Election Disinformation

Was a "new" photograph of Malia Obama's credit card with a white powdery substance in lines found on Hunter Biden's laptop? No, that's not true. A picture circulating showing a "Malia Obama" Visa card near lines of white powder has been on the internet since at least 2019. There is no proof that it was found on a laptop allegedly…

Did Breitbart News report that the daughter of Delaware Democratic Senator Chris Coons and seven other underaged girls were "featured" on Hunter Biden's laptop? No, that's not true: The claim cannot be found anywhere on Breitbart.com and a representative of the conservative publisher confirmed to Lead Stories that the website never published such a report. Also, there is no indication…

Did ABC, CBS and NBC ignore New York Post stories that Democrat Joe Biden helped his son get rich from a Ukrainian company, with "proof" on a laptop the younger Biden abandoned at a repair shop? No, this is not true. All three networks have covered the story -- allegations that surfaced first in the conservative tabloid on October 14,…

Does a letter from Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe support the claim that Hillary Clinton planned "the Russia hoax" against Donald Trump in July 2016? No, that's not true: Director Ratcliffe wrote in a letter to Sen. Lindsey Graham dated September 29, 2020, that the information was "Russian intelligence analysis" and the U.S. intelligence community "does not know the…

The project, FactChat, will lead to the creation of a WhatsApp chatbot and two Spanish-language fact-checking units. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Sept. 18, 2020) -- Led by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at the Poynter Institute, FactChat is the first collaborative project to unite 10 U.S. fact-checking organizations with two major Spanish-language news broadcasters to fight mis/disinformation during a presidential campaign.…

Is the COVID-19 pandemic a conspiracy manufactured by "Deep State Democrats" and the "mass media" to disrupt, even rig, the upcoming presidential election in a bid to topple Donald Trump? And did the coronavirus provide the perfect cover for the mass racial justice protests since the death of George Floyd after being knelt on for nearly nine minutes by a…

Did Joe Biden, the U.S. Democratic presidential candidate, promise in a video that he's "coming for" your guns? No, that's not true: This is a complete misrepresentation of what the former vice president actually said in the video. Biden was seated with Beto O'Rourke, the one-time presidential candidate who had just endorsed Biden. In the clip, Biden said he was…

Did an Inspector General's Report say Hillary Clinton committed 'sexual crimes against children'? And did Barack Obama lie to cover up Clinton's supposed crimes? No, neither are true: The IG report did not refer to any sexual crimes against children having been committed by Clinton, and the stories making the claims are taken way out of context. The claim originated…

Is Facebook using "fact-checking" bots to stalk your page and report on your posts? No, that is not true. The popular social media platform says such allegations are false and that no fact-checking bots are being used in such a way. It's unclear where this post originated, but users began sharing it widely in January of 2020. The posts would…

Does U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic presidential candidate, want criminal penalties for anybody who spreads "disinformation" on the Internet? No, that's not true: The meme is misleading and leaves out key details about Warren's proposal. In actuality, she wants civil and criminal penalties to apply only to those who knowingly share disinformation about when and how to vote in…