As Republican senator Ted Cruz came under fire for fleeing a freezing Texas for Cancun in February 2021, memes could be found all over social media — among them a screenshot of a purported tweet in which Cruz was quoted as saying he would beli
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Lead Stories→ Fact Check: The U.S.A. Is NOT A Corporation And African Americans Are NOT Still Owned By Anyone
Is the United States a corporation in the way General Motors is? Is the president the head of a corporation called the United States of America? And are African Americans emancipated but not free? No, none of that is true: this conspiracy
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church In Houston Is NOT Closed to People Without Shelter During Texas Freeze-Up
Did megachurch pastor and televangelist Joel Osteen not open his "18,000-seat" Lakewood Church during freezing, icy weather in Houston, declining to help people left without shelter or heat and power? No, that's not true: Lakewood Church
Full Fact→ Covid vaccine hasn’t caused increase in care home deaths
A Facebook post claims that deaths in care homes are up 81% since the Covid-19 vaccination rollout. It’s correct that care home deaths are up since the vaccination rollout started, but it is wrong to suggest that these are deaths caused by the va
Full Fact→ Ipsos MORI isn’t trying to kill you with Covid tests
A number of posts on social media claim that the name of market research company Ipsos MORI translates to ‘they die’ in Latin. A TikTok video being shared widely on Whatsapp warns people this means they will die if they get a Covid-19 test.
Full Fact→ Flu deaths aren’t being miscategorised as Covid-19 deaths
A post shared on Facebook shows the number of positive influenza tests for each week from 2015 to 2020, using legitimate graphs from the World Health Organisation (WHO). The graph for 2020 shows the number of positive influenza tests falling to n
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Protesters in Wheelchairs Being Removed From Capitol Building During January 6, 2021, Events
Does a viral video show disabled people being forcibly removed from the Capitol by police and/or security during the January 6, 2021, breach? No, that's not true: the video dates back to 2017 and shows people protesting against Medicaid c
Truth or Fiction?→ Twisted Tea Circle K Fight Video Spreads Virally
On December 24 2020, “Twisted Tea” became a popular trending term in the wake of footage showing an altercation at an Ohio Circle-K. Footage of the incident, which involved racial slurs and a can of Twisted Tea, was shared to r/PublicFrea
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ‘Sudden Injection’ Of Nearly 385,000 Votes In Michigan Does NOT Prove Election Fraud
Does a "sudden injection" of close to 385,000 votes in Michigan prove election fraud? No, that's not true: There's often a delay between when absentee ballots are counted and when they are reported, leading to what may look like a sudden
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: An Asteroid Is NOT About To Hit Near Puerto Rico, And The Arecibo Telescope Collapse Was NOT Nefarious
Is an asteroid "on its way to strike" near Puerto Rico and was the Arecibo Telescope purposefully destroyed in attempt to hide the purportedly impending asteroid strike? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that an asteroid will stri
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: There Is NOT Anything Fake About This Type Of ‘Needle’
Does this video show a fake or faulty leaky syringe? No, that's not true: This style of medical syringe has a retractable needle for safety. It is designed to retract the needle into the barrel of the syringe after use, and this helps pro
Truth or Fiction?→ Did an Italian Singer Score a Hit Song Using ‘Nonsense’ English Lyrics?
A decades-old cross-cultural hit by Adriano Celentano and Celeste Mori was brought back to light both in the U.S. and the pair’s native Italy in November 2020, thanks to social media and a Scottish artist. Harriet Mould found herself becoming co
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: BLM/Antifa Member Did NOT Shoot ‘Patriot’ At Denver Protest
Did a BLM or antifa activist shoot and kill a "patriot" at a protest in Denver, Colorado, on October 10, 2020? No, that's not true: Police arrested a Pinkerton security guard hired by a local TV station to protect a news crew covering due
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Cannabis Ice Cream’
In mid-2020, a purported photograph of “cannabis ice cream” circulated on Facebook as a mildly engagement-baiting poll asking whether readers were for or against the putative dessert: Earlier iterations of the image featured the
Truth or Fiction?→ Did the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast Recognize Bill Barr for ‘Christlike Behavior’?
