On February 28 2019, the Facebook page “I am not a dictator” shared the following meme (archived here), alleging that President Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen was once the personal lawyer of Hillary Clinton and/or the Clinton Foundation: A photograph of Clinton (left), Cohen (center), and an unidentified individual was captioned: MICHAEL COHEN USED TO …
Was Michael Cohen Hillary Clinton’s ‘Personal Lawyer’? Read More »
In January 2019, various posts appeared in myriad Facebook groups urging users to provide engagement with the post to avoid a purported purge of “inactive members.” Iterations of the same warning spread across Facebook groups of all types: Y’ALL, FB IS DELETING INACTIVE PEOPLE OUT OF GROUPS. IF YOU SEE THIS COMMENT AN EMOJI, PLEASE …
Is Facebook Removing Inactive Members from Groups? Read More »
In January 2019 amid an ongoing government shutdown, a May 2018 Occupy Democrats meme showed up once again on Facebook: Under a photograph of Melania Trump and President Trump, text stated: Today, Melania Trump announced her new agenda, focused on “children’s health and well-being.” Also today, Donald Trump asked Congress to cut $7 billion from …
In January 2019, a Facebook user posted a status update that has since become virally popular. It said: IMAGINE THAT NANCY PELOSI IS REFUSING TO MEET WITH ANY U.S. CITIZEN WHO HAD A FAMILY MEMBER MURDERED BY AN ILLEGAL. The post appeared on its own with no citations or other information to contextualize its claims. However, we …
On December 29, 2018, a Facebook user posted a status update claiming that a federal shutdown over border wall funding was similar to one in 2013 — and it was purportedly initiated by President Barack Obama: This was nearly identical to a December 22, 2018 post shared hundreds of thousands of times. The version above (which …
Did President Barack Obama Shut Down the Government to ‘Force Obamacare’ in 2013? Read More »
A highly publicized caravan of people traveling from Central America in order to turn themselves in at the United States border to request asylum — one of many groups who have done so over the years — has been dogged from start to finish by false stories and threats spurred by that disinformation. One large …
From Central America to the United States Border, a Journey of Lies Read More »
On November 29 2018, Twitter user @Plant_Phillips shared a transcribed image of a quote attributed to Charles Darwin: Even the most famous scientists have rough weeks. Charles Darwin, for example: “But I am very poorly today and very stupid and hate everybody and everything.” pic.twitter.com/o03pBG4ScI — Alyssa Phillips (@Plant_Phillips) November 30, 2018 A version was …
Did Charles Darwin Say He Hated ‘Everybody and Everything’ on a Difficult Day? Read More »
On November 12, 2018, Twitter user @SydneyShyanneS tweeted a tale about the cash-sharing app Venmo, modern dating, and bar interactions which later became virally popular: this dude has been calling my bar to check the cameras because he asked a girl to put her number into his phone & she Venmo’d herself $2,000 ???? drunk …
Did a Woman Use Venmo to Send Herself Thousands of Dollars from a Stranger’s Phone? Read More »
Sizable wildfires burning up and down California in late 2018 left dozens of people dead, destroyed an entire Northern California town, Paradise, and the heat and speed of least two enormously destructive fires — the Woolsey Fire in the south of the state and the Camp Fire in the north — overwhelmed safety measures and firefighters: …
Rumors that top Clinton aide Johnson Wilson McGill died before he could testify about Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server appear to be false.
