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.
A conspiracy theory on Facebook is falsely claiming that the killing of George Floyd was “filmed before covid19” because “[n]ot a single person is wearing a mask” in the videos. Some of the officers and officials in the videos can clearly be seen wearing masks.
A tweet that suggests a conspiratorial “pattern” — from the protests over George Floyd’s death, to the pandemic, to the presidential impeachment, to the 2016 election – is being falsely attributed to former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The tweet is actually from an unverified Twitter account that misspelled her name.
Social media posts falsely claim donations made on the Black Lives Matter website go “directly” to the Democratic Party, because the group uses ActBlue Charities — an online fundraising platform. Donations go to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. The funds first pass through a nonprofit that sponsors the group.
False claims that nearly everyone involved in George Floyd’s death — including Floyd — are “crisis actors” have spread widely online. But the pictures that supposedly prove this theory actually show unrelated people.
A Facebook meme falsely claims a Colorado bill is “removing exemptions” for parents who don’t want to vaccinate their children in order to attend school. The bill adds new requirements to opt out of vaccinations, but does offer medical and nonmedical exemptions for religious or personal beliefs.
A meme is spreading a doctored image of the Lincoln Memorial covered in graffiti to falsely claim that protesters defaced the Lincoln statue. The image was taken from a thumbnail for a video on the conservative website the Daily Wire and shared as if real.
Instagram posts erroneously claim the “SAME DOCTOR” performed the autopsies on “JFK, MLK, Epstein, AND George Floyd.” The doctor referenced, pathologist Michael Baden, has connections to those four cases — but he only performed an autopsy on Floyd, as a secondary examination for Floyd’s family.
Video clips of President Donald Trump pretending to choke while saying “I can’t breathe” have been circulating with the misleading suggestion that he was mocking George Floyd. The videos pre-date Floyd’s death and show the president mocking his political rivals — not Floyd.
A bogus claim that “[v]accines are in direct violation of The Nuremberg Code” has been circulating on social media. Actually, the Nuremberg Code addresses the treatment of human subjects in medical experiments and says nothing about the use of tested and approved vaccines on patients.
Some viral social media posts misleadingly suggest that piles of bricks are being staged ahead of the protests over the death of George Floyd to incite violence. We reviewed five social media posts making such claims and found no evidence of staging. In many cases, the bricks had been delivered for construction projects, or had been at the sites for some time.