Before President Joe Biden’s inauguration, social media users shared a false claim that there was no flag flying over the White House — suggesting it was a sign that the military had taken control of the government. In fact, the flag was flying above the White House on Jan. 20, and Biden is president.
A bogus headline on social media claims that President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration has been cancelled and that major TV networks are set to “lose” their “licenses.” The falsehood relies on a debunked post wrongly claiming that President Donald Trump has “invoked” the Insurrection Act and will remain in power.
A falsehood on social media claims President Donald Trump has “invoked” the Insurrection Act, seized control of the country through the military and will “remain president indefinitely.” A Defense Department spokesman told us he was not “aware of any actions” regarding the Insurrection Act.
A viral tweet that migrated to Facebook distorts the facts on the consequences of a potential, second impeachment of President Donald Trump. Impeachment alone would not strip Trump of his pension or bar him from pursuing office in the future, as the post falsely claims.
Viral social media posts and a Republican House member have amplified claims wrongly identifying some right-wing figures at the U.S. Capitol riot as part of “antifa.” The claims feed into an unfounded conspiracy theory that anti-fascist activists in disguise orchestrated the event.
President Donald Trump and tens of thousands of others have shared a false claim on social media that there were “13 MILLION” more votes cast in the 2020 election than eligible voters who participated. That falsehood rests on a flawed calculation.
A hand count of paper ballots in Antrim County, Michigan, has verified the election results there, refuting a “forensics report” promoted by President Donald Trump that baselessly claimed the election equipment in the county was “designed” to create “systemic fraud and influence election results.” Experts said the faulty report showed a misunderstanding of voting system technology.
An Instagram post falsely claims that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting all pneumonia and influenza deaths as caused by COVID-19. That’s wrong and is based on a misreading of one type of monitoring the agency conducts.
Social media posts are peddling the baseless claim that the first recipient of a COVID-19 vaccine in the United Kingdom was actually a “crisis actor.” There is no evidence for that conspiracy theory.
Viral posts falsely claim that Dominion voting machines were “seized” in Ware County, Georgia, and that votes were found to have been “switched” for Joe Biden. No such seizure occurred and there was no such finding, according to local and state election officials. Trump handily won the county with 70% of the vote.