Fact Check News

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Russia's invasion of Ukraine is disrupting food supply chains and causing food shortages worldwide, particularly in the Middle East.

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There’s no evidence that an investment in BIOMILQ – a startup that makes artificial breast milk has anything to do with the baby formula shortage. The shortage is caused by supply chain problems and a recall of formula owned by Abbott Nutrition.

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Pfizer has NOT declared their COVID vaccines unsafe for pregnancy and breastfeeding women, despite misleading claims on social media, nor have they said that the real efficacy rate for their vaccine (COMIRNATY) is 12 percent.

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Musk's meme suggests conservatives haven't really changed. However, according to research, Republicans have moved further to the right than Democrats have to the left.

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In a reelection campaign ad, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, claimed without proof, that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. There is still no evidence of election fraud.

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Pattern of clips taken out of context to create the implication that president is unfit for office

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The conclusion that climate change is natural, therefore humans have nothing to do with it, or that we shouldn't do anything about it, is misleading.

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An article says that microplastics have been found in human blood for the first time. We rate this claim as true, although more studies are needed to determine if these substances in humans are associated with a public health risk.

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Certain media outlets and social media posts are making the claim that the United States has established several biolabs in Ukraine, inferring that they contain dangerous bioweapons. We find this claim to be false. The U.S. does not fund bioweapons research in Ukraine. It has only supported preventative public health measures to contain infectious diseases, and prevention of bioweapon proliferation.

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Political commentator and radio host Clay Travis expressed his disdain for the federal mask mandates for travel on commercial airlines. We rate the claim that "masks do nothing" as false. It has been proven that masks have helped prevent the spread of SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

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During a press conference, a reporter asked Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY, “What do you make of Senator Manchin’s proposal to have more domestic oil production?” Schumer answered, "the U.S. is a major oil producer; we only get one percent of any imports from Russia.” We find this claim to be mostly false. Although it fluctuates month to month, about 8% of the oil imported to the U.S. is from Russia.

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The claim that "Russia, throughout all of its history, has never attacked anyone" is false.

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We find the claim about the overall environmental impact of electric vehicles misleading.

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Conservative activist Charlie Kirk suggested that COVID-19 vaccines are contributing to higher mortality rates in the U.S. over the last few years.

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For several hours on Monday, January 31, 2022, a misleading article from news agency Reuters lead to many readers sharing the report on social media as conclusive evidence of ivermectin’s effectiveness against COVID-19, and proof of the alleged conspiracy of suppressed research to blame for the anti-parasite drug’s current lack of approval by the United States Food & Drug Administration.

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When the FDA announced it was no longer authorizing two COVID-19 monoclonal antibody drugs in the U.S., Governor DeSantis, along with a many Republicans objected, saying they did this without data. However, recent lab studies strongly suggest the treatments will not help omicron-infected people.

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Welensky did not say 75% percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. had at least four comorbidities. The shared social media posts imply that deaths from COVID-19 are being over-counted. We find this claim to be misleading, having taken Walensky's interview out of context. It is clear from watching the full clip, Dr. Welensky was referring to the percentage of fully vaccinated people who died from COVID-19.

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An interview with Pfizer CEO Bourla is being used as proof that the initial vaccinations were “a failure” or that the vaccine does not protect against COVID-19. We find claims that represent this interview as proof of vaccine failure are false and misleading. Bourla's comments were specific about Omicron.

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There is growing evidence that the currently available MRNA vaccines provide some protection against the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) of the SARS-COV-2 virus, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. According to the CDC, preliminary results for Omicron from South Africa showed that the Pfizer vaccine provided 70% protection against COVID-19 hospitalization and 33% against infection, during the current Omicron wave. Granted, the protection is reduced compared with the Delta variant (93% for hospitalization and 80% for infection).

