Multiple Facebook posts shared hundreds of times claim “viruses do not harm or kill [people]” and that any “harm and death” caused by a virus can be attributed to "the overreaction of a weakened and dysfunctional immune system". The claim is f
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Lead Stories→ Fact Check: BLM Did NOT Buy Two New Luxury Buses With Money Raised — They’re Toronto Raptors Team Buses
Did Black Lives Matter buy two new luxury buses with money donated to the movement? No, that's not true: The black luxury buses with "BLACK LIVES MATTER" written in large letters on the sides belong to the Toronto Raptors basketb
Full Fact→ How to check coronavirus cases near you
If you live in England, it is easy to check how many cases of Covid-19 are being reported in your area each day. The government publishes this information every afternoon, along with other data, on its coronavirus dashboard. How to check First, v
Full Fact→ We do not test 330,000 people a day for Covid-19
“We are testing 330,000 people a day.” Nick Gibb MP, 5 August 2020 [2:26:34] While talking about the government’s Test and Trace system on the Today programme, the schools minister, Nick Gibb, said that 330,000 people are bein
FactCheck.org→ Asthma Medicine Not Proven as COVID-19 ‘Cure’
Quick Take A viral headline on Facebook claims that a vaccine isn’t “Needed” for COVID-19 because “There Is Already A Cure.” But the supposed “cure” is an asthma medication, touted by a Texas doctor, that has not yet b
FactCheck.org→ COVID-19 Nasal Swab Test Does Not Cause Risk of Infection
Quick Take A viral Facebook post makes the false claim that the nasal swab test for COVID-19 damages the “blood-brain barrier” and can therefore lead to brain infections. Medical experts say the swab test is completely safe. Full Story To hel
Truth or Fiction?→ First Day of School in Paulding County, Georgia
On August 4 2020, a purported photograph of the first day of school in Paulding County, Georgia circulated on social media — showing a densely crowded school hallway and only a few students wearing masks: The same image was shared t
AllSides→ How Trump should change the way journalists understand “objectivity”
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/8/4/21306919/donald-trump-media-ethics-tom-rosenstiel The
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence That Countries Using Hydroxychloroquine Have Far Fewer COVID-19 Deaths
Have multiple studies shown that countries treating COVID-19 with hydroxychloroquine suffer fewer deaths than those like the U.S. where its use is restricted? No, that's not true: The claim was made without citing any such studie
Health Feedback→ Health authorities encourage the general public to wear face masks to reduce COVID-19 transmission
REVIEW An enormous variety of social media posts questioning the safety and efficacy of face masks to control the spread of COVID-19 have backed their claims by citing health authorities such as the World Health Organization (example), the U.S. Cent
Truth or Fiction?→ After ‘Defunding,’ Did Minneapolis Police Advise Residents to Give up Their Phones, Wallets, and Purses to Criminals?
On August 1 2020, Daily Caller writer Kyle Hooten shared the following screenshot claiming that a defunded Third Precinct in Minneapolis instructed residents to simply hand valuables over to criminals due to an uptick in crime: Minneapolis City Gove
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Wearing Dirty Masks Does NOT Cause Legionnaires’ Disease
Can wearing dirty face masks cause Legionnaires' disease? No, that's not true: Legionnaires' disease, a type of pneumonia, is caused by bacteria called Legionella. There's no evidence to suggest that a person can contract the dis
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: 409,152 Non-Sealed Indictments For ‘Child Pedophilia’ And Trafficking Offenses NOT ‘Coming To The Surface’
Were 409,152 indictments for "child pedophilia" and trafficking offenses "coming to the surface" in July, 2020? No, that's not true: This claim is unsupported by facts. Much of evidence presented by a website that promotes QAnon
AFP Fact Check→ Misleading claim circulates online comparing severity of COVID-19 with swine flu
Multiple Facebook posts shared tens of thousands of times claim the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, has infected far fewer people than the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, but “media hysteria” has prompted an overblown response. Th
Snopes→ Foreign Threats Loom Ahead of US Presidential Election
As the Nov. 3 presidential vote nears, there are fresh signs that the nation’s electoral system is again under attack from foreign adversaries.
Snopes→ Does Coronavirus Linger in the Body?
There are a few places in the body that are less accessible to the immune system and where it is difficult to eradicate all viral infections.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Bluegill Are NOT One Of The Most Dangerous Fish In North America
Are bluegill one of the most dangerous fish in North America, related to piranhas and responsible for 500 deaths in the USA annualy? No, that's not true: Bluegill are not related to piranahs and they don't attack people. The clai
FactCheck.org→ Lincoln Project
Political Leanings: Republican/Anti-President Trump 2018 Spending: N/A Established in late 2019, the Lincoln Project is a conservative super PAC that aims to “defeat President Trump and Trumpism at the ballot box” in 2020. According to the
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Executive Orders on Prescription Drugs
President Donald Trump recently signed executive orders that he says will reduce drug prices by 50% “and even greater, in certain instances.” That could happen for some individuals, but it remains to be seen how the orders will be implement
Health Feedback→ Still no evidence that hydroxychloroquine can cure or prevent COVID-19
REVIEW This claim first appeared in a 27 July 2020 live stream video (transcript archived here) published by Breitbart News. The video features a group of physicians, self-identified as members of America’s Frontline Doctors, who advocate against
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Proof 5G Causes Cancer, Infertility Or Targets Children For ‘Genocide’
Are 5G cell towers targeting children at playgrounds with radiation that causes cancer and infertility as part of a "genocide"? No, that is not true. There is no proof that 5G causes cancer or infertility, and zero evidence that
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘New Zealand Rugby Game Today as We Have No COVID Cases’
On July 26 2020, a post to Reddit’s r/Damnthatsinteresting purportedly showed images from a rugby game in New Zealand on the same day, in a stadium full of fans — because the country has successfully suppressed COVID-19: New Zea
FactCheck.org→ The President’s Trumped-Up Claims of Voter Fraud
In a July 30 tweet, President Donald Trump suggested for the first time that the 2020 election should be postponed, drawing — once again — false distinctions between mail-in and absentee ballots. With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee
Full Fact→ Full Fact calls on the Prime Minister to correct the record on poverty
Poverty is an issue of fundamental importance to society, but it’s also complex to measure. This can make it harder for the public to get a clear picture of what is happening to poverty in the UK. One way we might expect to improve our understand
The Dispatch→ Is the NFL Donating $250 Million to Black Lives Matter?
