Studies have found the rate of autism is the same in vaccinated and unvaccinated children. But the false claim that vaccines are associated with the disorder persists. A prominent spreader of COVID-19 misinformation wrongly told legislators in Pennsylvania that autism is virtually nonexistent among the unvaccinated, citing the Amish population.
Hunter Biden, who has no prior criminal history, has reached a plea deal that would avoid jail time for a gun-related charge. Some conservative commentators claim the president’s son is getting special treatment, misleadingly equating his case with one involving a rapper who had a criminal record before getting a 46-month sentence for two gun-related charges.
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.
A privately owned company called the White House Gift Shop is selling a coin commemorating the second indictment of former President Donald Trump. But, contrary to a misleading tweet from Sen. Bill Cassidy, the online sales company is not affiliated with the White House in Washington, D.C.
Officials serving in President Joe Biden’s administration have taken their oaths of office, and most can be seen in videos from their swearing-in ceremonies. But a video circulating on social media falsely suggests that they haven’t been sworn in and are “acting as elected officials without swearing an allegiance to the Constitution.”
An Oregon bill that would eliminate parental consent for minors to access reproductive health care, including abortion, has been criticized by conservatives. But a liberal social media post mischaracterizes their opposition by claiming Republicans said girls “should be allowed to be forced to give birth to their rapist’s baby if the rapist is their father.”
Q: Does a proposed law in Washington state say that the government can take children away from parents who don’t agree to gender transition surgery?
A: No. Under the bill, licensed youth shelters no longer have to report the location of a runaway child to the child’s parents if the child is seeking gender-affirming or reproductive care. Instead, the shelters must notify the state’s child services department.
Public health organizations have explained that the reason there were far fewer cases of the flu in 2020 and 2021 was likely due to measures adopted to slow the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, such as handwashing and social distancing. But a post on social media has spread the false claim that the dip in flu cases suggests that COVID-19 was a hoax.
Social media posts and former President Donald Trump are sharing an edited video of President Joe Biden to make the unfounded claim that Biden “is coordinating these Trump indictments.” Biden’s comments, made in 2022, were related to international concerns about American democracy, not Trump’s legal battles.
A tweet posted years ago by the late comedian Norm Macdonald has been altered to falsely claim that he’d commented on the possibility of a transgender school shooter back in 2016. A search of Macdonald’s account shows he didn’t write that transphobic tweet.