by: Maarten Schenk
» Most Recent
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Fake News: George H.W. Bush Did NOT Die at 93
Did The Guardian report former President George H.W. Bush passed away aged 93, shortly after his wife Barbara Bush? No, that's yet another death hoax from the same network of... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: SB 1238 Will NOT Eliminate The Second Amendment
Did California Governor Jerry Brown and Senator Stewart Copeland from Ohio write a bill (SB 1238) that would eliminate the Second Amendment if passed? No, that's not true, it is... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: California Gov. Jerry Brown NOT To Ban Sales Of The Bible
Is California governor Jerry Brown preparing to ban sales of the bible? No, that's not true. The claim was made by a website that habitually takes some real news and... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Man Did NOT Kill His Wife After She Refused To Have Sex With Him For 52 Years
Did Albert Fiddler, 76, of Fellsmere, Florida shoot his wife 52 times with a shotgun, once for each year she wouldn't have sex with him? No, that's fake news that... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: 28 Year-Old Man Did NOT Overdose From Marijuana
Did Gary Fields from Denver, Colorado die from a marijuana overdose and was he the 3rd person to die like this? No, all of that was just a fake satire... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
»News & Analysis from the world of Fake News
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Christopher Blair AKA Busta Troll Starts Several New Trolling Websites (And A Porn Site Network)
Regular readers of Lead Stories know we've been following the exploits of Christopher Blair for quite some time now. From taking over right wing Facebook pages with hordes of goats... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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American Troll: John Prager Takes Us Inside Christopher Blair's Secret Troll Cave (Part 1/2)
Readers of Lead Stories know we've been following the work of Christopher Blair (featured in the Boston Globe today by coincidence) for quite some time now. For those of you... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Why Lead Stories Debunks Satire Stories
We sometimes get asked by readers why we bother fact checking and debunking stories that were clearly meant as satire and which are properly labeled as such by the sites... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Looming Crisis As Experts Warn The World Is Running Out Of Facts To Check
Experts have warned a crisis is imminent as the world is running out of facts to check. A recent study by the Federal Institute for Statistics on Hoaxes (F.I.S.H.) estimated... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Oilsjt Analytica Does NOT Actually Guess Your Name
Can the website Oilsjt Analytica really guess your name just based on the answers you give to a few questions? Many internet users were stumped today by the website that... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Defunct Fake News Website NCScooper Is Back As "Gish Gallop"
Remember the Nevada County Scooper? It was a satirical fake news website that disappeared somewhere in 2017 but before it went away it was responsible for such fake story titles... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
» Hoax Alert
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Fake News: Trinidadian Cricketer Denesh Ramdin NOT Arrested at New York JFK Airport With 20Kg of Cocaine
Was cricket player Denesh Ramdin arrested in New York's JFK Airport for trying to smuggle 20 kilograms of cocaine? No, that story is the latest hoax from the newest site... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: George H.W. Bush Did NOT Die at 93
Did The Guardian report former President George H.W. Bush passed away aged 93, shortly after his wife Barbara Bush? No, that's yet another death hoax from the same network of... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: SB 1238 Will NOT Eliminate The Second Amendment
Did California Governor Jerry Brown and Senator Stewart Copeland from Ohio write a bill (SB 1238) that would eliminate the Second Amendment if passed? No, that's not true, it is... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: California Gov. Jerry Brown NOT To Ban Sales Of The Bible
Is California governor Jerry Brown preparing to ban sales of the bible? No, that's not true. The claim was made by a website that habitually takes some real news and... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Man Did NOT Kill His Wife After She Refused To Have Sex With Him For 52 Years
Did Albert Fiddler, 76, of Fellsmere, Florida shoot his wife 52 times with a shotgun, once for each year she wouldn't have sex with him? No, that's fake news that... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: 28 Year-Old Man Did NOT Overdose From Marijuana
Did Gary Fields from Denver, Colorado die from a marijuana overdose and was he the 3rd person to die like this? No, all of that was just a fake satire... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
» Politics
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Fake News: George H.W. Bush Did NOT Die at 93
