Clickbait Network

Did Barack Obama, Donald Trump or Marco Rubio "just cut the ribbon on a $150 million free education and health campus, entirely funded "by his own pocket", without a single tax dollar."? No, none of them did: The made-up stories are among dozens cranked out by Vietnam-based publishers building traffic on Facebook with stories attractive to fans of Obama, Trump…

Is the Securities and Exchange Commission investigating 10 Democrats, including former President Joe Biden, for fraud and insider trading? No, that's not true: There is no evidence the SEC is investigating any of the 10 people whose images are included in the post. The claim originated from a satirical Facebook page that carried a satire disclaimer. The owner of the…

Did AOC show up in a town named "Barron, Delaware" to bail out Hunter Biden with a $250,000 bond related to an arrest for narcotics and disorderly conduct charges? No, that's not true: The story originated in a meme from a satirical Facebook page that originally carried a disclaimer. The owner of the page is known for tricking conservatives into…

Did "Judge Harrison" surprise a 14-year-old named David by telling him that the court proceeding was not just another foster care placement, but that he was going to be adopted by a "Mr. and Mrs. Gable"? No, that's not true: This is a made-up story with no verifiable details. There is no public record including the three names from the…

This is what fact checkers call a "prebunk." A prebunk is like a debunk (another word for fact check), only it's an advance notice of an anticipated false claim. This article is intended to inoculate you from future outbreaks of a specific type of false claims about your favorite entertainment celebrities, sports stars, and politicians. We call this "Viet Spam"…

Did Donald Trump (or another famous person) dismiss the achievements of Dick Van Dyke (or some other celebrity) by saying, "He's just a dancer." (or some other talent)? No, that's not true: This story about a broadcast studio turning into a "televised earthquake" is nothing but a formulaic structure to pair the names and pictures of some famous people for…

Was Pete Hegseth sued for $50 or $60 million along with a television network after an "on-air clash" with Robert Irwin or someone else? No, that's not true: A network of spam pages on Facebook put out dozens and dozens of variations of the same story, sometimes with a slightly different dollar amount, in which the clash was variously with…

Does evidence support a claim that Charlie Kirk murder investigators "confirmed" they found a bullet in Kirk's body and a second bullet at the scene of the shooting? No, that's not true: Investigators have made no such public disclosures ahead of the October 30, 2025 hearing scheduled in the case. The claim was published and promoted by a clickbait website…

Did Turning Point USA's Super Bowl halftime show sell out the Atlanta Braves stadium in three hours after it was announced that Kid Rock would be performing? No, that's not true: The story originated on a satirical Facebook page that clearly labels its content as fake. The owner of the page is known for tricking conservatives into liking and sharing…

Did Elon Musk threaten to end his Super Bowl sponsorship if Bad Bunny performs at the halftime show? No, that's not true: Elon Musk does not sponsor the Super Bowl. The claim that he does and has threatened to end his sponsorship was published and promoted by a network of clickbait websites and Facebook page operated from Vietnam. The same…