On September 23 2020, “Christlike” appeared on Twitter’s list of trending topics due to a viral tweet objecting to a Catholic organization’s decision to honor Attorney General Bill Barr: The National Catholic Prayer Breakfast
The Dispatch→ Did Trump Tweet in 2016 That Obama Shouldn’t Nominate a Supreme Court Justice?
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Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Jacob Blake Was NOT Facing Accusation That He ‘Raped A 14 Year Old’ When He Was Shot By Police
Did Jacob Blake, the man shot seven times by Kenosha, Wisconsin, police, have a charge or conviction against him that he "raped a 14-year-old girl" when he was shot? No, that's not true. Blake was named in a third-degree sexual assault wa
Truth or Fiction?→ Was a New Strain of Coronavirus Known as D614G and ‘Ten Times More Infectious’ Emerge in Malaysia in August 2020?
On August 16 2020, a number of anxiety-provoking tweets discussed the purported discovery of a new strain of SARS-CoV-2 (D614G), described as “ten times more infectious” after mutating: The highly infectious Covid-19 mutation, known as
Truth or Fiction?→ Do 800,000 Children Go Missing Each Year in the United States?
As child trafficking rumors combined with COVID-19 disinformation went viral in August 2020, concurrent rumors appeared that 800,000 children go missing every year in the United States — or that 2,000 are disappeared each day: Vi
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Don’t Mark your calendars — Mars Will NOT Look Like A Second Moon On August 27
Will Mars look as big as the Moon in the night sky on August 27? No, that's not true: This is an old hoax that has circulated at least since 2003. The size of Mars would have to magnify about 140 times to match the size of a full
FactCheck.org→ False Claims Follow Old Portland Mugshots
Quick Take Old mugshots circulating on social media falsely suggest that they show 13 teachers who were recently arrested during the protests in Portland, Oregon. The photos are actually from 2017, and the posts provide no evidence that any of them are
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Women Do NOT Need To Be 25, Married, Have A Son, Daughter And Their Husband’s Consent To Get Their Tubes Tied
Does a woman have to be 25 years old, married, have at least one son and one daughter, and have her husband's consent to get a tubal ligation? No, that's not true: Requirements for surgical sterilization for women (and men, too)
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video ‘Urgent Information On Covid Vacc!ne’ By Dr. Carrie Madej Is NOT All Science-Based Or Factual
Is there a "vaccine that's coming" to fight the novel coronavirus that is funded by Bill Gates and could change human genes to the point where a different species is created that could battle, or replace, humans? No, there is no evidence
FactCheck.org→ NextGen Climate Action/NextGen America
Political leanings: Democratic 2018 total spending: $63.8 million NextGen Climate Action Committee, a super PAC, and NextGen America, a 501(c)(4), were founded in 2013 by San Francisco billionaire and climate-change activist Tom Steyer, who ran unsuc
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Michael Vick Did NOT Serve More Time In Jail For Killing A Dog Than All Cops Who Have Killed The Last 493 Unarmed Black Men
Did Michael Vick serve more prison time for animal abuse than all the police, combined, who killed the last 493 unarmed Black men? No, that is not true: The former NFL quarterback served 18 months in Leavenworth penitentiary. And the time serv
Truth or Fiction?→ Is This ‘America First’ Trump 2020 Shirt Real?
On July 1 2020, a number of social media posts shared images of a “Trump 2020, America First” shirt — which they said or implied bore a striking resemblance to a common Nazi symbol: OH COME ON pic.twitter.com/6divzAkVkK — Lux
Truth or Fiction?→ The Washington Monument Struck by Lightning and the Tower Card
During ongoing protests against police brutality and a lunar eclipse on June 5 2020, numerous posts on Facebook asserted that the Washington Monument had been struck by lightning — many of those claims appearing alongside an image of the “
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Sheryl Crow Did NOT Say, ‘I Forbid My Kids To Watch TV When Trump Is On, I Prefer Classy People Like Hillary Clinton.’
Did Sheryl Crow say on television that she won't let her kids watch TV when President Trump is on, and that she prefers "classy people like Hillary Clinton"? No, that's not true: This clickbait headline has been circulating since 2017. And whi
Truth or Fiction?→ AskReddit ‘People Who Are 40+ and Happy’ Advice Thread Comment Becomes Viral Facebook Post
On May 11 2020, Facebook user Brandon Green shared a screenshot of a comment on an AskReddit thread titled “People who are 40+ and happy with their life, what is your advice to people in their 20s?” Green’s post included only a scree
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Obama Did NOT Give $3.7 Million Grant To Wuhan, China, Virology Lab To Study Coronavirus
Did President Barack Obama award $3.7 million to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2015 to study the coronavirus that has grown into a global pandemic? No, that is not true: Government documents show that the money -- actually about $3.4 mill
Truth or Fiction?→ Did FARK’s Drew Curtis ‘Predict’ a Difficult 2020 — in 2015?
On May 1 2020, FARK‘s Drew Curtis retweeted a tweet of his own — oddly, a December 31 2015 commentary about being a time traveler from 2020, advising readers to enjoy the new year (2016), because 2020 was apparently going to be something e
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Venice in Quarantine’: Did Flamingos Flock to Quiet Canals?
Quirky or uplifting news was in high demand as the COVID-19 pandemic dragged on, which was likely the reason that a Facebook post (“Venice … in quarantine,” archived here) purportedly showing flamingos in the deserted canals of Venic
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID-19 Death Rate In NYC Is NOT 200 Times Higher Than World’s 10 Largest Cities
Is the rate of coronavirus-related deaths being reported out of New York City 200 times higher than the death rates of the world's largest 10 cities? No, that's not true: A meme making the claim uses inaccurate numbers for the total deaths in
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Premature Claim about Ventilator Production
In a March 21 press briefing, President Donald Trump prematurely declared that automakers, including Ford and General Motors, were manufacturing much needed ventilators “right now.” It wasn’t until nearly a week after the president’s cl
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘This is What Happens When You Tell Workers to Self Isolate but Don’t Protect Their Incomes’
On March 18 2020, the top post on Reddit’s r/all (from r/pics) was titled, “This is what happens when you tell workers to self isolate but don’t protect their incomes,” and it showed crowds of people standing close to one another
Truth or Fiction?→ AOC Did Not Say the ‘Only Reason Trump is Keeping His Promises is to Infuence the Outcome’ of the 2020 Election
In late January 2020, memes circulated on Twitter claiming that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) said that “the “nly reason President Trump is keeping his campaign promises is to influence the outcome of the 2020 election”:
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Fish Antibiotics Are NOT A Safe Substitute For Human Antibiotics
Are fish antibiotics the same as human antibiotics and, therefore, perfectly safe for human consumption? No, that's not true: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns that drugs shouldn't be shared "between species" because, among other rea
FactCheck.org→ Viral Posts Spread Iran-‘Deep State’ Conspiracy Theory
Quick Take An online conspiracy theory falsely claims that Democratic leaders coordinated the June attacks on two oil tankers and a U.S. drone and that President Donald Trump caught them in the act. The Trump administration has placed the blame squarel
FactCheck.org→ Trump Attacks Romney with Baseless Viral Claims
Several days after Sen. Mitt Romney was the lone Republican vote to convict President Donald Trump of abuse of power in the impeachment trial, the president used his Twitter account to spread dubious and unfounded viral claims about the Utah senator. W
Truth or Fiction?→ 2016 ‘Bern the Witch’ Sanders Campaign Event
On January 14 2020, Twitter user @TrinityMustache claimed that the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign hosted a “Bern the Witch” event attacking then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton: Bernie Sanders had a “Bern the Witch”