On August 6 2021, the Facebook page “Premium Internet Curation” shared screenshots of a Twitter thread, the latter pertaining to The Starlight Barking — a purportedly bizarre sequel to the book from which 101 Dalmatians was adapted
Snopes→ ‘Modern Family’ Medicine: Bowen, Sister Help Injured Woman
A woman who fainted and hit her head on a rock after stopping to rest in Utah's Arches National Park woke up to hear a familiar voice and wondered if she might be watching television.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Fully Vaccinated Individuals In Italy Did NOT Burn Their COVID-19 ‘Green’ Certification Passes In Solidarity With Unvaccinated Individuals — There’s No Paper Pass
Did individuals in Italy who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 burn their vaccine "passes" in solidarity with unvaccinated individuals? No, that's not true: Italy's COVID-19 "green" certification is a digital pass -- not a green piece
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Voltaire Did NOT Say ‘To Learn Who Rules Over You, Simply Find Out Who You Are Not Allowed To Criticize’
Did French philosopher Voltaire say, "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize"? No, that's not true: Two academic authorities on Voltaire told Lead Stories the words were not those of the French w
Snopes→ Did the Movie ‘Young Frankenstein’ Inspire Title of Aerosmith’s ‘Walk This Way’?
Rumor has it the rock band found an unlikely inspiration in the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy.
AllSides→ Senators press Facebook for answers about why it cut off misinformation researchers
https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/09/facebook-klobuchar-warner-letter-nyu-ad-observatory/ Facebook’s dec
Snopes→ Is New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Resigning?
Cuomo had resisted calls to resign.
Snopes→ Did Netflix Announce Catherine Zeta-Jones Joined ‘Addams Family’ Series ‘Wednesday’?
The eight-episode series will center around the Addams family's morbid anti-hero daughter Wednesday.
Snopes→ Did Schwarzenegger Urge People to Trust Experts on COVID-19?
"If you're house is on fire, you don't go to YouTube, you call the damn fire department."
Snopes→ Big Win for $1T Infrastructure Bill: Senate Shows It Can Act
The 69-30 tally provides momentum for this first phase of Biden’s “Build Back Better” priorities, now headed to the House.
Full Fact→ Why it’s unlikely Geronimo the alpaca’s TB test gave a false positive
Environment secretary George Eustice has been criticised for an article he wrote in the Mail on Sunday about an alpaca due to be culled after testing positive for bovine tuberculosis (bTB). The alpaca named Geronimo first tested positive in 2017, but h
Full Fact→ The Pfizer vaccine, teenagers and myocarditis
A video on Facebook with thousands of views makes a number of claims about children and the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine. A voice in the video says: “In children between the age of 12 to 17 year old that took the Pfizer vaccine, we have 9,246 adverse
Full Fact→ What extra expenses can MPs claim if they have children
We’ve been asked by readers to check a viral claim on Twitter that says: “The £5,435 an MP gets to feed *each* of their children (on top of their salary) is more than the £3,087.96 a Universal Credit claimant gets each year.&rdq
Snopes→ Did the Company That Makes McFlurry Machines Get Hit with a Restraining Order?
Gizmodo captured a development in a "right to repair" lawsuit with the McHeadline "McFlurry Machine Company Just Got Hit With a McRestraining Order."
Snopes→ Crime Historian Conducts Dig for D.B. Cooper Case Evidence
The case of D.B. Cooper has become infamous, not only in the Pacific Northwest but also in the country.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Here’s How You Can Make Your Own "Mike Lindell Packet Capture Video"
In a video (archived here) published on Frankspeech on July 24, 2021 titled "Mike Lindell Releases First Packet Captures Ahead Of August 10, 11 and 12 Cyber Symposium", Mike Lindell showed a snippet of video claiming it showed packet capt
Full Fact→ Headlines exaggerate danger of hydrogen boilers
A front-page article in the Telegraph, and reports in several other papers including the Sun, Mirror and MailOnline, as well as specialist publication Recharge, claim that hydrogen boilers pose a greater risk than conventional gas boilers and could cau
Snopes→ Actor Christina Applegate Announces Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis
The "Anchorman" and "Dead to Me" star said "it's been a tough road," in an announcement made on Twitter in August 2021.
FactCheck.org→ Video: Irish Professor Makes Unfounded Claims About Long-Term Effects of mRNA Vaccines
Our latest video with Univision Noticias addresses baseless claims made by an Irish professor about the long-term effects of the mRNA vaccines. The mRNA vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. against COVID-19 represent a new vaccine platform, but the
Lead Stories→ Mike Lindell’s Cyber Symposium Started: We’re Looking For These Answers About His Promised Election Fraud Evidence
Will the materials Mike Lindell releases at his Cyber Symposium meet evidentiary standards of authenticity to support his claim the 2020 election was stolen? Here's how Lead Stories will test the data: By asking the questions we sent to h
Snopes→ US Turns to Social Media Influencers to Boost Vaccine Rates
It’s part of a growing U.S. state- and city-based movement using local social media influencers to reach the most vaccine-hesitant at a neighborhood level.
