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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Posts Misrepresent Rescue of Crew from Ship Attacked by Houthis

Posts Misrepresent Rescue of Crew from Ship Attacked by Houthis

A missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi militants damaged a British-owned cargo ship on the Red Sea on Feb. 18 and forced its crew to evacuate. Some social media posts falsely claimed the Houthis “made sure to rescue” the 24-member crew. U.S. Central Command said the crew was rescued by a “coalition warship along with another merchant vessel.”

Breaking Down the Immigration Figures

Breaking Down the Immigration Figures

Encounters on the southern border of those trying to enter the U.S. without authorization have gone up significantly under President Joe Biden. Government statistics show that in the initial processing of millions of encounters, 2.5 million people have been released into the U.S. and 2.8 million have been removed or expelled.

Study Largely Confirms Known, Rare COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects

Study Largely Confirms Known, Rare COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects

An international study of around 99 million people confirmed known serious side effects of COVID-19 vaccination. It also identified a possible relationship between the first dose of the Moderna vaccine and a small risk of a neurological condition. Social media posts about the study left out information on the vaccines’ benefits and the rarity of the side effects.

Posts Mislead About COVID-19 Vaccine Safety With Out-of-Context Clip of FDA Official

Posts Mislead About COVID-19 Vaccine Safety With Out-of-Context Clip of FDA Official

Given the extra scrutiny and large number of doses, reports of possible side effects to a vaccine safety monitoring system increased with the COVID-19 vaccines. The high number of reports does not mean the vaccines are unsafe, contrary to suggestions made by posts sharing a clip of a Food and Drug Administration official acknowledging the surge.

Posts Use Bogus Document to Falsely Claim Zelenskyy Plans Move to Florida

Posts Use Bogus Document to Falsely Claim Zelenskyy Plans Move to Florida

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has traveled throughout the world seeking support for Ukraine’s effort to resist Russia’s invasion, but he has always returned to his war-torn country. Some social media posts — showing a fake naturalization document — falsely claim preparations are underway to bring him to the United States.

Trump Repeats Many Claims in Fox News Town Hall

Trump Repeats Many Claims in Fox News Town Hall

In a Feb. 20 town hall in South Carolina that aired on Fox News, days before the state’s Republican primary, former President Donald Trump repeated several false and misleading claims we’ve fact-checked before.

Post Uses Altered Photo to Impugn Klobuchar’s Comments on Slain First Responders

Post Uses Altered Photo to Impugn Klobuchar’s Comments on Slain First Responders

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar posted condolences and support for two police officers and a firefighter killed Feb. 18 while responding to a domestic incident. A post on social media uses an altered photo to falsely claim Klobuchar previously attended a meeting with people holding “DEFUND THE POLICE” signs. The original image shows the people were not holding any such signs.