A viral image circulating on social media baselessly claimed that former Facebook employee Frances Haugen, who turned over troves of internal company documents to the Wall Street Journal, was not a real whistleblower, but a plant set up by Facebook i
Washington Post→ Youngkin’s false claim that McAuliffe ‘opposes’ election audits
Scrambling to overcome his own mistake, the GOP candidate in the Virginia gubernatorial race invents a claim against his opponent.
Snopes→ Did a Drunk Man Spend Hours Helping a Search Party Search for Himself?
The story was somewhat sensationalized in some retellings.
Health Feedback→ Contrary to claims in a LifeSiteNews article, COVID-19 vaccination makes it less likely for someone to get COVID-19
REVIEW An article about the COVID-19 vaccines was published by LifeSiteNews on 30 September 2021. Earlier this year, LifeSiteNews was permanently banned by Facebook for repeatedly violating the company’s COVID-19 policies. The website, whose a
Snopes→ Are These Rumors True About Zodiac Killer?
Allegedly, he was a fan of Lady Gaga, trolled Ted Bundy online, and had a friend who wanted the world to know about his murderous past.
Snopes→ Elderly Brown Bear Takes Home ‘Fattest Bear’ Title
Katmai National Park resident 480 Otis beat out younger bears to become the champion of chonk.
Snopes→ Yes, a California Man Sued a Psychic for Allegedly Failing To Remove a Curse
The story about the unusual lawsuit went viral.
Snopes→ Was Thanksgiving Originally a Celebration of the Massacre of a Native American Tribe?
The Pequot massacre of 1637 resulted in the deaths of several hundred indigenous people.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Cherry-Picked ‘Studies’ Do NOT Prove COVID Vaccines Don’t Work
Does a collection of "new studies" on COVID-19 prove vaccines are not working as claimed? No, that's not true: The claim rests on the false premise that vaccine makers and public health officials promised 100% prevention. No responsible s
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Plastic Water Bottles Do NOT Contain Dioxin, But Breast Cancer Researchers Worry About Other Compounds
Does drinking out of a water bottle that's been left in a hot car give people breast cancer due to dioxin exposure? No, that's not true: Dioxins can give people cancer, but dioxin is not found in the plastics used to bottle water, be they
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence So Far That ‘Slap A Teacher’ Challenge Is An Actual Thing On TikTok
Do "slap a teacher" challenge videos exist on TikTok? No, that's not true: Lead Stories has done an extensive search of TikTok and can find no proof that there are videos of students recording themselves slapping a teacher, then posting i
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Oregon Measure Would NOT Ban Animal Meat, NOT Mandate ‘Petri Dish’ Meat — But Beef Would Have To Die Of Old Age
Would a ballot initiative proposed in Oregon ban all animal meat and replace it with "'synthetic meat'" and "lab 'plant based protein'" that are "lab grown Petri dish vats of cells"? No, that's not true: Animal meat alternatives -- which
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: New South Wales Health Ministry Clip In ‘The Vaccinated Are Dying In Australia’ Is NOT Whole Story
Does a short clip taken from a press conference by the New South Wales Ministry of Health to update the public on COVID-19 tell the whole story of recent deaths there? No, that's missing crucial context: Dr. Marianne Gale, the deputy chie
Snopes→ Feds Won’t Seek Charges Against Cop in Jacob Blake Shooting
Federal prosecutors announced that they won’t file charges against a white police officer who shot Jacob Blake in Wisconsin in 2020 — a shooting that sparked protests that led to the deaths of two men.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: There Are NOT ‘Over 1,000 Cargo Ships Sitting Off The California Port’
Are there "over 1,000 cargo ships' sitting off the California coast at the end of the first week of October, 2021? No, that's not true: Although there was an unusually high number of ships waiting to be unloaded, the number was less than
Snopes→ Anti-Vaccine Chiropractors Rising Force of Misinformation
At a time when the surgeon general says misinformation has become an urgent threat to public health, an investigation by The Associated Press found a vocal and influential group of chiropractors has been capitalizing on the pandemic by sowing fear and
Snopes→ Biden Won’t Invoke Executive Privilege on Trump Jan. 6 Docs
Former President Donald Trump has pledged to try to keep records from his time in the White House from being turned over to investigators.
FactCheck.org→ Migrants Not Responsible for Latest COVID-19 Surge
Infectious disease experts say low vaccination rates, resistance to protective measures such as wearing a mask and the highly transmissible delta variant are driving the current surge of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. But with numerous Republicans criticiz
Snopes→ Yes, NASA Is Launching ‘Armageddon’ Mission to Destroy an Asteroid
It's all in the name of "planetary defense."
