Sweden

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…

A Macedonian military man appears to be one of the driving forces behind a network of fake news websites that reached millions of people with articles often inciting hatred against muslims and migrants. Together with friends and family he has been spreading his messages via Facebook and Twitter. Sometimes under their own names, sometimes using fake identities. A look behind…

Although Macedonian fake news merchants still generate thousands of Facebook likes and shares, the platform's recent measures against bad actors have drastically reduced their reach. The next step in the arms race takes the battle to Twitter. An investigation by Lead Stories and Nieuwscheckers into a network of fake news websites run by several Macedonians revealed a sprawling network of…

Sigh. Was the Clinton Foundation ordered to cease operations and was Chelsea Clinton charged with fraud? No, the same old hoax story that originally came from a liberal satire weblog has gone viral again via a copy on a siite run by a Macedonia-based fake news network. It is still not true. The latest copy of the story appeared as…

Did actor and writer Gene Hackman say Donald Trump could easily turn out to be one of the best presidents America has ever seen? No, that's not true: the fake quote has been pushed several times by several sites that are part of the same network of Macedonian fake news websites but it is misattributed. Hackman didn't say it. The…

Did civil war just erupt in Sweden (again) after irate Swedes burned down nine muslim refugee centers to the ground (again)? No, the same old fake story which has been circulating since 2015 has been going viral again after being posted on the newest website of a network of Macedonian fake news sites we reported on last week. This time…

Was 47-year Boris Madison from Colorado attacked by a grizzly bear and kept captive by it for two weeks while he had to endure several rapes by the animal? No, that's not true: the story was made up by a site that invents fake tales of bizarre crimes and weird sex acts purely for entertainment purposes. It did not happen…

Was 24-year-old Mike Hunt rushed to hospital with a severe allergic reaction on his lips after his girlfriend Jane Lee Hopkins put peanut butter on her vagina in order to punish him for cheating? No, that's not true: the story was originally published by a website specializing in making up stories about bizarre crimes and weird sex acts purely for…

Did Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the pilot of vanished flight MH307, mysteriously resurface in Taiwan after being found on a river bank by villagers? No, that's an old story from a site that makes up articles about bizarre crimes and sex acts for entertainment purposes. It did not happen for real. The story was originally published in 2016 but went…

Did Pope Francis call for the United States to have open borders and to take in "as many migrants as possible"? No, that's not true, he didn't say that. A twisted quote appeared in the headline of an article on a website that habitually takes bits and pieces of real news and then adds fake facts in their own headlines…