne Johnson, Steven Spielberg, and other celebrities eat babies and use adrenochrome.
Claims that celebrities eat babies and harvest adrenochrome from tortured children are baseless.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence ‘White Hats Disable Amphibious Cruiser That Attacked GITMO’
Did "white hats" in the U.S. military "disable an amphibious cruiser that attacked GITMO" as of January 4, 2023? No, that's not true: The aircraft carrier identified with a photo as the "aggressor" was never put into service and was sold
FactCheck.org→ NFL Player Damar Hamlin’s Cardiac Arrest Triggers Unfounded Social Media Claims
SciCheck Digest Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field and suffered a cardiac arrest moments after taking a hit to his chest during a tackle. While it’s not yet known why his heart stopped, some experts say his condition is
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence That Ex-FDA ‘Commisioner’ Stephen Hahn Was Arrested By Military
Did the military arrest former FDA "Commisioner" Stephen Hahn? No, there's no evidence to substantiate that: The claim was reported on a website that is well-known for making up stories about public figures. The site posts a disclaimer wa
FactCheck.org→ Our Most Popular Articles in 2022
Before we ring in 2023, we look back at the most popular articles that we posted to our website in 2022. For the third consecutive year, COVID-19 tops our list. Nine of the 10 most popular articles were about the pandemic. And most of those were fa
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Nancy Pelosi Was NOT Hanged At GITMO
Was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hanged at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba? No, that's not true: The claim was reported on a website well-known for making up stories about public figures. The site has a disclaimer warning readers
FactCheck.org→ No Evidence Flu Vaccine Increases Strep A Infections, Contrary to Online Claims
SciCheck Digest Several European countries have reported an early spike of group A strep infections, mostly among children, including cases of rare but deadly bacterial infections. There is no evidence the increase is being caused by nasal spray fl
FactCheck.org→ Autopsy Study Doesn’t Show COVID-19 Vaccines Are Unsafe
SciCheck Digest To date, the benefits of COVID-19 mRNA vaccination outweigh the risks, which include a rare but increased risk of myocarditis, or heart inflammation. Social media posts, however, are citing a German autopsy study to misleadingly sug
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Katie Porter Saying Pedophilia Is An ‘Identity’ Not A Crime — Clip Is Taken Out Of Context
Does a video of a congressional hearing show a Democratic congresswoman from California saying she believes pedophilia is an identity and not a crime? No, that's not true: Katie Porter's remarks were about the use of false narratives on s
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Michelle Obama’s Doctor Did NOT Go On Record About Seeing Proof That She Is Male — This Story Is Satire From A Liberal Troll
Did Michelle Obama's doctor go on the record about the former first lady using a urinal during the 2008 presidential campaign, thereby proving that she is a man? No, that's not true: The article making this claim originated in 2017 on a n
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Elon Musk Did NOT Just Launch ‘Terrifying Hypersonic T-Jet To Beat Russia’
Did Elon Musk just launch the "terrifying hypersonic T-Jet to beat Russia"? No, that's not true: There is zero evidence to support the claim. Musk's private rocket company made no such announcement, and the video making the allegation is
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Military Did NOT Convict U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona
Did the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps find U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona guilty of child endangerment? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer told Lead Stories that this claim is false. Also, Lead Stories rec
FactCheck.org→ Grant Wahl Died from Aortic Aneurysm, No Link to COVID-19 Vaccine
SciCheck Digest American sportswriter Grant Wahl died unexpectedly while covering the soccer World Cup in Qatar, and purveyors of vaccine misinformation have suggested that his death was caused by COVID-19 vaccination. He actually died from the rup
FactCheck.org→ The Whoppers of 2022
Summary The midterm elections are finally over, but it won’t be long before the 2024 campaign cycle — which will really start in 2023 — gets going. Before that happens, we’ve put together this list of the year’s bigges
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID Response Coordinator Was NOT Arrested By Military On December 12, 2022
Was Jeff Zients, a former White House coordinator for COVID-19 response under President Joe Biden, arrested by the military on December 12, 2022? No, that's not true: The Department of Defense told Lead Stories that the claim, which was p
FactCheck.org→ Blood Transfusion Doesn’t Transfer COVID-19 Vaccine
SciCheck Digest A blood transfusion from a vaccinated person doesn’t transfer the inoculation to an unvaccinated person. But high-profile purveyors of misinformation have been promoting the long-standing false claim that it does.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ZIP Codes For 31,000 Mail-In Ballots Were NOT Changed In Arizona
Were ZIP codes for 31,000 mail-in ballots changed before they were sent out, quietly changed back when they were returned as undeliverable and then fraudulently used to vote in Arizona? No, that's not true: The secretary of state's office