Are police investigating the death of a former Arkansas state senator who believed she was closing in on a child trafficking ring? No, that's not true: Linda Collins, who lost her state senate post to another Republican last year, was shot to death at her Pocahontas, Arkansas, home on June 4, 2019, but there is no evidence that she had…

Does a picture often shared on social media show a very crowded public beach in China? No, that's not true: the photo actually shows an aerial shot of Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro during the 2013 World Youth Day when Pope Francis celebrated mass there. The photo recently went viral again via a post (archived here) on a Facebook…

Did the FBI admit that President Barack Obama lied to the nation about Hillary Clinton's email? No, that's not true: The article making the claim misrepresents a Judicial Watch report that an FBI official disclosed in a deposition that one of the sources for recovered Clinton emails was the server for the Executive Office of the President. The official did…

Did Bernie Sanders say Christianity is "an insult to muslims"? No, that's not true: an old hoax story from 2017 based on a Senate hearing keeps popping up but as the record shows Sanders was only calling a statement from White House Deputy Budget Director nominee Russell Vought "insulting" to "over a billion Muslims" and he was not refering to…

Did Democrats say that American taxpayers must pay reparations to illegal aliens? No, that's not true: The claim is a distortion of a statement made by a member of congress in reference to children separated from parents after arriving at the border to apply for asylum in the United States. Rep. Pramila Jayapal said the federal goverment must "make reparations"…

Did Pope Francis compare Christians to a fungus during an address in Morocco? No, that's not true: The speech quoted in misleading stories included the pope quoting a biblical passage in which Jesus responds to a question about the nature of the Kingdom of God by saying "It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three…

Can making love in the sea cause your baby to be born with blue eyes? No, that's not true: the story was made up by a Spanish humor website for entertainment purposes. It is not real. The story originated from an article published on March 20, 2019 by "There Is News" titled "Making love in the sea can make your…

Did a trapeze artist with diarrhea shit on 23 people in Boston? No, that's not true: the story was made up by the English language version of a Spanish humor website that used to disguise itself as a news source. They have now added the phrase "Not real, but so funny" to their logo and added following warning at the…

Did Pope Francis declare masturbation is no longer a sin for followers of the Catholic Church? No, that's not true: the quote was made up by a Spanish website with a well hidden satire disclaimer and it later translated the story for its English language version. The story went viral via an article published on February 17, 2019 by There…

Did Pope Francis say a world government must rule the U.S. for their own good? No, that's not true: the story was made up by a website that attracts clicks and visitors by taking existing news reports out of context and adding an incendiary headline to it, often containing made up facts that are not found in the sources the…