Rainbow flag against a black background.

Trump Administration Ends Visas to Unmarried Same-Sex Partners of Diplomats

News / By /

On October 1, 2018, as much of the United States was preoccupied with stories about sexual assault, drinking, and fighting by a Supreme Court nominee, the Trump administration enacted a policy change affecting diplomats. A September 13 memo to United Nations staff laid out the changes: 3. Since 2009, the United Nations has been informed that …

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Supreme Court protest, September 27th, 2018,

Did a Veteran Sex Crimes Prosecutor Say Christine Blasey Ford ‘Has No Case’?

News Media, Reporting / By /

October 2018 opened with confusion among the American political set over an investigation into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after multiple women publicly accused him of sexual assault. One woman, California psychology professor and Stanford University researcher Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, appeared during a day-long hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in late September to …

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Conspiracy meme about Amy Schumer and Christine Blasey Ford being the same person

The ‘Amy Schumer Is Actually Christine Blasey Ford’ Conspiracy Theory

Disinformation, Entertainment, Fact Checks, Politics / By /

The days following a September 27th, 2018 hearing before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee, in which Palo Alto University professor and Stanford research psychologist Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh violently assaulted her during a party more than three decades before, swirled with increasingly bizarre stories about a grand conspiracy. …

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Mobile phone on a table next to a mug full of coffee.

Did the WSJ Report That a Sex Crimes Prosecutor Was Pulled from a Hearing for Asking Too Many Questions?

Disinformation, Fact Checks, Politics / By /

As the United States debated putting Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court despite multiple assault allegations, rumors began to fly about a hearing the previous day, including a bombshell that purportedly appeared in the Wall Street Journal: WSJ: Mitchell advised Republicans that to continue questioning Kavanaugh she was required by her oath in Arizona to …

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Supreme Court building from outside underneath a blue sky.

Did Two Men Confess to Assaulting a Woman Accusing a Supreme Court Nominee?

Disinformation, Fact Checks, Politics / By /

On the eve of a scheduled hearing for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the California professor who has credibly accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a party in 1982, what looked like a potential bombshell story appeared on social media: Senate Judiciary Rs release a Kavanaugh investigative summary that includes: -an …

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Salisbury Cathedral spire.

Investigative Journalists: Russian Agents Were Responsible for Britain Poisonings

Disinformation, News, Reporting / By /

On March 4, 2018, the quiet and picturesque British town of Salisbury was rocked by the discovery of former Russian military officer Sergei Skripal and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia Skripal foaming at their mouths on a bench outside an Italian restaurant. The culprit: Novichok, a nerve agent known to have been developed and used by …

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Justin Trudeau’s Surprise Conversion

Disinformation, Fact Checks, Politics, Viral Content / By /

In order to boost circulation and rake in more advertising money, hoax and satire sites will sometimes re-run some of their older work hoping to catch clicks while the topics of their stories are once again relevant. This is a common practice with many media sites, but satirical or fake stories can wind up getting …

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Identifying Fake News Series: Fake News Generators

Identifying Fake News / By /

For the last several years, we have been hearing about foreign governments subverting United States elections using sophisticated teams that create fake stories and circulate them on social media. While foreign governments and large teams are most certainly a major source of disinformation, there are also tools available online that make it easy for anyone …

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Viktor Yanukovych (painted portrait on a wall.)

Was CRC Public Relations Registered as a Foreign Agent?

Fact Checks, Politics / By /

The nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court was already a topic of controversy well before multiple women came forward with credible claims that he had sexually harassed and victimized them during the summer of 2018. Before Kavanaugh himself had even had a chance to respond to the charges publicly, others swooped …

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