Misinformation peddlers baselessly claim a judge who presided over the defamation case that ended with an $83 million verdict against former President Donald Trump is linked to sex trafficking, noting that the judge dismissed a case related to Jeffrey Epstein. But the Epstein-related case was settled by the parties, and the defamation verdict was rendered by a jury.
With apprehensions at the southern border still near historical highs, some congressional Republicans have raised concerns about the number of border crossers who have been counted as so-called “Special Interest Aliens.”
The World Health Organization began using the term “Disease X” in a 2018 planning document to refer to a “currently unknown” illness. But since the term was used at the January meeting of the World Economic Forum, conspiracy theorists baselessly claim Disease X is part of a “Globalist Plan to … Install World Government.”
The Earth is warming at the fastest rate seen in the last 10,000 years, according to NASA, and the consensus among climate scientists is that human activity is causing the change. But a meme on social media tries to undermine the reality of climate change by misrepresenting the views and media coverage of a climatologist popular among those who believe climate change is a “hoax.”
Doctors Without Borders has been working in the West Bank since fighting intensified between the Israelis and Palestinians after Oct. 7. But a video post on social media misleadingly claims it shows an aid worker from that organization passing a gun to a Palestinian fighter. The worker is wearing a vest used by the Palestinian Medical Relief Society.
In a Fox News interview about the Israel-Hamas war, Sen. Ted Cruz said “literally from within minutes of when this horrific attack began on Oct. 7, the Biden White House has been telling Israel, do not retaliate, cease-fire, stop, do not kill the terrorists.” But the Texas Republican has thin support for his claim.
At least 29 children have been identified by international authorities as having died in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. But a video, citing a post deleted by the World Jewish Congress, has been circulating online falsely suggesting that children didn’t die in the attack in Israel.
An online video shows Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing a 2021 military rally commemorating the triumph over Nazism in World War II. But an Instagram post sharing the video falsely claims Putin is shown announcing “help to Palestine” in the current war between Israel and Hamas.
Greta Thunberg recalled in a 2022 BBC interview how she began her environmental activism. But a recent video shared on social media deceptively alters the audio from that interview, making it appear that Thunberg called for the use of eco-friendly military weapons and “vegan grenades.” The altered video originated on a site that labeled it as satire.
Posts on social media are spreading the baseless claim that the ruler of Qatar has “threatened that if the bombing of Gaza does not stop, he will cut off the supply of gas to the world.” The country’s government gets most of its revenue from energy exports, and there’s no record of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani making such a threat.