AP Fact Check
@APFactCheck
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Fact-checking, accountability journalism and misinformation coverage from @AP journalists around the globe. Getting the facts right since 1846. [email protected]
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Joined November 2011
Social media users this week spread false claims about the mass shooting in Maine, a Muslim shrine in Iran, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Get the facts in the AP's weekly roundup of online misinformation.
apnews.com
Social media users shared a range of false claims this week. Here are the facts: An aerial video of a man lying on his stomach in the middle of a road doesn't show police arresting Maine shooting...
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Turkey’s president hasn’t threatened to intervene in the Israel-Hamas war. He is being misquoted.
apnews.com
False. The conservative Muslim president has said no such thing. A social media post he wrote recently about the ongoing conflict has been misquoted.
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Qatar has not threatened to cut off the world’s natural gas supply if Israel does not stop bombing Gaza and soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo was not sentenced to 99 lashes in Iran for hugging a woman. Here's a look at the week's false news online.
apnews.com
Social media users shared a range of false claims this week. Here are the facts: A clip circulating online doesn't show Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, threatening to cut off...
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Qatar hasn’t threatened to cut off natural gas exports if Israel doesn’t stop its assault in Gaza. A video of the country’s emir from 2017 is being misrepresented online. https://t.co/skjmeMXeIC
apnews.com
False. Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, says no such thing in the widely circulating clip, which is more than six years old.
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Social media posts claim a church dating to the Middle Ages was destroyed during Israel’s bombing of Gaza. But officials with the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrios say the structure remains intact.
apnews.com
False. Officials with the church in Gaza say the structure remains intact and unharmed during the shelling.
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No, BBC News didn’t report Ukraine sent weapons to Hamas. A fake video clip is spreading online.
apnews.com
False. The widely shared video clip is fabricated. Officials with the BBC and Bellingcat, an investigative news website that is cited in the video as the source, confirm that neither outlet has...
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No, the judge in Trump’s civil trial didn’t have a bottle of gin in court, as videos circulating on social media claim. It was a tall spring water container.
apnews.com
False. The green bottles in the videos match the label and distinctive design of Mountain Valley Spring Water, not Tanqueray gin, as online posts suggest.
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In this week's roundup of false online claims: Biden is not giving people who enter the U.S illegally $2,200 a month. Japan's low infant mortality rate isn't due to a ban on vaccine mandates. And thousands of kids are not missing after the Maui fires. https://t.co/Wxqv7q6Nwi
apnews.com
Social media users shared a range of false claims this week. Here are the facts: The Biden administration is not giving people who enter the U.S illegally payments of $2,200 per month.
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Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs' brief trip to Washington this week was wildly misrepresented online. The Democrat didn’t abruptly resign, as many claimed, she’s back in the state and still governor.
apnews.com
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs' brief trip out of state this week has been wildly misrepresented on social media and conservative news sites.
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Social media users this week shared: • Misinformation about FEMA's upcoming emergency alert test. • A fake news report about a member of Ukraine's U.N. delegation. • And an AI-generated image of Sen. Rand Paul in a bathrobe. Here are the facts.
apnews.com
Social media users shared a range of false claims this week. Here are the facts: A Federal Emergency Management Agency emergency broadcast system test on Oct. 4 won't activate nanoparticles contained...
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A Mayo Clinic page featured outdated guidance on using hydroxychloroquine for COVID. But the text wasn't recently added, as some claimed — it's been there since 2020. The clinic deleted the page and said it doesn't endorse the drug for treating the virus.
apnews.com
False. A page about hydroxychloroquine on the hospital system’s website included outdated guidance that the malaria drug “may also be used to treat coronavirus (COVID-19) in certain hospitalized...
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Social media users are urging Americans to shut off their cellphones on Oct. 4 when FEMA conducts a regular test of its emergency alert system. But there’s no truth to the conspiracy theories — it's the same audio tone that’s been in use since the 1960s. https://t.co/IwXlhCwByh
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A billboard near Times Square did not display an ad featuring a crude misspelling of "Glory to Ukraine" this week, the company that operates the sign confirmed. A viral video purporting to show such a display was fabricated.
apnews.com
False. No ad related to Ukraine has ever run on the billboard at West 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue, and footage showing otherwise was fabricated, the company that operates the video display told The...
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A video shows two Missouri lawmakers burning boxes, not books. No Jan. 6 defendant has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for simply filming the events. Footage of a parent ripping down a Pride flag in a classroom is a skit, not real. @AP has the facts. https://t.co/M2WWUI2CsL
apnews.com
Social media users shared a range of false claims this week. Here are the facts: A viral video shows two Missouri lawmakers using a flamethrower to burn cardboard boxes, not books.
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A congressman claimed the DOJ is "putting away" Jan. 6 rioters for 20 years for merely filming the violence. But so far, the only person sentenced to that much time is the former head of the Proud Boys. And he was charged with seditious conspiracy. https://t.co/fZ63Qbck0J
apnews.com
False. The only person to have been sentenced to at least 20 years in prison in connection with the case is Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the extremist group the Proud Boys.
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Social media users are claiming Navy SEALs rescued 15 missing Maui children from a warehouse in Honolulu. But that’s not true — the information originated on a parody website.
apnews.com
False. This claim originated as a story on a website that says it publishes “humor, parody, and satire.” The chief of police in Maui confirmed the information is untrue.
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Social media users are sharing a clip purportedly showing an angry parent tearing a Pride flag from a classroom wall and confronting a teacher. But the video was staged, contrary to suggestions that it’s real.
apnews.com
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The clip shows actors performing a skit, as a longer version makes clear. It was posted by a social media personality who has previously shared similar videos, including with...
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A viral video shows two Missouri state senators demonstrating flamethrowers on boxes at a local GOP fundraiser, not burning books, as some social media posts falsely suggest.
apnews.com
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False.
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COVID-19 has spiked in different seasons, not just around elections. The U.S. didn't "accidentally" send Ukraine $6 billion. Bill Gates isn't calling for razing 70 million acres of trees to fight global warming. Here are the facts. https://t.co/5cfgQBIqEA
apnews.com
Social media users shared a range of false claims this week. Here are the facts: COVID-19 cases have spiked at various times of the year, not only near elections.
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Australian researchers say their study is being distorted to claim it shows Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine causes “vaccine acquired immunodeficiency syndrome” — a condition that experts say doesn't exist. Here are the facts.
apnews.com
THE FACTS: As U.S. health officials recommend most Americans receive an updated COVID-19 vaccine, some online are re-airing false claims about the shots — with a new spin.
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