FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on the social media network. We provide several resources for readers: a guide on how to flag suspicious stories on Facebook and a list of websites that have carried false or satirical articles, as well as a video and story on how to spot false stories.
Claims mischaracterizing a federal voting rights bill have been circulating on social media. The proposed law would not “ban” state voter ID laws, bar states from removing ineligible voters from their rolls, or allow minors to vote.
Columbia University will supplement its regular 2021 graduation ceremony with multicultural ceremonies for members of the Latinx, Asian, Black and other student communities who want to participate. Social media users are misrepresenting these voluntary ceremonies as “segregation.”
Conservative social media posts misleadingly claim the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was not an “armed” insurrection, citing FBI testimony that no guns were seized from suspects that day. But 23 people have been charged with having deadly or dangerous weapons during the assault — including a loaded handgun found on a man arrested on Capitol grounds.
Posts circulating on social media falsely claim that Vice President Kamala Harris supports deep cuts to veterans’ programs, telling them to “get a job.” It’s a fabricated quotation that originated on a satirical website.
Facebook posts use faulty claims to baselessly suggest that President Joe Biden isn’t really the president. For example, some point out that he hasn’t delivered a State of the Union address. But new presidents typically don’t in their first year.
A computer-rendered image has been mischaracterized on social media posts as a photo taken from Mars, purportedly showing Earth, Venus and Jupiter in vertical alignment. Although the same image was previously debunked in 2012, the claim resurfaced after the Perseverance rover landed on Mars in mid-February.
A popular image is made to appear as if President Joe Biden posted a racist tweet discussing Coca-Cola and “cultural reappropriation.” There is no record of Biden ever posting that tweet.
The Biden administration has made no changes to COVID-19 testing policies for either U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Patrol. But a claim circulating online falsely suggests that the administration has stopped testing detained immigrants before they are released.
The U.S. Department of Energy approved a request to allow power plants in snowstorm-battered Texas to temporarily bypass some environmental limits during its energy crisis, in order to produce more power. Viral headlines falsely claim the department rejected the request.
A screenshot purports to show a 2016 tweet from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz concerning climate change. Cruz’s office said the tweet was fake, and there is no record of Cruz ever posting it. The phony screenshot went viral anyway.