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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

‘Heckling’ at State of the Union Addresses

‘Heckling’ at State of the Union Addresses

A day after several Republicans interrupted President Joe Biden’s second State of the Union address with loud jeering, a Democratic leader said he couldn’t “remember a Democrat ever heckling a president in a State of the Union.” But the Democrats have voiced displeasure with a Republican president at such events on several occasions, dating to at least 2005.

Partisan Posts Misrepresent IRS’ Voluntary Program Proposal on Tip Income

Partisan Posts Misrepresent IRS’ Voluntary Program Proposal on Tip Income

The IRS has proposed a voluntary program that employers could choose to use in order to manage the taxes owed on employees’ tips. The program would replace similar existing programs. But some partisan social media accounts have wrongly suggested that the program indicates either new taxes or increased enforcement. Neither is true.

Video: Hearst on the State of the Union

Video: Hearst on the State of the Union

Hearst Television — one of our media partners — produced this fact-checking video segment featuring our article on President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.

FBI Reimbursed Twitter for Providing User Information

FBI Reimbursed Twitter for Providing User Information

In an email to a Twitter lawyer in February 2021, an unidentified Twitter employee wrote that the company had received over $3.4 million from the FBI since October 2019 as reimbursement for Twitter’s processing of legal requests for user information. That is not evidence that the FBI paid Twitter to “censor” or “suppress” content.

Biden’s Misleading Unemployment Statistic

Biden’s Misleading Unemployment Statistic

At the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ winter meeting, President Joe Biden left the false impression that unemployment declined by more than 16 million people on his watch, when the decline was under 5 million.

Viral Tweet Misrepresents NOAA Report on Rising Global Temperature

Viral Tweet Misrepresents NOAA Report on Rising Global Temperature

The warming trend in global temperature continued in 2022, which was the sixth-warmest year on record, according to a recent report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But a viral tweet — using just a small segment of a NOAA graph — wrongly claimed the agency had announced a “global cooling” trend.

Social Media Posts Twist Meaning of CDC, FDA Disclosure on Bivalent Booster

Social Media Posts Twist Meaning of CDC, FDA Disclosure on Bivalent Booster

Government health agencies disclosed a potential safety concern for strokes in those 65 and older with one of the COVID-19 vaccines, but the agencies haven’t found any causal relationship and the concern was flagged by just one of several monitoring systems. Anti-vaccine campaigners, however, have wrongly claimed the agencies have found a link between the boosters and strokes.

No Surge in Athlete Deaths, Contrary to Widespread Anti-Vaccine Claims

No Surge in Athlete Deaths, Contrary to Widespread Anti-Vaccine Claims

Sports medicine experts say there has been no increase in sudden death or cardiac injury among U.S. athletes since the COVID-19 vaccines became available. Yet anti-vaccine campaigners, comparing unreliable numbers to an unrelated study, have again spread a false narrative about vaccine safety since NFL player Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest.