SciCheck Digest It remains unknown how the virus that causes COVID-19 originated, but many scientists think a natural spillover is most likely. Online posts have cited unnamed sources to claim that scientists in Wuhan, China, were the first to get sick with COVID-19. But U.S. intelligence says the researchers’ symptoms […]
Facts Check
FactChecking Trump’s Remarks at the Faith & Freedom Coalition Conference
In June 24 remarks, former President Donald Trump made misleading claims about the reach of the National Archives and Records Administration and the federal charges he is facing for allegedly retaining classified documents after he was no longer in office. Trump also made an unsubstantiated claim about President Joe Biden. […]
Viral Posts Distort Greta Thunberg Tweet Warning About Climate Change
Quick Take A Harvard University professor warned in 2018 that steps were needed over the next five years to reduce carbon pollution to preserve Arctic ice. Climate activist Greta Thunberg then shared a tweet that misquoted the professor. But recent social media posts have distorted Thunberg’s tweet to falsely claim […]
Misleading Online Posts Distort Biden’s Joke at Meeting with Indian Prime Minister
Quick Take In a meeting with the Indian prime minister and CEOs of technology companies, President Joe Biden joked about Republican investigations into him and his family. “I sold a lot of state secrets and a lot of very important things,” he joked, and added, “Now, all kidding aside.” But […]
TikTok Video Mangles American Cancer Society Breast Cancer Estimates
SciCheck Digest Breast cancer in younger women has been increasing gradually in recent decades. But a social media post misrepresents case number projections for 2022 and 2023 to falsely claim they show a dramatic rise in early-onset breast cancer — and then baselessly ties its faulty comparisons to COVID-19 vaccines. […]
Posts Misrepresent Pentagon Accounting Errors in Ukraine Aid
Quick Take The Pentagon discovered accounting errors that overestimated how much it had spent on aid for Ukraine by $6.2 billion over two years. But social media posts misinterpreted the discovery to falsely claim the U.S. “lost” $6.2 billion or laundered money through Ukraine. The $6.2 billion will be added to future aid packages for Ukraine. […]
Q&A on Mpox
Editor’s note: This is an updated version of a Q&A we published in May 2022. Last summer saw the largest outbreak ever of mpox, the disease formerly known as monkeypox. Beginning in May 2022, cases of the disease, which is a much less dangerous relative of smallpox, began cropping up in Europe and other […]
Posts Make False Claim About Cause of Gender Dysphoria
SciCheck Digest Recent research suggests that gender dysphoria is likely caused by a combination of factors, including hormone exposure before birth. But social media posts make the baseless claim that it could be caused by a vaccine containing DNA from an aborted fetus of the opposite sex. There is no […]
Republican Claims About Hunter Biden Offenses
Several Republican lawmakers have objected to a plea deal between the Department of Justice and Hunter Biden, the president’s son, claiming it was “a slap on the wrist.” We’ll explain the plea and what we know about several other offenses Republicans say Hunter Biden committed, some of which are unsubstantiated. […]
Trump, Iran and the ‘Highly Confidential’ Document
In an interview with Fox News, former President Donald Trump denied showing a classified plan of a U.S. attack on Iran when he met in July 2021 with four people who lacked security clearances — contrary to an audio transcript of Trump contained in the 37-count federal indictment against him. […]