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In a widely shared newsletter, Steve Kirsch, a man who promotes himself as an entrepreneur and technology expert, stated that "they've now killed close to twice as many kids from the vaccine as have died from COVID." He's also repeated this claim in an interview on The New American, a conservative news site. We find this claim false. There is no confirmed evidence of a COVID-19 vaccine causing the death of even one child.

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"Climate change applies to any change in the weather. If it rains, it's climate change, if there is a storm, it's climate change. Record snowfall? Climate change," says a widely shared tweet. We find this claim as false. Weather and climate are two different things.

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends to wear a mask indoors to "reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2, including alpha and delta variants, among adults and children." Several studies have proven the effectiveness of masks in limiting the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. However, this hasn't stopped some people from claiming that masks are hurting children that are forced to wear them in schools.

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"NASA says huge, 'potentially hazardous' asteroid will break into Earth's orbit next week" reads a headline from The Hill posted on December 1st. "ROCKY HORROR: Giant asteroid will skim Earth’s orbit tomorrow in hair-raising near miss" reads another headline posted on December 9th in The Sun (UK). These are some of the many headlines describing 4660 Nereus, an asteroid that is around 1,083-feet long (330-meter), will come within 2.4 million miles (3.9 million km) of Earth, still about 10 times farther away than the moon.

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Kim Iversen, a popular political talk show host with over 27K followers on Twitter, claimed that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are global superspreaders of the new omicron variant. “I can’t believe that after fully vaccinated travelers have been found to be the global spreaders of the omicron variant, we’re STILL talking about forcing people into being vaccinated,” she wrote on Twitter. We find this claim to be misleading. There is very little data on how the new variant is being spread.

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Steven Koonin, former Undersecretary for Science in the Obama Administration says that the media is exaggerating the climate crisis. In a recent video for Prager U, Koonin offered several statements that address flooding, hurricanes and the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet. We address the claim that "Greenland's ice sheet isn't shrinking any more rapidly today than it was 80 years ago." Our analysis: this claim is mostly false.

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While cases appear to have fallen in Uttar Pradesh as well as most locations in India, it’s not clear why. Many other factors, including immunity from a previous infection, vaccination, and lockdowns, likely helped reduce the number of cases.

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Austria will impose a nationwide lockdown for people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19. Will it be the first country in the world to do so? Not entirely.

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"There is a significant effort to frame CRT as a Red Herring in the political race leading up to the 2022 election season. In order to protect the public interest of schooling and the credibility of the teaching profession, it’s really important for people to actually research the issues and learn from multiple, trust-worthy, and verified sources (not just social media or their immediate friend groups)," says Prof Rebecca Jacobsen of Michigan State University.

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Based on the last version of the Biden plan, Tim Scott's comments were not entirely accurate. The only accounts that would be subject to the reporting requirement would be where the total deposits exceed $10,000 after taking out of the equation W-2 wages and government benefits, e.g., social security payments.

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There is no evidence that Fauci knowingly gave false information when asked about the NIH funding of " gain-of-function research" when it comes to the coronavirus. In fact, the letter itself notes that the viruses used in the experiments are “decades removed from SARS-CoV-2 evolutionarily” and that they “could not have been the source of SARS-CoV-2.”

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Supply chains problems were in existence for years before the start of Joe Biden's presidency. Prices of containers and pallets, and other myriad corporate choices, have led to the current crisis.

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In response to the continued supply chain woes people are feeling around the globe, Texas congressman Lance Gooden tweeted, "The United States didn't have a supply chain crisis until Joe Biden became president."

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Today's supply chain problems are the result of long-term changes to manufacturing and supply chain management and short-term issues related to COVID, the economy and governmental action.

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Tucker Carlson claimed the cancellation of thousands of flights by Southwest Airlines was “a direct consequence” of the Biden administration’s vaccination mandate for federal workers. Disruptions to Southwest flights began shortly after the airline’s pilots association asked a federal court to block the airline’s own vaccine mandate. The "vaccine mandate" issued by the Biden administration only pertains to Federal agencies, not privately owned corporations. The claim that the cancellations were due directly to a federal mandate on COVID-19 vaccinations is unsupported.