Poynter→ There’s no truth that VAERS system shows 6,000 ‘died because of’ COVID vaccines
A TikTok video liked more than 936,000 times claims that COVID-19 vaccines have killed some 6,000 people in the United States. “The Vaccine Adverse Event Recording System shows that 5,946 people have died because of the vaccine,” the user s
Logically→ About 10 percent of vaccine hesitancy in the U.K. is due to extreme fear of needles.
A recent study of 15,000 UK adults suggested that 10% of vaccine hestancy could be due to needle phobia.
Washington Post→ PhRMA’s misleading description of Medicare drug-price legislation
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America trade group is running an ad that describes a worst-case scenario.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: The CDC Did NOT Publish ‘Green Zone Concentration Camp Protocol’ Preparing For Mass Imprisonment
Did the CDC publish "Green Zone concentration camp protocol," preparing for mass imprisonment? No, that's not true: online radio host Stew Peters made the false claim about a set of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines th
Snopes→ Did CDC Say 74% of COVID Cases Tied to Provincetown Event Were Fully Vaxxed?
Some social media users misconstrued a statistic to suggest that COVID-19 vaccinations didn’t work.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: If Your Employer Requires COVID-19 Vaccination, You Should NOT Make Them Fire You In Order To Receive Unemployment Benefits
If your employer requires you to be vaccinated against COVID-19, should you make them fire you in order to receive unemployment benefits? No, that's not true: in many states, unemployment benefits applicants who are fired are not eligible
Snopes→ Did Anti-Vaccine Radio Host Dick Farrel Die of COVID-19?
The right-wing radio host had repeatedly expressed skepticism about the virus, and opposition to vaccines, before his death in August 2021.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: German Newspaper Bild Did NOT Apologize For ‘Covid Hysteria’
Did Germany's biggest tabloid newspaper, Bild, issue an apology for "Covid hysteria" or "Covid deception" during the coronavirus pandemic? No, that's not true: In a video published in May 2021, Bild's editor in chief Julian Reichelt asked
Snopes→ Epstein Accuser Sues Prince Andrew, Citing Sex Assault at 17
Lawyers for Virginia Giuffre filed the lawsuit in Manhattan federal court.
The Dispatch→ Does a Photo Show Sen. Rand Paul Getting a COVID Vaccination?
Sen. Rand Paul went viral online with a video in which he encouraged the American people to resist the “mandates, lockdowns, and harmful policies of petty tyrants and bureaucrats,” referring to mask mandates and vaccine requirements institu
FactCheck.org→ Tax Credit for Plug-in Electric Vehicles Still Available for Certain Models
Dozens of electric cars and trucks still qualify for a federal tax credit of up to $7,500 for buyers purchasing new plug-in electric vehicles. President Joe Biden misleadingly claimed that the Trump administration allowed the tax credit to expire, whic
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Obama Did NOT Pay For A New Hospital Named Kunduz In Martha’s Vineyard After Lavish Birthday Party
Did Barack Obama pay for a new hospital in Martha's Vineyard named Kunduz following his lavish birthday party? No, that's not true: the post is a satirical dig at the former president, who threw an elaborate 60th birthday party for himsel
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Slain Chicago Police Officer Ella French Did NOT Leave Behind An Infant Daughter
When Chicago police officer Ella French was killed in the line of duty, had she recently returned to work after maternity leave and did she leave an infant? No, the superintendent of Chicago police said in a news conference that those per
Snopes→ Did George Bernard Shaw Write ‘Beware False Knowledge’?
The line struck a chord with hundreds of thousands of Facebook users in August 2021.
Health Feedback→ COVID-19 vaccines are a much safer way of acquiring immunity than infection, which requires exposing the person to risks from the disease
REVIEW On 20 December 2020, Israel launched the fastest COVID-19 vaccination campaign seen in the world so far. In only two months, half of the country’s population had received at least one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. This also
Snopes→ Did Slain Police Officer Ella French Have a 2-Month-Old Daughter?
The tragic killing of a Chicago police officer was embellished by tabloids and social media users.
Logically→ COVID-19 vaccines do not contain graphene oxide nanoparticles.
None of the WHO approved COVID-19 vaccines contain graphene oxide nanoparticles.
Snopes→ Cassie the Robot Made History By Completing a 5K Run
Oregon State University's bipedal robot completed the course in 53 minutes.
Truth or Fiction?→ Ranking of the Most Common Birthdays
On August 5 2021, a Facebook account shared a purported list of “most common birthdays,” asking “Sooo I rank #154 of the most common birthdays… wbu ”: As of August 6 2021, the post had been shared more than 76,000 times.