These articles debunk misinformation shared on social media. We also provide resources for readers: an article and a video on how to combat misinformation.
From late 2016 to early 2025, FactCheck.org was one of several organizations working with Meta to debunk misinformation shared on Meta’s social media platforms.
A story circulating online misleadingly claims Stacey Abrams “boasted that Democrats can ‘jerry-rig the system and go around the Constitution’ to win the 2020 election.” Her comments about moving to a national popular vote system were not about the 2020 election or securing a Democratic victory.
Posts circulating on social media show a pile of hypodermic needles and falsely identify the site as a homeless encampment in Nancy Pelosi’s district in San Francisco. The photo was actually taken at a homeless camp cleanup in Washington state in 2017.
A story shared on social media falsely claims that Malia Obama was “busted” for selling “trinkets” she stole from the White House. That story originated on a self-described satirical website.
A meme misquotes Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on a proposed abortion bill that aims to address nonviable pregnancies and severe fetal abnormalities. Northam, a pediatric neurologist, supports the bill, but the meme falsely implies he condones infanticide.
An online conspiracy theory falsely claims that Democratic leaders coordinated the June attacks on two oil tankers and a U.S. drone and that President Donald Trump caught them in the act. The Trump administration has placed the blame squarely on Iran.
A fabricated newspaper clipping is circulating online claiming a teenage Pete Buttigieg was arrested in the late 1990s for killing dogs. The Twitter user who created the bogus story — and the newspaper that allegedly published it — say the clipping is a fake.
Online posts claim that vitamin C can “stop” the new coronavirus. While it’s true that vitamin C can have a marginal effect on warding off a cold, there’s no evidence that it can stop or treat the new coronavirus.
Online posts falsely claim the new coronavirus can be cured by drinking one bowl of freshly boiled garlic water. That’s not true; there is no cure for the virus.
Online posts have claimed to reveal various “cures” for the new coronavirus. Some are benign, like eating boiled garlic, while others are potentially dangerous, like drinking chlorine dioxide, an industrial bleach. Neither will cure the virus.
A report by a conservative legal organization about voter registration rates in eight Iowa counties has been cited to promote baseless suggestions of voter fraud.