The story was first reported by the California Globe.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence Symptoms Of The Omicron Variant Used To Cover Up Effects of COVID Vaccines
Are symptoms of the omicron variant being used to cover up effects of COVID-19 vaccines? No, there is no evidence that there is a cover-up of COVID vaccine adverse effects via symptoms of the new omicron variant. An article making that cl
Snopes→ Jacqueline Avant, Wife of Music Legend, Killed in Shooting
Jacqueline Avant, a Los Angeles philanthropist and the wife of legendary music executive Clarence Avant, was fatally shot at their home in Beverly Hills, California, early Wednesday, police said.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Japan Did NOT Endorse Ivermectin As COVID-19 Treatment — Cases Plummeted For Another Reason
Did Japan endorse the use of ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19, sending cases plummeting in late August 2021? No, that's not true: While Haruo Ozaki, the chairman of the Tokyo Medical Association, said at an August 13, 2021, press co
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Federal Magistrate Did NOT Approve $110 Million Defamation Suit Filed By Kyle Rittenhouse Against LeBron James
Did a federal magistrate approve a $110 million defamation suit filed by Kyle Rittenhouse against LeBron James? No, that's not true: The article making the claim is from a network of satire websites that have published fictitious claims a
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Media Is NOT Barred From Covering Ghislaine Maxwell Trial
Is the media barred from the courtroom in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial? No, that's not true: An order from the presiding judge said that a press pool can be in the courtroom, and other media personnel can cover the trial from overflow cour
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: U.S. Military Did NOT Arrest President Biden’s Senior Advisor Mike Donilon
Did the military arrest Mike Donilon, President Joe Biden's senior advisor? No, that's not true: An official at the Pentagon told Lead Stories that this claim was false. Also, there has been no other media coverage of Donilon being arrest
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Several Company Leaders, Public Figures Did NOT Resign On First Day Of Ghislaine Maxwell Trial — Only Twitter CEO
Did various leaders of major companies and public figures resign or get fired on the first day of the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was multimillionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's girlfriend and alleged co-conspirator? Not for the most
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Drinks In Photos Do NOT Contain Sheep Feces — This Taiwanese Treat Is Tapioca
Is a drink containing sheep feces now in demand in China because it is high in protein and also can make a person high? No, that's not true: This spoof post includes genuine images showing a popular Taiwanese drink called bubble tea, or b
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘In Greece, If You Are Over 60 and Not Vaccinated, You Will Be Fined 100 Euros a Month’
On December 1 2021, Imgur user athansTaker shared a meme about a purportedly looming fine for unvaccinated people in Greece over the age of 60: Across an unrelated photograph of a blue frog in a tree, text read: In Greece, if you are over 60 and not
PolitiFact→ Facebook posts – Facebook post wrongly suggests variants are fake, revealed to ‘keep the fear going’
"Don’t be fooled by the next ‘Variant’! There are actually 1000’s of them. They just will pick the next one to keep the fear going."
PolitiFact→ Facebook posts – Black Friday did not originate with the sale of enslaved people
Black Friday originated in 1904 when enslaved people were sold at a discount to boost the economy.
PolitiFact→ Facebook posts – No gag order in Ghislaine Maxwell trial and courtroom is open to press, public
“BREAKING: Judge in Ghislaine Maxwell trial issues media-wide gag order: all press & spectators barred from courtroom.”
PolitiFact→ Tate Reeves – Fact-check: How Mississippi’s abortion law compares with laws in Europe
“39 out of 42 (countries) in Europe have more restrictive abortion laws” than Mississippi.
PolitiFact→ Facebook posts – No evidence that Biden canceling an oil pipeline caused higher U.S. gas prices
Low gas prices in Russia, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia show that Joe Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone Pipeline project is to blame for U.S. prices.
PolitiFact→ Viral image – No, Kyle Rittenhouse didn’t sue CNN for $400 million
“Kyle Rittenhouse files $400 million suit against CNN!”
Snopes→ Sports Bettors Dream: 86 Able to Bet on Game After It Ended
But the 86 New Jersey gamblers who thought they were beating the system had their bets on a British soccer game voided, and the two betting companies involved got fined.
PolitiFact→ Facebook posts – Most military veterans get a boost from Social Security, but not in the form of monthly payments
“If you were in the military before 2002 you get an additional $1,200 a year, ($100 per month) in Social Security. But you have to ask for it and almost no one knows about it.”
PolitiFact→ Viral image – No, Virgil Abloh wasn’t a defendant in the Ghislaine Maxwell case
Says Virgil Abloh was a defendant in Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal case when he died a day before the trial started.
