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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

SciCheck

FactCheck.org’s SciCheck feature focuses exclusively on false and misleading scientific claims that are made by partisans to influence public policy. It was launched in January 2015 with a grant from the Stanton Foundation. The foundation was founded by the late Frank Stanton, president of CBS for 25 years, from 1946 to 1971.

No ‘Bombshell’ On COVID-19 Origins, U.S. Intelligence Rebuts Claims About ‘Sick’ Lab Workers

No ‘Bombshell’ On COVID-19 Origins, U.S. Intelligence Rebuts Claims About ‘Sick’ Lab Workers
June 29, 2023

It remains unknown how the virus that causes COVID-19 originated, but many scientists think a natural spillover is most likely. Online posts have cited unnamed sources to claim that scientists in Wuhan, China, were the first to get sick with COVID-19. But U.S. intelligence says the researchers’ symptoms were non-specific or inconsistent with COVID-19, and the information has no bearing on the origin of the pandemic.

TikTok Video Mangles American Cancer Society Breast Cancer Estimates

TikTok Video Mangles American Cancer Society Breast Cancer Estimates
June 23, 2023

Breast cancer in younger women has been increasing gradually in recent decades. But a social media post misrepresents case number projections for 2022 and 2023 to falsely claim they show a dramatic rise in early-onset breast cancer — and then baselessly ties its faulty comparisons to COVID-19 vaccines.  

Q&A on Mpox

Q&A on Mpox
June 22, 2023

Last summer saw the largest outbreak ever of mpox, the disease formerly known as monkeypox. Here, we provide an update on the disease, and explain what makes the outbreak unusual and how people can protect themselves.

Posts Make False Claim About Cause of Gender Dysphoria

Posts Make False Claim About Cause of Gender Dysphoria
June 22, 2023

Recent research suggests that gender dysphoria is likely caused by a combination of factors, including hormone exposure before birth. But social media posts make the baseless claim that it could be caused by a vaccine containing DNA from an aborted fetus of the opposite sex. There is no scientific evidence for such a claim, experts said.

Cleveland Clinic Study Did Not Show Vaccines Increase COVID-19 Risk

Cleveland Clinic Study Did Not Show Vaccines Increase COVID-19 Risk
June 16, 2023

Numerous studies have found that additional COVID-19 shots are generally associated with extra protection against the coronavirus. Many people on social media, however, have shared a preliminary finding from a Cleveland Clinic study and misrepresented it as proving that getting more doses increases a person’s risk of infection.

Instagram Post Misleads About Pfizer’s RSV Maternal Vaccine

Instagram Post Misleads About Pfizer’s RSV Maternal Vaccine
June 12, 2023

Clinical trial data for Pfizer’s maternal vaccine to protect babies from RSV support the vaccine’s safety and efficacy, according to a vote by an FDA advisory committee. The FDA could soon approve the vaccine. But a popular social media post makes misleading claims about the trial findings.

Ventilators Save Lives, Did Not Cause ‘Nearly All’ COVID-19 Deaths

Ventilators Save Lives, Did Not Cause ‘Nearly All’ COVID-19 Deaths
June 1, 2023

Ventilators can be lifesaving for critically ill COVID-19 patients. A social media claim that a new study shows ventilators killed “nearly all” COVID-19 patients is “quite wrong,” according to the study’s co-author. Ventilator-associated complications can contribute to deaths, but patients are typically put on ventilators when they would otherwise die.