Election Disinformation

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…

Ryan Cooper, a staff writer and fact-checker for Lead Stories, is the former Director of Programming at CNN International, where he helped shape the network's daily newscasts broadcast to more than 280 million households around the world. He was based at the network's Los Angeles Bureau. There, he managed the team responsible for a three-hour nightly program, Newsroom LA. Formerly,…

Did Israel invent 5G technology, then ban it because of health concerns? No. That's not true: Israel is aggressively pushing the 5G networking service through a tender to incentivize that country's carriers to start rolling it out, according to Reuters. While Israeli companies are actively developing 5G tech, it's not accurate to say that they invented it. The United States…

Lead Stories is happy to support Fact-Checking Day 2019! ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (April 2, 2019) - In most of the world, April 1 is a day for fools. April 2is a day for facts. Today is International Fact-Checking Day, and the Poynter Institute'sInternational Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) will once again coordinate activities and amplifyresources that empower global citizens of all ages…

Hoaxes know no borders, especially in Europe. That's why the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) is proud to announce the launch of FactCheckEU, a collaborative effort from 19 European fact-checking outlets to tackle disinformation and hoaxes, ahead of the 2019 European parliamentary elections in May. FactCheckEU is available at factcheckeu.info. Our work will be shared in 10 different languages, and everything…

Did singer Taylor Swift lose a $14 million contract after backing two democrats in the upcoming Tennessee midterm election? No, that's not true: while she did post a message to her Instagram account earlier backing Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives, the part about her losing the contract was made up by a liberal satire…