Gabby Petito Lodi Truck Stop Sighting Rumor Late on September 16 2021, a Facebook user shared a screenshot which referenced missing woman Gabby Petito at a truck stop in Lodi, California: As of midday on September 17 2021, the post was rapidly spreading and circulating on Facebook. It appeared to consist of a screenshot of a post to the private group “Lodi Crime […]
Biden ‘Fellow Down Under’ Controversy On September 16 2021, Trendolizer identified a Hannity.com post (“???????: Biden Seemingly Forgets Australian Prime Minister’s Name, Calls Him ‘That Fella Down Under’”) as showing signs of viral popularity. It began: President Biden seemingly forgot the name of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison during a joint press conference this week, referring to him as “that […]
Stillbirths in Mississippi Doubled During Pandemic On September 16 2021, an Imgur user shared the following screenshot, showing a headline’s claim that stillbirths had doubled in Mississippi since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic: A source for the headline was not visible in the screenshot, which was dated September 9 2021: Stillbirths have doubled during covid in Mississippi. Officials are sounding […]
CNN Missing 351K (or 400K) Votes in CA Recall Segment, Explained On September 15 2021, rumors that “351K” or “400K” votes had “disappeared” from California gubernatorial recall totals during a CNN segment were popular on social media: Someone explain to me why the Gavin Newsom recall effort had 351K votes DELETED from the YES total LIVE on CNN. What explanation is there for this?We need to […]
‘George Washington Mandated Inoculation’ On September 13 2021, a Facebook account shared a screenshot of the following tweet, which claimed that George Washington mandated inoculation: George Washington mandated inoculation against small pox. The Supreme Court has ruled state vaccine mandates to be constitutional for more than a century. We've had vaccine mandates, including for things like attending public schools, for […]
Norm Macdonald ‘When I Hear a Guy Lost a Battle to Cancer’ Quote On September 14 2021, the death of comedian Norm Macdonald was widely reported; soon after the news broke, a purported quote of Macdonald’s about “cancer” and “battles” began circulating on Imgur: Across news outlets, Macdonald’s death was attributed to long-term cancer, a diagnosis he did not publicly discuss. Macdonald was quoted as having said the […]
Right-Wing Disinformation Surges As California Recall Election Unfolds As the recall election against California governor Gavin Newsom drew closer to a close, both the leading right-wing candidate and conspiracy theorists continued pushing disinformation painting the process as “rigged” before polls even opened. As NBC News reported, Republican Larry Elder encouraged supporters to visit a website that claimed it had gathered evidence of fraud […]
Todd Starnes: ‘Biden Says Even Fox News Has A Mandatory Vaccine Policy’ On September 14 2021, a popular Imgur post showed a screenshot of a Todd Starnes tweet, in which Starnes questioned whether Fox News had a “mandatory vaccine policy”: Biden says even @FoxNews has a mandatory vaccine policy. Is that true? That can't be true. Have Hannity and Tucker and the others gotten the vaccine? That just can't be […]
CA Recall Election Disinformation Roundup In the lead up to the California gubernatorial recall election of September 14 2021, the usual disinformation purveyors went into high gear, poisoning the well with wall-to-wall claims of perfidy and election theft. Overall, the California recall and its elements were far-reaching, so we have broken this page up into parts. What’s the Deal with […]
‘I Know More Than the Scietists’ Protester On September 13 2021, a photograph of a man with a poorly spelled sign (“I know more than the scietists”) went viral on Twitter: this is where we’re at and it hurts. pic.twitter.com/GwM28DIBG2 — Andrew Baback Boozary MD (@drandrewb) September 13, 2021 One popular tweet read, “This is where we’re at and it hurts,” a […]