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: State Rep DID Propose Requiring Vasectomies For Some ‘Inseminators’ — But It’s Parody Legislation After Texas Abortion Law
Did a Democratic Pennsylvania state representative create a bill that enforces reproductive responsibility for men by requiring vasectomies for some "inseminators" and by offering a $10,000 reward for reporting "scofflaws" who don't submi
Snopes→ Did a Meteor Fall Into a Volcano?
This is a genuine photograph, but the stated destination of this meteor was likely off by a few miles.
The Dispatch→ Did 23,000 Maricopa County Ballots Come From Voters Using a Previous Address?
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Snopes→ Trump Hotel Lost $70M Despite Millions in Foreign Business
The luxury hotel just a few blocks from the White House was struggling so badly that the Trump Organization had to inject $27 million from other parts of its business.
Snopes→ Federal Judge Says ‘Frivolous’ Lawsuit Was Filed to ‘Harass’ Snopes
The litigant and attorney face court-ordered sanctions as a penalty for targeting Snopes with baseless lawsuit.
The Dispatch→ Are New York Hospitals Refusing to Release Newborns to Unvaccinated Parents?
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FactCheck.org→ Republicans Mischaracterize Proposed Financial Reporting Requirement
To help detect unreported income and narrow the gap between federal taxes collected and owed, the Biden administration has proposed expanding annual reporting requirements for banks and other financial institutions to include the total amounts of money
Truth or Fiction?→ New Astrological Dates 2021 (and Ophiuchus)
A September 30 2021 image (“New Astrological Dates”) and accompanying rumor of a thirteenth zodiac sign — Ophiuchus — began its most recent voyage around social media with the following commentary: Your thoughts america. I̵
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Facebook Has NO Immediate Plans To Reinstate Trump’s Account
Does Facebook have any immediate plans to reinstate Donald Trump's account? No, that's not true: Facebook suspended the now former president's account on January 7, 2021. The suspension is for at least two years, at which point Facebook s
Snopes→ Gunman Held in Shooting of 2 Staffers Inside Senior Facility
Two staff members were fatally shot at a Maryland senior living facility just outside of Washington, D.C., and a suspect was taken into custody.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Screenshot Of Live Ship Map Does NOT Exclusively Show Sitting Ships – It’s Primarily Moving Ships
Does a viral screenshot of a live map of ships' locations exclusively show ships that are moored or anchored rather than underway? No, that's not true: The screenshot primarily shows ships underway, according to common iconography used on
Snopes→ Panda Cubs at Tokyo Zoo Get Their Names, to Debut in January
Giant panda twins born at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo in June got their names — Lei Lei for the female cub, and Xiao Xiao for her brother.
Snopes→ Does Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine Contain Aborted Fetal Cells?
An October 2021 viral video rehashed an old controversy.
Full Fact→ What do we know about the AstraZeneca vaccine in pregnancy?
We have been asked lots of questions on WhatsApp regarding the use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in pregnancy. Here we answer a collection of the queries. We have written lots more about the AstraZeneca vaccine, and the other Covid-19 vacci
Logically→ A person is not fully vaccinated until three months after the last dose of any COVID-19 vaccine.
Health agencies worldwide state that a person is fully vaccinated after two weeks of receiving their final dose.
Full Fact→ Most police have not been found guilty of sexual misconduct
52% of police have been found guilty of sexual misconduct while wearing uniform in the line of duty. Professor Aisha Gill, Good Morning Scotland, 2 October 2021. On BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme [starting at 1hr 10mins 45s
Snopes→ Remnants of Black Church Uncovered in Colonial Williamsburg
The First Baptist Church was formed in 1776 by free and enslaved Black people.
Full Fact→ Boris Johnson claim about HGV driver visas sparks confusion
Dan Walker: Do you recognise these figures, because you’re trying to push to get some HGV drivers coming and working here, according to one of the papers today just 27 drivers have applied for...Boris Johnson: 127.Dan Walker: Well we’ve go
AllSides→ Trump’s Final Numbers
https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/ The statistics for the entirety of Donald Trump
Snopes→ Americans Agree Misinformation is a Problem, Poll Shows
Most also think social media companies, and the people that use them, bear a good deal of blame for the situation.
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Final Numbers
Summary The statistics for the entirety of Donald Trump’s time in office are nearly all compiled. As we did for his predecessor four years ago, we present a final look at the numbers. The economy lost 2.9 million jobs. The unemployment rate incr