In late 2018 and early 2019, an image circulated of a man holding a sign that read: “We Will Defeat America By Using The Weakness Of Liberal Leaders”: The image rarely appeared with any backstory, and it served as something of a Rorschach test. The “we” who might “defeat America” was implicit only in the …
On December 20, 2018, the Facebook page Try Decaf shared a photograph, purportedly showing used needles “found on the streets of Democrat run San Francisco”: As of January 4, 2019, the image had been shared thousands of times. Angry users commented on the photograph: paid for by these cities! give them free drugs and needles! …
Is This a Picture of Used Syringes Recovered in ‘Democrat Run’ San Francisco? Read More »
On January 1, 2019, British far-right activist Tommy Robinson (née Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon) shared a post with photographs of an injured man, claiming that fifteen Muslim men had seriously assaulted a British serviceman one day prior in Batley: I have been informed by his family that this serving soldier was out celebrating the new year in Batley …
Did Muslim Men Attack a UK Serviceman on New Year’s Eve? Read More »
On December 12, 2018, the Federalist Papers Project — a known purveyor of corrosive disinformation — published “Migrants DEMAND $50,000 Each to go Home, Or Else …” (filed under “opinion”), an article littered with racist imagery and calls for violence: If you needed any more proof that the migrant caravans at our Southern border are NOT what …
Did ‘Migrants’ Demand $50,000 Each to Leave the United States? Read More »
Amid escalating news reports of unarmed adults and children being teargassed over an international border by the United States, infants and children being forcibly, and permanently, taken from their parents, and asylum-seekers being held in detention camps, yet another story and image appeared: Photo credit: Adria Malcolm for Yahoo! News As some readers and viewers …
Are Asylum-Seekers Getting Numbers Written on Their Arms at the United States Border? Read More »
The days following a cross-border chemical attack by American forces on unarmed members of a caravan of men, women, and children from Central America across the border with Mexico were filled with disinformation and outright propaganda as people and organizations attempted to justify the actions. One of the tear gas canisters the US used on …
Was Teargas Used ‘Once a Month’ at the Border Under the Obama Administration? Read More »
On November 25th, 2018, at the tail end of the long Thanksgiving weekend in the United States, the United States government closed down the San Ysidro port of entry — one of the busiest land crossings in the world — into and out of Mexico. When a group of people ran to the border crossing, …
Were Photographs Showing the United States Firing Teargas at a Crowd in Mexico ‘Staged’? Read More »
In November 2018, an odd little article about a leaked internal memo at Leeds Trinity University appeared in the British tabloid the Express. According to the story, the university told professors not to use all capital letters in order to avoid “frightening” students: Staff at Leeds Trinity’s school of journalism have also been told to “write in …
Did Leeds Trinity University Ban Capital Letters to Avoid Frightening Students? Read More »
A bombshell report about Michael Avenatti, a high-profile lawyer turned potential politician, appeared on celebrity news and gossip site TMZ in November 2018: Michael Avenatti, who became famous for representing Stormy Daniels in her battle with President Trump, has been arrested for felony domestic violence … law enforcement sources tell TMZ. Our law enforcement sources say Avenatti was …
Does a Photograph Prove that Michael Avenatti (or Keith Ellison) Badly Beat a Woman? Read More »
An annual caravan of people traveling from Central America to the United States to seek asylum and refuge from extreme violence in their home countries has been beset by falsehoods, lies, and disinformation from start to finish — from baseless claims that they are “invaders” and gang members and the ensuing arrival of American troops to “secure” …
Is a Caravan of Central American Asylum-Seekers Demanding Special Treatment? Read More »