Did The Guardian report former President George H.W. Bush passed away aged 93, shortly after his wife Barbara Bush? No, that's yet another death hoax from the same network of... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
-
Fake News: SB 1238 Will NOT Eliminate The Second Amendment
Did California Governor Jerry Brown and Senator Stewart Copeland from Ohio write a bill (SB 1238) that would eliminate the Second Amendment if passed? No, that's not true, it is... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: California Gov. Jerry Brown NOT To Ban Sales Of The Bible
Is California governor Jerry Brown preparing to ban sales of the bible? No, that's not true. The claim was made by a website that habitually takes some real news and... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Article 54 Of Obamacare Will NOT Take 30 Percent of Social Security From People Over 60
Will article 54 of Obamacare come into effect on May 1, 2018 and will that mean that 30 percent of social security will be taken away from people over 60... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Three Trump Campaign Workers Did NOT Enter 'Not Guilty' Pleas In Court
Did Trump campaign operatives Sergei Russarov, Michail Menovelsi and Ivanich Lenowski plead guity to conspiracy to collude with a foreign government? No, that is a made up story from a... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Federal Judge Did NOT Toss Michael Cohen Warrant And All Evidence With It
Did a Federal judge named Earl Manuel Mariano just declare all evidence seized by the FBI at Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's New York office to be invalid because of some... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
» Entertainment
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Fake News: Fortnite Creator Did NOT Admit Game's Purpose Is To Prepare Young Men For War
Did the creator of the popular game Fortnite really say it's purpose was to prepare young men for war in Syria or Russia? No, that's not true at all. The... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Beenie Man Did NOT Die at 44
Did The Guardian write Beenie Man (aka Anthony Moses Davis) died aged 44 after being shot? No, that's just a followup hoax from a fake news website that is part... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Coronation Street's Bill Roache Did NOT Die at 85
Did actor Bill Roache of Coronation Street fame die aged 85 today? No, that's not true: he became the latest victim of a network of fake sites specializing in death... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Suge Knight NOT Found Dead in Jail Cell Again, NOT Stabbed Several Times Again
Was rapper Suge Knight found dead in his jail cell after being stabbed with sharpened or honed chicken bones? No, that did not happen. A recent article that said it... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Beenie Man NOT Fighting For Life After Gunshot Injuries
Was Jamaican dancehall artiste Beenie Man (aka "Anthony Moses Davis") shot at least twice by unknown assailants and is he currently in hospital fighting for his life? No, that story... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: R. Lee Ermey NOT Victim Of Death Hoax, Actually Dead
Was R. Lee Ermey the victim of an internet death hoax and is he still alive? No, unfortunately the actor really passed away on April 15, 2018 but many people... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
» Video
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Fake News: Horrific "#Frazzledrip" Hillary Clinton Snuff Film NOT Circulating On Dark Web
Is there a video named "Frazzledrip" circulating on the dark web that shows Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin raping and slicing the face off a young girl and then drinking... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: The Moon Will NOT Turn Green For 90 Minutes On April 20, 2018
Will the Moon turn green for 90 minutes on April 20, 2018? Of course not, despite claims by a viral video posted recently by The Free Though Project no such... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake Video: Youtube Shooter Nasim Aghdam NOT Doing Squats In Front Of Israeli Flag
Is the video of YouTube shooter Nasim Aghdam doing squats in front of an Israeli flag to the tune of "Hava Nagila" real? No, it is not: the video was... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: President Trump Did NOT Scare Toddlers During Classroom Visit
Did President Trump scare one or more small kids into screaming and crying with fear as he visited their classroom? A viral video we spotted on Twitter seems to show... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Sinclair TV Anchor Did NOT Suddenly Begin Reading News in Russian
Did news anchor Carol Foyler of the Sinclair station in Akron, Ohio suddenly start to read the news in Russian last monday? Nope, that story is not true, it didn't... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Video Does NOT Show Praying Muslim Blocking Tram In Montpellier, France
Did a praying muslim block a tram in Montpellier, France? A Facebook user named "Michel Delmas" posted a video on March 22, 2018 (embedded below) with a caption saying it... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk