Latest Stories By Daniel Funke

The sequel to a video filled with conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic is so far not the viral hit that the original was. On Aug. 18, a website that hosts videos removed by YouTube aired “Plandemic: Indoctornation.” The video is a pseudo-documentary that spins a conspiracy theory about the spread of COVID-19 over 75 […]

The photos are hard to look at. In one, former Vice President Joe Biden appears to bite a little girl’s cheek. In another, former President Barack Obama sits in a boat alongside actor George Clooney and a small child. The image is juxtaposed with a photo of a human trafficking victim. Other photos published on […]

As a partisan fight over the White House coronavirus task force continues to play out in Washington, an altered video that makes it look like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is drunk has gone viral on Facebook. The video, which was published July 30, has more than 2 million views. It shows Pelosi drinking from a […]

Despite social media platforms’ efforts to remove it, millions of people have seen a viral video of doctors making false and misleading claims about the coronavirus pandemic. Breitbart, a conservative news outlet, published the 40-plus-minute-long video on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube on July 27. It’s a live stream of a Washington, D.C., press conference organized […]

A video that was viewed or shared by millions of people on social media shows a group of doctors calling for the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, despite warnings from public health experts.  The clip shows members of a newly created group called America’s Frontline Doctors at a press conference outside the Supreme Court […]

A hoax about an online furniture store and child sex trafficking made its way to social media feeds with the help of groups dedicated to pushing debunked conspiracy theories from the 2016 election. The viral rumors go like this: Wayfair.com, a website that sells home goods and furniture, listed several cabinets, pillows and other items […]

In the weeks since protests erupted after the death of George Floyd, one mysterious word has consistently popped up in press briefings, cable news broadcasts and social media posts: antifa. President Donald Trump has tweeted several times about the left-wing movement since late May, likening it to “other wacko groups of anarchists.” Attorney General William […]

If you only get your news from Facebook, you might think all Black Lives Matter demonstrations devolve into riots and looting. Since George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody, PolitiFact has debunked dozens of false claims about protests against police brutality and racism across the country. Some have to do with false rumors of riots. […]

A website that was banned from Facebook rebranded as a pro-Trump news outlet to reach its audience, peddling debunked claims about the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests. Natural News was one of the websites that promoted “Plandemic,” a viral documentary that made a slew of false claims about COVID-19. On May 29, NBC News reported […]

Scott Zalkind was just trying to keep his one-man business safe. As the owner of Lucky Dog Hot Sauce in Hayward, Calif., Zalkind relies on farmers markets to make sales. So when the markets started to require face masks, he started shopping around online. With the nationwide shortage from COVID-19, it took a while before […]

Fact-checking your friends and family on social media is not as weird as you think — and it could help slow the spread of misinformation about the coronavirus. A recent survey found that 34% of people reported seeing someone else get corrected for sharing about COVID-19 on social media. Nearly one-fourth of respondents said they […]

Protests calling for state and federal governments to reopen have become a source of misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic. A May 7 clip on Facebook shows a doctor giving a six-minute speech about California’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. In it, the doctor makes several misleading claims about the severity of the virus and the […]