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘The Maximum Legal Campaign Donation is Indexed to Inflation, But the Minimum Wage is Not’
On December 1 2021, Imgur user Lanhdanan shared an undated Twitter screenshot with an uncited claim that maximum campaign donations were tied to inflation — but the federal minimum wage was not: Although, as mentioned, the context of the date wa
PolitiFact→ Bloggers – There’s no proof COVID-19 vaccines are causing healthy athletes to collapse
Athletes are collapsing with heart-related issues due to the COVID-19 vaccines
Snopes→ Avalanche Delays Holiday Tradition in Alaska’s Largest City
A holiday tradition in Alaska’s largest city for more than 60 years got off to a dim start this year.
PolitiFact→ Viral image – Image showing Jeffrey Epstein, Joe Biden posing together isn’t real
A photo shows Jeffrey Epstein with Joe Biden.
PolitiFact→ Viral image – Video of child shouting expletive at Jill Biden has been altered
Video shows child shouting an expletive at Jill Biden.
Snopes→ Fauci: 1st US Case of COVID-19 Omicron Variant Identified
A person in California became the first in the U.S. to have an identified case of the COVID-19 omicron variant.
Snopes→ Did a NY Clinician Express Hope That Omicron Variant ‘F*cks People Up’?
The post originated on the r/offmychest forum on Reddit.
FactCheck.org→ Viral Post Misrepresents Facts in Rittenhouse Trial
Quick Take Kyle Rittenhouse said that he went to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to defend a car dealership during protests against police brutality in August 2020. He was not there to defend his grandparents’ gas station, as a viral social media post falsel
Snopes→ Councilman Andre Dickens Wins Atlanta Mayor Race over Moore
Dickens won a campaign dominated by concern over rising violent crime in the city.
Full Fact→ Email asking people to pay for Omicron Covid-19 tests is a scam
A scam email from a fake NHS email address is being circulated, claiming that the public must take new PCR tests that work with the newly-identified Omicron variant of concern. The NHS has publicly confirmed that these emails are a scam. Fu
Full Fact→ Picture of ‘giant mummy’ is a case of forced perspective
A post on Facebook claims to show “another giant Nubian mummy found in North America” adding “they have found to [sic] many to count”. The photo is genuine, and shows a mummy being given a CT scan at Quirónsalud Madrid Un
PolitiFact→ Facebook posts – No indication Malcolm X’s daughter’s death linked to info she released about her father’s murder
“Malcolm X’s daughter found dead in NYC days after she exposed NYPD and FBI were behind Malcolm X assassination”
Snopes→ Did a Child Yell an Obscenity at Jill Biden?
The visuals of the first lady reading a story are real, but the audio ...?
Full Fact→ Figures in viral mask graphic aren’t substantiated
A graphic claiming to show the varying transmission risk of Covid-19 between people wearing and not wearing masks has gone viral on Twitter again. This really isn't much to ask of us to keep one another safe. pic.twitter.com/v6JlqHyvET — Giles P
Logically→ A judge has granted Ghislaine Maxwell’s request that evidence in her trial be redacted to hide “sensational” and “impure” information.
The redaction requests and proposals were made by both Maxwell and the U.S. government during pre-trial proceedings in March 2021.
The Dispatch→ Did Kyle Rittenhouse Sue Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg?
Since Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted last month of all charges in the Kenosha shootings, misinformation about Rittenhouse and the case has spread online. A viral Facebook post claims that “Kyle Rittenhouse has filed a $60 million defam
Logically→ A registered UK company called Omicron Nanotechnology is responsible for the Omicron COVID-19 variant.
Omicron Nanotechnology dissolved in 2019 and the company manufactured special-purpose machinery,
Snopes→ Explosion of WWII Bomb in Munich Injures 4, Disrupts Trains
A World War II bomb exploded at a construction site next to a busy railway line in Munich, injuring four people, one of them seriously.
PolitiFact→ Can the Jan. 6 committee get to the truth about the attack — and get Americans to believe it?
The test facing the select committee is whether it can deliver a bipartisan account that is faithful to the facts — and that Americans will believe.
Snopes→ Abortion Rights at Stake in Historic Supreme Court Arguments
The justices will weigh whether to uphold a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks and overrule the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
Health Feedback→ Pathogens can evolve to be more virulent over time, contrary to nutritionist’s claim
REVIEW On 28 November 2021, nutritionist Mike Mutzel claimed in a Facebook post that “pathogens evolve to become less, not more, virulent over time”, citing “the law of declining virulence”. This claim was also made by others in the past, as