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.
The United States dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, killing hundreds of thousands of people to force Japan’s surrender in World War II. A video on social media falsely claims the cities “were never nuked,” reasoning that nuclear bombs would have made those cities “uninhabitable for thousands of years.”
Sen. Mitt Romney has sometimes been critical of fellow Republicans and veered from the party line. But an Instagram post falsely claims Romney “threatens to leave the Republican Party and Join Democrats.” A Romney spokesperson said there is “zero truth” to the claim, and the senator has filed for reelection in 2024 as a Republican.
The Biden administration has awarded billions in funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, including more than $2.7 billion provided in the American Rescue Plan. Yet a social media post revives an old, false claim that Biden revoked $250 million that then-President Donald Trump “pledged to give historical black colleges for the next 10 years.”
No COVID-19 vaccines were affected by the tornado that damaged Pfizer’s North Carolina warehouse, which doesn’t produce the vaccines. But some misinformation spreaders are claiming vaccines were destroyed.
A video by country singer Jason Aldean was pulled by Country Music Television after critics called it offensive and racist. Some Aldean fans have responded by calling for the “Bud Light treatment” of CMT and falsely claiming that, in solidarity, singer Luke Bryan removed his own videos from the channel. The bogus claim about Bryan originated on a satirical website.
While announcing an investment in clean energy programs, Vice President Kamala Harris mistakenly said “reduce population” when she meant “reduce pollution.” Online posts shared a video of the gaffe and misleadingly claimed “her goal is to reduce population to fight climate change.” The transcript of her remarks shows the mistake and corrects it.
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.
The Miss USA crown was passed to the runner-up earlier this year, and the Miss Netherlands title went to that country’s first transgender winner in July. Both will compete to be Miss Universe in December. But a Facebook post spreads a bogus claim about Miss USA boycotting the upcoming competition.
Earlier this year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ high school yearbook photo was posted to Reddit by a person claiming to be a former schoolmate. But Instagram posts show an altered version of the yearbook entry that includes a fake quote from DeSantis referencing rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot and Nintendo 64.
Nearly 3.3 million votes were cast in the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin, which the state calculated as a record turnout of 73%. A social media post tries to cast doubt on the results by citing incomplete data and claiming it shows “a registered voter turnout of 94%.”