Anatomy of an Inauthentically Organized Campaign Disinformation campaigns depend on real-world events to offer an illusion of popularity for unpopular ideas, but they're easy to spot when you know what to look for.
How to Fight Disinformation: Part II — Gaslighting The brazen and blatant lies of gaslighting campaigns are difficult to fight with fact-checking alone, but they can be defeated through a multidisciplinary approach.
As U.S. Election Looms, Agitprop Floods Social Media Platforms Inflammatory and corrosive rhetoric is being laundered via social media commentary from fringe sites into the mainstream at a time of increasing uncertainty and instability.
Threatening Messages Sent to Democratic Party Voters in Battleground States The emails purport to be from the Proud Boys, but the group denies involvement.
The Saga of Hunter Biden’s Laptop A story about incriminating emails and other materials found on a laptop that may or may not actually have belonged to Hunter Biden relies heavily on innuendo and paper-thin sourcing.
Are Members of a Refugee Caravan Defiling American Flags on Their Way to the United States? An annual caravan heading from Central America to the southern United States border to seek asylum has been beset by rumors, misinformation, and dramatic disinformation during the 2018 election cycle; stories about the event were resurrected in January 2019 to bolster the Trump administration’s argument for an additional border wall. Participants in the annual event are […]
Melania Trump Hired an Exorcist to Rid the White House of Demons-Fiction! A spokesperson for Melania Trump said that rumors the first lady brought an exorcist into the White House were "not true in any way."
Florida Shooter Nikolas Cruz Was a Registered Democrat-Fiction! False rumors that Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz is a registered Democrat are baed on the public voter registration records of someone with a similar name.
American Teen Who Killed Muslim Refugee for Raping His Sister Sentenced to Prison-Fiction! A Facebook post falsely claims that an American teenager who killed a Muslim refugee for raping his 7-year-old sister was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Melania Trump's Parents Used Chain Migration to Gain U.S. Citizenship-Unproven! Melania Trump’s Parents Used Chain Migration to Gain U.S. Citizenship-Unproven! Summary of eRumor: First Lady Melania Trump’s parents used what the White House refers to as “chain migration” to gain U.S. citizenship. The Truth: There’s no way to determine whether Melania Trump’s have in fact become naturalized U.S. citizens. However, they would be able to […]
