Dueling protests became dueling narratives in Portland, Oregon on June 29 2019 when clashes erupted between Proud Boys attendees and anti-fascist demonstrators, quickly devolving into rumors that milkshakes thrown at one person contained one or more damaging or caustic substances — including quick-dry concrete, quicklime, and caustic chemicals. Rumors to that effect were spread by the verified Portland …
In March 2018, the Facebook page “Historical Pictures” shared the following meme (archived here), purportedly a screenshot of a Facebook post in which a woman named Emily Noel mistakes discarded drill bits for bullets: Underneath a photograph of what is clearly four drill bits, a poster named “Emily Noel” wrote: Was At the gas station …
Did a Woman on Facebook Mistake Drill Bits Discarded at a Gas Station for Bullets? Read More »
On June 23 2019 pundit Dinesh D’Souza tweeted a very old claim: That Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) once married her own brother: In the tweet above, D’Souza claims without citation or evidence that Omar “married her brother to evade immigration laws,” and that “she divorced him and illicitly filed joint tax returns with another guy years …
There Is No Credible Evidence Rep. Ilhan Omar Married Her Brother Read More »
In late June 2019, United States President Donald Trump repeatedly claimed that his administration did not have a family separation policy at the border — going further to attribute the controversial actions to his predecessor, Barack Obama. Trump outright stated this lie multiple times in a series of interviews between June 21 and June 23, 2019: On …
Did U.S. President Barack Obama Have a Separation Policy at the Border? Read More »
A headline about former First Daughter Malia Obama (archived here) depositing a suspiciously large check got a lot of traction on social media in June 2019: However, this story is suspect for two reasons. First, it contains little beyond a provocative headline, a photograph, and a few lines of text: Malia Obama cashed a check for …
On June 18 2019, Twitter user @johncatsjr shared the following tweet (“why I’m voting for Donald Trump in 2020”), a missive picked up by innumerable other users — along with an original misspelling: In that first version, the user spelled “manufacturing” as “manufactuing,” an error present in reposts of the same cut-and-pasted content: In the …
‘Why I’m Voting for Donald Trump in 2020’ Twitter Meme Read More »
In June 2019 — Pride Month in the United States — the following image circulated on social media, suggesting that one of the sexual orientations added to New York City’s “Gay Street” sign was “pedosexual”: The image depicted the corner of Gay Street in New York City, which is adjacent to Christopher Street: Christopher Street …
Does a New ‘Gay Street’ Sign Near Stonewall Include ‘Pedosexual’ in Pride? Read More »
On June 11 2019, a Facebook user shared the following text-based status update (archived here), claiming the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against the use of the Qur’an for swearing oaths: Right off the bat, the format of the post was a scourge to fact-checking sites. Text against a colorful background, rarely if ever accompanied by …
Did the Supreme Court Rule 5-4 Against Swearing in on the Qur’an? Read More »
In early June 2019, a number of English-speaking news organizations reported that a 17-year-old Dutch girl named Noa Pothove had been “euthanized” at her request, following years of unsuccessful treatment due to the trauma of rape and sexual abuse: Among organizations reporting the claim were the Washington Post, the Daily Mail, The Sun, the New York Post, Fox News, and …
Was a Dutch Teenager Euthanized Because of Rape Trauma? Read More »
On June 4 2019, Facebook user James Johnson shared a video (archived here) purportedly showing large crowds of supporters shouting “we love Trump.” He then claimed that news outlets in the United Kingdom and United States deliberately refused to air the footage: Attached to the video was a status update: Massive crowd in the UK …
Did the Media Refuse to Cover Massive Crowds in England Chanting ‘We Love Trump’? Read More »
