FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on the social media network. We provide several resources for readers: a guide on how to flag suspicious stories on Facebook and a list of websites that have carried false or satirical articles, as well as a video and story on how to spot false stories.
A Wuhan Institute of Virology study describes assembling part of a monkeypox viral genome for use in a diagnostic test. Although the researchers only made a fraction of the genome — and it matches a different version of the virus — social media posts are using the study to baselessly claim that the current monkeypox outbreak is a result of a lab leak.
Climate change has affected ocean ecosystems, scientists say. But an unfounded claim on social media that “plankton in the Atlantic Ocean is 90% gone” and the ocean is “now pretty much dead” is based on a faulty paper.
Tetanus vaccines can prevent deadly disease in infants, but a video circulating on social media is spreading old, unfounded rumors that discourage immunization.
A bill introduced in the North Carolina House of Representatives last year said anyone getting an abortion should be “held accountable” for murder. The bill received little support and did not advance. But social media posts misleadingly claimed the state is considering a proposal that would “make it legal to murder a pregnant woman” trying to get an abortion.
President Joe Biden claimed in a July 20 speech that growing up in Delaware near oil refineries gave him cancer. Posts on social media misinterpreted that to mean he currently has cancer. A White House spokesperson said Biden was referring to a skin cancer that was removed before he became president.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was one of 17 members of Congress arrested at an abortion-rights protest on July 19. But social media posts falsely claim she was “pretending to be arrested.” Capitol Police records show the arrests did occur, and the congresswoman posted the arrest paperwork on her Instagram account.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had an income of about $623,000 in 2020, according to his financial disclosure submitted to the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption in Ukraine. But posts on social media claim, without evidence, that he has a monthly income of $11 million.
Internet trolls have used the death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and a fake tweet purportedly from Abe, to promote a long-standing, unfounded conspiracy theory that the Clintons are responsible for the deaths of multiple people. A suspect reportedly with a personal grudge has been arrested for the assassination.
President Joe Biden quoted the Supreme Court majority opinion on ending the constitutional right to abortion in remarks he made on July 8. Social media posts falsely claim he mistakenly read teleprompter cues. A White House press secretary told us Biden intentionally said “end of quote” and then said “repeat the line” for emphasis, and the full, live remarks support that explanation.
An architect created a map in 2015 as a “thought experiment” to show how the Mediterranean Sea would fit inside the United States. However, social media posts have misinterpreted the map as a prediction of the impact of climate change. The map’s creator said it is not related to climate change in any way.