Conspiracy And Children

By Dana Ford and Alexis Tereszcuk Does Mike Lindell's "Absolute Proof" video, which promises to expose election fraud, contain only factual and proven statements about the 2020 election? No, that's not true: The nearly two-hour video recycles familiar conspiracy theories, touching on claims that have been widely and repeatedly debunked. Among the disproven allegations are that dead people voted, that…

Is video of giant pandas playing in the snow a coded message? No, that's not true: The video that originated from the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., is just a cute diversion. Any suggestion that it contains a secret message is not based in fact. Such suggestions play off the unsubstantiated belief, shared by some followers of QAnon, that…

Was the inauguration cancelled; will Donald Trump remain in office; and will ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CNN, MSNBC all lose their licenses? No, none of that is true: A made-up story containing those claims and predictions was written by a discredited conspiracy writer and published by 'Before It's News', a news platform that lets anyone write and publish what they…

Is there a bill projected to pass on January 6, 2021, that will allow the state of New York to round up COVID patients and put them in camps? No, that's not true: The hype surrounding this bill is not supported by evidence. The New York State Assembly's Health Committee, where presumably the bill would first be discussed, will not…

Is it true that Pfizer's vaccine candidate to battle COVID-19 is made and stored in such a way that scores of people could be severely sickened or even killed by its use? No, that is a conspiracy theory not supported by scientific studies. According to vaccine experts and literature, the use of PEG -- polyethylene glycol --- in Pfizer's potential…

Did Judicial Watch publish a story titled "Quantum Blockchain System Recount of Votes" that claimed with no evidence elite National Guard units were recounting votes in several states? No, that's not true: there is no trace of the article on the website of Judicial Watch and according to searches of the web and social media there never was one. The…

Did Scientific American warn that 5G technology is not safe? No, that's not true: That's the opinion of one guest columnist of many. The magazine has not taken a stand on the safety of 5G. The claim appeared in an article published by Natural News on October 20, 2020, titled "Still think 5G is harmless? Scientific American issues warnings about…

Abbie Richards, a climate science student in the Netherlands, was looking with bewilderment at the state of her home country of the United States. So many conspiracy theories echoing, particularly ahead of the election. Struggling to wrangle all of them for a paper, she made a chart naming some 100 conspiracies dominating the social media world to, she hoped, make…

Does a photo posted to social media show Nancy Pelosi's son abusing a little girl? And is the image one of those purported to have been on Hunter Biden's laptop? No, that's not true: The photo is not new. It was published last year as part of an article about Paul Pelosi Jr. Also, the image does not show abuse.…

Does a disturbing video show children rescued from being trafficked and is it evidence of a huge market for kidnapped children? No, that's not true. A video showing suspected family members of ISIS fighters trying to escape from a Syrian refugee camp is being falsely used by QAnon promoters to support their claim that children are being kidnapped and trafficked…