Q: Did President Donald Trump call for the creation of a “space force” to fight off an “alien attack”?
A: No. The president did request exploration of a “space force,” but it is unrelated to extraterrestrial activity.
Q: Was a recently discovered encampment in Arizona used as a “child rape camp”?
A: There is no evidence to support that claim. Authorities say their investigation revealed no such criminal activity.
Q: Did the school shooter in Santa Fe, Texas wear an Antifa insignia?
A: No. There is no evidence that he was a member of that loose organization of activists.
Q: Did a video of Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin assaulting a young girl surface online?
A: No. A story making that claim suggests the New York City Police Department is investigating Clinton and Abedin. That’s false.
FactCheck.org staff writer Saranac Hale Spencer appeared on The Colin McEnroe Show on WNPR, a Connecticut public radio station, to talk about the conspiracy theories and misinformation that spread online after the deadly shooting on Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.
Q: Are the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting actually alive?
A: No. That is a claim made by conspiracy theorists who believe the shooting never happened.
Q: Is David Hogg pictured in a California school yearbook?
A: No. That’s a yearbook photo from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, where Hogg is a student.
The internet has been rife with rumors about the school shooting that left 17 dead in Florida on Feb. 14. We’ve debunked several of them.
Q: Are the students who survived the Florida school shooting really “crisis actors”?
A: No. Conspiracy theories have been spreading online to undercut students advocating stricter gun control.
Q: Has the Food and Drug Administration announced that vaccines cause autism?
A: No. FDA statements are grounded in scientific evidence. There is no evidence that vaccination is linked to autism.