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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Social Security Didn’t Stop Mailing Checks ‘Because It’s Not Secure’

Social Security Didn’t Stop Mailing Checks ‘Because It’s Not Secure’

A social media post claims that Social Security checks have not been sent by mail “since 2013 because it’s not secure.” The Social Security Administration required electronic payment transfers in compliance with a 1996 federal law — not due to security concerns. Even so, about 850,000 checks are still mailed each month.

Trump Misleads on Reasons for Falling COVID-19 Fatality Rate

Trump Misleads on Reasons for Falling COVID-19 Fatality Rate

For nearly two months, President Trump has touted an 85% decline in the nation’s COVID-19 case fatality rate since April — and has attributed the drop to improvements in treatment. But better treatment is only part of the story.

Biden Was Looking at a TV Screen, Not a Teleprompter

Biden Was Looking at a TV Screen, Not a Teleprompter

A clip from a television interview with former Vice President Joe Biden is circulating online with the false claim that he is reading from a teleprompter. Actually, Biden was looking at a screen showing a viewer’s question before he looks at the interviewer in the room with him.

McDonald’s and the American Flag

McDonald’s and the American Flag

Social media posts — without evidence — have accused McDonald’s of taking down American flags in support of Black Lives Matter and antifa. The company says that is “not true.”

Trump’s False Auto Industry Claims

Trump’s False Auto Industry Claims

Continuing a yearslong trend, President Donald Trump made false and misleading comments about new auto plants in Michigan, and the industry at large.

Contrary to Viral Claim, Trump OK’d Aid for California Fires

Contrary to Viral Claim, Trump OK’d Aid for California Fires

Facebook posts claim that President Donald Trump has withheld aid from California to fight wildfires, while offering help to Russia. That’s a rehash of a controversy in 2019, when Trump threatened to withhold aid from California, while offering help to Russia. The Trump administration has provided federal assistance to California for the recent wildfires.

Trump’s Nobel Nonsense

Trump’s Nobel Nonsense

President Trump has repeatedly conflated winning a Nobel Peace Prize with being nominated for one, and has wrongly faulted the media for ignoring his nomination after making former President Obama’s nomination in 2009 “the biggest story I’ve ever seen.”

False Attack on Ginsburg Is Reprised After Her Death

False Attack on Ginsburg Is Reprised After Her Death

After Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, social media users reprised a false claim about the late Supreme Court justice — arguing she wanted to “lower the age of consent for sex to 12.” The old falsehood is a distortion of a report she co-authored in the 1970s on sex bias in federal laws.