Newspunch

Did over 30,000 scientists declare global climate change a hoax? No, that's not true: The "scientists" referenced in a story making the claim were people who signed an online petition that said there was "no convincing scientific evidence" of global warming caused by human release of gases. The petition did not call it a "hoax." The signers' qualifications as "scientists"…

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…

Did firefighters in Northern California suffer neurological damage after contact with 5G cell towers? No, despite claims in several trending reports there is no "new university study" or other scientific evidence to support the claim that installation of the latest evolution of mobile communication towers -- known as 5G -- has caused such harm. An indepth look at the sourcing…

Did Russian President Vladimir Putin ban all Microsoft products from Russia? No, that's not true: a 2016 article was reposted to Facebook by website that has a reputation for making up unsubstantiated claims in its headlines that are not backed by the content of the articles it links to. The story originated from an article (archived here) on NewsPunch where…

Did an unnamed woman admit she was paid to frame Bill Cosby with rape? No, that's not true: a South African website copied an old conspiracy article from NewsPunch/YourNewsWire but the theory it comes up with does not make sense from a timing perspective. It also relies on unnamed sources that can't be verified. The story recently went viral again…

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…

Was NFL lawyer Dan Goodes found dead after claiming the Super Bowl is rigged? No, that's not true: an old copy of a fake story published in 2018 went viral again after being posted to several large Facebook groups and pages in 2019 but it is still not true. The copy of the story was an article published on Fabruary…

Were 10,800 U.S. children raped by illegal immigrants in 2018? Almost certainly not. The actual statistics haven't been published yet and the 10,800 number is just a very sloppy extrapolation based on data from one state that also includes non-rapes. The story went viral via an article published on January 2, 2019 titled "NCFIRE: 10,800 U.S. Children Were Raped By…

Did Angela Merkel say states must give up sovereignty to the "New World Order"? No, that's not true: while Merkel did call on states to surrender some sovereignty she did not mention a "New World Order" and she stressed the importance of parliamentary approval for this process. The article making the claim also contained several other doctored or made up…