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 meme making the bogus claim that wearing a face mask during the COVID-19 pandemic “REMOVES YOUR CONCEAL CARRY ability” is spreading widely online. Laws regulating concealed weapons vary by state, but sheriffs in many states have debunked the rumor.
A fabricated tweet attributed to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez advocates extending COVID-19 restrictions on businesses “until after the November Elections.” There is no evidence Ocasio-Cortez sent the bogus tweet, which was shared — and later deleted — by a Florida congressional candidate and a Fox News host.
A Facebook post posing as a news story falsely claims that NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace had mistaken an automotive belt in his garage for a noose, citing a June 21 NASCAR statement as its source. In fact, the NASCAR statement issued that day said nothing about an automotive belt or Wallace being “mistaken.”
Social media accounts supportive of President Donald Trump have been sharing a photo of a large outdoor crowd with the false claim that it shows the scene outside of Trump’s Tulsa rally. It actually shows the Rolling Thunder event near Washington, D.C. in 2019.
Posts on social media cite an anonymous Craigslist ad to support the false claim that President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is seeking “MINORITY Actors” to hold signs at his June 20 rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Trump campaign says it didn’t post the ad, and Craigslist has removed it.
Headlines on social media misleadingly suggest that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi violated a military tradition when she gave a folded flag to the brother of George Floyd. A folded flag is not “Reserved Only For Fallen Veterans,” as one headline claims. Members of Congress routinely present flags that have flown over the U.S. Capitol as gifts.
A Facebook post is spreading the false claim that former President Barack Obama gave $3.8 million to a lab in Wuhan, China. The money referenced was actually provided to a U.S. research group. Only $600,000 went to the lab as part of a U.S.-approved collaboration.
A meme misrepresents a 2007 criminal case in Houston involving George Floyd. The meme distorts the details of Floyd’s case and includes a photo of a woman who was badly injured in an unrelated attack in Spain in 2018.
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.