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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Social Media Posts Repeat Inaccurate Reporting on Ivermectin and Omicron

Social Media Posts Repeat Inaccurate Reporting on Ivermectin and Omicron

A Japanese company found that the antiparasitic drug ivermectin showed an “antiviral effect” against the omicron variant in a lab setting. Reuters has corrected a story in which it “misstated” that the drug was effective in a phase 3 clinical trial with human subjects. Some social media users have repeated Reuters’ reporting error but have not repeated the correction.

Scientist Misleads on COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness and Vaccine Safety for Children

Scientist Misleads on COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness and Vaccine Safety for Children

The approved and authorized COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. are effective at preventing severe disease, and experts say the benefits of vaccination for children outweigh any known or potential risk. But social media users have shared video of Dr. Robert Malone misleadingly asserting that the COVID-19 vaccines are “not working” and claiming without evidence that many children “will be hospitalized” and may experience brain damage and infertility due to the vaccines.

FactChecking Biden’s Press Conference

FactChecking Biden’s Press Conference

In a nearly two-hour press conference, President Joe Biden stretched the facts and left out important context on vaccinations, funding for lead pipe removal, child poverty and more.

Biden’s Numbers

Biden’s Numbers

Statistical measures of the president’s term to date.

Viral Story Takes Fauci COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Comments Out of Context

Viral Story Takes Fauci COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Comments Out of Context

The COVID-19 vaccines available in the U.S. were found to be safe and effective in clinical trials and real-world conditions. Dr. Anthony Fauci did not admit that “Covid Vaccines May Actually Make People ‘Worse,'” as a viral headline misleadingly claims. Fauci’s March 2020 remarks about testing future vaccines were taken out of context.

The Whoppers of 2021

The Whoppers of 2021

COVID-19 misinformation, election fraud whoppers and false claims by and about the new administration dominate our annual list of the most egregious falsehoods of the year.

Analyzing Republican Attacks on Biden for Increase in Fentanyl Seized

Analyzing Republican Attacks on Biden for Increase in Fentanyl Seized

U.S. border officials reported seizing 10,856 pounds of fentanyl being smuggled across the southwest border in fiscal year 2021, a 132% increase from fiscal year 2020. Some Republicans have misleadingly suggested that the amount of drugs seized is a negative development attributable to the immigration policies of President Joe Biden.

Viral Post Misrepresents Facts in Rittenhouse Trial

Viral Post Misrepresents Facts in Rittenhouse Trial

Kyle Rittenhouse said that he went to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to defend a car dealership during protests against police brutality in August 2020. He was not there to defend his grandparents’ gas station, as a viral social media post falsely claims. He was not related to the family that owns the car dealership.

Rittenhouse Testified He Drove Himself to Kenosha Without Weapon

Rittenhouse Testified He Drove Himself to Kenosha Without Weapon

Kyle Rittenhouse, who is on trial for murder, testified in court that he drove himself from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 24, 2020, the day before he shot and killed two men at a protest that became violent. The weapon he used, according to testimony, had been stored at a friend’s house in Kenosha. Democratic Rep. Karen Bass falsely claimed that Kyle’s mother drove her armed son across the Illinois-Wisconsin border.

Answering Questions About #BeagleGate

Answering Questions About #BeagleGate

Q: Did Dr. Anthony Fauci fund experiments on beagles?

A: Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which has provided grants for medical studies using the dogs as test subjects. But the NIAID denied funding one particular project in which sedated beagles had their heads placed in mesh cages so sand flies could bite them.