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A meme widely shared on Facebook shows a picture of Bill Gates holding a needle with his face painted like the supervillain “The Joker” and says, “Do you honestly believe that in 70 years of research and development we have a 40% effective flu shot but in 10 months a 95% effective Rona shot?” Comparing the efficacy of the vaccines suggest they both inoculate patients from the same virus. The viruses are different, and comparing the efficacy of the vaccines is misleading.

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An article published by LifeSiteNews claiming that an Idaho doctor observed a 20-fold increase in cancer occurring in people who had received the COVID-19 vaccine supports no evidence.

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In the early hours of Monday, September 27, 2021, an anonymous letter purporting to be from a health expert began trending on social media. The so-called “Spartacus” letter, posted here among other websites of questionable credibility, contains numerous baseless claims buried within over 40 pages of analysis which appears to have been carefully crafted to mask the dubious nature of the letter’s origin and the unfounded nature of many of the author’s allegations.

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President Bolsonaro of Brazil was the first head of state to address this year's UN General Assembly in New York. At one point of his speech, Bolsonaro spoke about the progress Brazil is making in terms of environmental conservation, particularly the Amazon rain forest. In his comments on the environment, we find his claim to be misleading.

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While it is true that the vaccines are effective at prevention of serious illness, many studies show that they are also effective at preventing asymptomatic infection. That is, vaccines are effective at preventing you from catching COVID-19, and therefore reduce the risk that you transmit to others.

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World-renown rap star Nicki Minaj tweeted about Covid-19 vaccination during the 2021 Met Gala (she did not attend since she is not vaccinated). She suggested that getting a COVID-19 vaccine will cause male impotence and swollen testicles.

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"These mandates, this is not about science," the Republican governor said during a press conference in Alachua County. "Because if it was about science, you would recognize the infection conferred immunity."

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Ivermectin is used to fight worms and other parasites in animals and humans. But some people are taking it to treat COVID-19, despite warnings from experts and poisonings tied to the drug.

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Dr. Julie Swann, A. Doug Allison Distinguished Professor and Department Head at NC State University debunks the claim that face masks can't block viruses such as COVID-19.

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In the podcast and video show “War Room” hosted by Steve Bannon, Dr. Robert Malone claimed that the "mainstream media is lying" and suggested that the vaccine that was approved by the FDA is somehow different than the "Pfizer vaccine" currently available under emergency use authorization.

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Social media is now rife with claims about why the CDC is withdrawing its request for emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 PCR diagnostic test after December 2021.

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A study is misinterpreted to convey that the COVID vaccines kill 2 people for every three that are saved, despite the study being under serious scrutiny.

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All three coronavirus vaccines approved for emergency use in the United States are free from metals.

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In an interview in the French documentary "Hold-Up," Luc Montagnier, a French virologist and recipient of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), claimed that Covid-19 vaccines are creating new variants in various parts of the world. He believes that the ongoing vaccinations across the world is an ”enormous mistake.” ”The history books will show that because it is the vaccination that is creating the variants.” Multiple French social media posts that have been shared by thousands have also claimed that COVID-19 vaccines are causing variants of the virus to emerge. We find these claims to be false. There is no evidence the vaccines are creating more variants.

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As business rework their mask requirements such as lifting face mask requirements for customers who are vaccinated against COVID-19, questions about medical privacy are back in the spotlight. The question of whether it's okay to ask a maskless patron if they've been vaccinated has come into focus. Vaccine opponents, including members of the U.S. Congress, are once again claiming that the HIPAA federal privacy law protects individuals from being asked about their vaccination status. We find this claim to be false.

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An article published by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccination organization and widely shared on social media questions the need of vaccinating those who’ve already recovered from COVID-19. The article says there’s a "potential risk of harm, including death" in getting the vaccines. We report this claim as false. There is no evidence that vaccinating people who had previously had COVID is resulting in an increased risk of adverse events.