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 thoroughly debunked hoax claiming that Instagram users can stop the platform from using their pictures if they post a statement rescinding permission has been circulating again. This time, it ensnared a member of the Trump administration.
Facebook posts erroneously attribute a quote to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy. He didn’t say that “there are no mass shootings in Japan because there are no video games there.”
Robert Sweet, a federal judge who was overseeing a civil case against Jeffrey Epstein, was not “killed,” as a headline claims, nor did he die in August, as other recently published stories suggest. Sweet died of natural causes in March at age 96.
A viral meme on Facebook falsely claims that members of Congress have received a “231%” increase in pay in the last 30 years. Automatic cost-of-living adjustments have resulted in an increase of 94.4% from 1989 to 2009.
A headline circulating on partisan websites distorts former President Barack Obama’s tweet advocating stricter gun laws in the wake of the most recent mass shootings.
A baseless claim that Attorney General William Barr visited the prison where accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was being held has been circulating online. But the sole source of that claim — a former mob associate — told us he has no idea if Barr went to the prison.
A Facebook post from a user who appears to subscribe to QAnon conspiracies claims that Jeffrey Epstein is not dead. The theory is based solely on a news photo that shows an unresponsive Epstein being wheeled into a hospital on a gurney.
Viral posts claim there was a “camera malfunction” at the prison housing accused pedophile Jeffrey Epstein before his death. Officials have not confirmed that.
A viral Facebook post claims that “not one Democrat called for gun control” after a 2017 shooting involving Republicans in Congress. While demands for legislative action were quieter, there were some.
Old pictures of trash strewn in the Arizona desert are circulating on Facebook with the suggestion that they were taken recently and that the media failed to cover it. Neither of those things is true.