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Lead Stories→ Fact Check: The U.S. Postal Service IS Telling Americans To Request Mail-In Ballots At Least 15 Days Before The Election
Did the United States Postal Service advise Americans to give their mail-in ballots 14 days round trip in order to make it in time for the election? No, that is partially misleading. A meme that has gone viral claims Americans ne
FactCheck.org→ In Viral Video, Doctor Falsely Touts Hydroxychloroquine as COVID-19 ‘Cure’
Quick Take A widely shared video, featuring a doctor falsely claiming hydroxychloroquine is a “cure” for COVID-19, ignited an online storm that resulted in the video being pulled by social media platforms. There is no known cure for COVID-19, and c
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: United Nations Did NOT Order Trump To Stand Down In Portland
Did the United Nations order President Trump to "stand down" in Portland? No, that's not true. An article that has gone viral claiming the UN has told Trump to "stop Federal officers from using non-lethal force against 'peaceful
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: The CDC Does NOT Count Pneumonia And Seasonal Flu In The COVID-19 Toll
Did the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just cut the COVID-19 tally from 90,000 to 11,000 in Florida to correct accidental inclusion of pneumonia and seasonal flu? No, the claim was made with no facts or sources to back it
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NIH Did NOT Admit 5G Can Actually Create Coronavirus Within Human Cells
Did the NIH admit 5G can actually create coronavirus within human cells? No, that's not true. The site Infowars.com claimed the National Institutes of Health admitted that 5G technology can create coronavirus within human cells based on a
Truth or Fiction?→ Pedophile’s Decapitated Corpse Not Found on Judge’s Doorstep After Bail Hearing
On July 26 2020, what appeared to be a shocking local news story (headline: “Pedophile’s Decapitated Corpse Found On Judge’s Doorstep After Bail Hearing In Ocala, Florida”) began circulating on Facebook and Twitter: It's times li
Full Fact→ Changes to government Covid-19 death data won’t make a big difference to the overall death count
On 16 July, the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine published an article which warned that, under Public Health England’s (PHE) system of reporting deaths from coronavirus, a patient who tested positive for Covid-19 but was successfully treated in
Health Feedback→ A trypsin-based oral spray reportedly deactivates SARS-CoV-2 in a liquid suspension but has not yet been tested in the mouth
REVIEW A video posted on Facebook on 20 July 2020 reports the contents of a press release issued the same day by life sciences company Enzymatica claiming that its oral spray deactivated 98.3% of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro within 20 minutes. However, the h
Health Feedback→ Scientific evidence supports the use of face masks for reducing the transmission of respiratory diseases including COVID-19
REVIEW A Facebook post published in May 2020 by a user named “Caitlyn RN” (see Notes for more information) claimed that masks do not prevent the spread of pathogens, and that wearing a mask can cause oxygen deficiency and hypercapnia (high carbo
FactCheck.org→ What Science Says About Children, COVID-19 and School Reopenings
In promoting the reopening of schools this fall, Trump administration officials have, at times, inaccurately described the evidence on how COVID-19 affects children: Adm. Brett Giroir, the coronavirus task force lead on testing, said on July 12 that
FactCheck.org→ Cuomo Distorts CDC Finding in Blaming Trump
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the over-the-top claim that if the Trump administration “had done its job, the virus wouldn’t come” to New York. Cuomo pointed to a study that suggested government officials could have better mitigated the spread o
FactCheck.org→ Video Misrepresents the Science Behind Face Masks
Quick Take A viral video misrepresents scientific papers and the reasons for wearing face masks to claim that they are ineffective in mitigating transmission of COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that masks may help preve
Full Fact→ Many children have been the victims of grooming gangs, but there’s no evidence for a figure of one million
A widely shared post on Facebook compares the public reaction to the killing of George Floyd with the reaction to the organised sexual abuse of children in the UK. It says: “The cops kill a man in America, massive civil unrest. 1 million innocent
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Proof Cat Owners May Have Higher Immunity Against COVID-19
Did an emergency room doctor find that cat owners have a reduced chance of contracting COVID-19? No, that's not true: Dr. Sabina Olex-Condor, a doctor from Poland who lives in Spain, has a hypothesis this may be the case based on a small sampl
Full Fact→ The government was wrong on its own data on Covid-19 tests for care homes
“Mr Speaker, I’m afraid he is simply in ignorance of the facts. Because the reality is that already 125,000 care home staff have been tested, 118,000—perhaps he didn’t know that Mr Speaker—118,000 care home workers have b