Trial by Truth
Untrue Claims Making the Rounds
Misleading and false claims circulating in cyberspace — which is the only place they exist.
As Creative As It Is False:
Recent Claims:
The claim by Bob Casey (D):
Federal agents in Portland have been “kidnapping and holding citizens without charges.” Mostly True
Claim by Trump (R) on effectiveness:
“I happen to be a believer in hydroxy. I used it. I had no problem. I happen to be a believer.” False
Claim by Chuck Schumer (D):
“You know what’s in this bill? No medical malpractice suits until 2024, even if they’re not COVID related.” Mostly False
Claim via Social Media:
My mailman just confirmed they have all officially been told to “SLOW THE MAIL DOWN,” per trump’s Postmaster General. False
Claim by Facebook posts:
The White House doctored a photo of a Donald Trump event “to make the crowd look bigger.” False
(International: Germany) Claim:
A photo shows a large crowd in Berlin protesting the “covid hoax.” False
Claim by Andrew Cuomo (D):
“Trump is to blame for the virus coming to New York, because that’s the fact. That’s what the CDC just said. If Trump’s government had done its job, the virus wouldn’t come here.” CDC Didn’t Say That
Claim by Donald Trump (R) on the U.S. and other countries in the pandemic:
“We’ve done much better than most. And with the fatality rate at a lower rate than most, it’s something that we can talk about, but we’re working, again, with them because we’re helping a lot of countries that people don’t even know about.” False
Claim by Donald Trump (R):
Black Lives Matter protesters and Mexicans have contributed to the rise of coronavirus cases in the U.S. No Evidence
Claim via Social Media:
Former president Barack Obama signed a law that allows federal agents to “snatch protesters off the streets in Portland”. False
Claim by Donald Trump (R):
In the Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders unity platform, “what they’re going to do is they’re going to rip down the wall. They’re taking it down.” False
(International: India) Claim:
Jio is giving 99,000 users free recharge of Rs 349 to celebrate Mukesh Ambani becoming the sixth richest man in the world. False
International Fact Checking Network
Claim by Wisconsin State Senate Democrats:
Say Wisconsin Republican lawmakers have done nothing “while neighboring states like Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan have already implemented safety precautions like requiring individuals to wear masks.”
PolitiFact rating: Mostly True
Claim by Trump:
“Mail-In Voting is an easy way for foreign countries to enter the race.”
AP Fact Check rating: False
Claim by Social media posts:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “just came out & said they made another ‘mistake’” in Florida. “And they’ve also been counting Pneumonia & Flu as Covid– dropping their [number] from approx 90,000 to 11,000.”
FactCheck.org rating: False
Claim by America’s Frontline Doctors:
“You don’t need masks, there is a cure [for COVID-19] … It is called hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and Zithromax”
Health Feedback rating: Incorrect
Claim by Facebook posts:
“Mississippi got 10,145 warrants for unemployment fraud!!”
PolitiFact rating: Mostly False
(International: Philippines) Claim:
Princess Beatrice did not say anything about Duterte’s COVID-19 response. The photo used in the quote card is that of an actress.
Rappler rating: False
The claim:
Deaths from COVID-19 have surpassed combined US battle deaths from several conflicts
USA Today Fact Check rating: True
Claim by Donald Trump (R):
“Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”
PolitiFact rating: Trump can’t delay election
Claim via Social Media:
Did Stage 4 colon cancer cause Herman Cain’s death on July 30, 2020, and not COVID-19, as Cain’s own Twitter account and website reported?
Lead Stories rating: False
Claim by Facebook posts:
The longest filibuster in U.S. history was 75 days and “took place in 1964, when Democrats tried to block the Civil Rights Act.”
PolitiFact rating: Mostly False
(International: Nepal) Claim:
All Canadian citizens are entitled to a government grant of $200 a day from July 8 to Aug. 8 for staying home to help curb the spread of the coronavirus
Check Your Fact rating: False
False & Misleading Headlines
- FALSE: Michigan voters need to show ID at the polls to cast their ballot
- Misleading: Brazilian regulatory agency Anvisa labeled ivermectin a controlled substance, because it’s cheap and helps save lives.
- FALSE: A post from the Russian Virology Center that recommends an alkaline diet to fight coronavirus.
- MISLEADING: Pictures of a flooded NMCH hospital in Patna
- FALSE: A ship carrying Honduran mobile hospitals caught fire
- FALSE: A video stating that in Brazil hospitals receive €3.000 for each Covid-19-related death.
- FALSE: A viral video where an interview from the Tierra Pura portal is disseminated to the doctor Mariana Colombres Garmendia, who denounces the overregistration of the numbers of people infected and killed by the COVID-19 disease in Argentina, and says that the Buenos Aires government pays the doctors or institutions for doing so for the alleged purpose of extending the quarantine
- Misleading: Oxford University’s vaccine is made using the cells of aborted fetuses.
- FALSE: Civilians of a village near the city of Mumbai were protesting the police against taking away COVID-19 positive patients for quarantine. This was after an organ trafficking racket was busted in the village.
- Misleading: A general treatment for the new coronavirus includes antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and corticosteroids.
- FALSE: The Governor of Jujuy (Argentina), Gerardo Morales: “In the Metropolitan Area [of Buenos Aires] 20% of those infected are health personnel”
- FALSE: The active ingredients in chloroquine and ivermectin are also found in lemon and orange peels.
- FALSE: A meme claims that Bill Gates was “expelled from India for leaving 47,000 permanently disabled and disabled children, a direct result of his polio vaccine.”
- FALSE: Ivermectin cures the new coronavirus.
- FALSE: Asymptomatic people are immune to the new coronavirus and they can’t spread the virus.
