Author Archives: BreaJjournalist

Quick Take During an event honoring teachers, President Joe Biden said students are “not somebody else’s children; they’re like yours when they’re in the classroom.” Biden’s words were misrepresented in the National Review, which inaccurately claimed Biden said children “don’t belong to parents” when they’re in the classroom. Full Story In recent months, there has been controversy overContinue reading “Article, RNC Tweet Distort Biden’s Comments on Teachers”

Quick Take John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Republican President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, was affiliated with the anti-immigrant Know-Nothing Party and was a supporter of slavery and the Confederacy. Social media posts claim without evidence that Booth was a Democrat. Full Story President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by the actor John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer andContinue reading “Posts Make Unfounded Claims About Political Affiliation of John Wilkes Booth”

Quick Take The Disney Company opposed Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” law, also referred to by critics as “Don’t Say Gay.” Disney’s actions sparked calls from conservatives for a boycott of Disney — and a flurry of unfounded or exaggerated claims on social media that the company was suffering declines in subscribers, visitors and stockContinue reading “Posts Spread Unfounded Claims About Disney Company’s Financial Health”

Quick Take  In a campaign ad, Josh Mandel, a Republican Senate candidate from Ohio, shared an image of himself as a Marine with a group of Black troops. Social media posts falsely claim that Mandel photoshopped his head onto the body of a Black Marine. The Mandel campaign denied the claim and provided the media withContinue reading “Josh Mandel Campaign Ad Was Not Photoshopped, Contrary to Social Media Posts”

Quick Take Amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, a misleading photo posted March 22 on Facebook shows an American fighter jet intercepting a Russian bomber near Alaskan airspace. But the incident was not related to the current situation in Ukraine; the photo appeared in an article published in AeroContinue reading “Viral Photo of Russian Bomber Shows Incident from 2020”

Quick Take  The Russian invasion of Ukraine has triggered a barrage of false claims on social media, including posts that purport to show a video of “crisis actors” portraying dead victims of the fighting. The video used in the posts is from a climate protest held in Vienna, Austria, weeks before the war in UkraineContinue reading “Video Shows Climate Protest in Austria, Not ‘Crisis Actors’ in Ukraine”

Quick Take President Joe Biden signed a $1.5 trillion bill that funds the federal government and provides assistance to Ukraine. Social media posts misrepresent the bill by implying Congress members gave themselves a 21% pay raise. The bill increases House office budgets by 21%, which likely will result in pay raises for staffers — butContinue reading “Spending Bill Includes Pay Raise for Staffers, Not Members of Congress”

Quick Take Several megachurches in the U.S. are actively raising funds to support Ukrainians in light of the Russian invasion. But social media posts have falsely claimed that “we haven’t seen a single American mega church offer anything to the Ukrainians.” Full Story  On Feb. 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine, which hasContinue reading “Megachurches in U.S. Are Supporting Ukraine Relief, Contrary to Social Media Posts”

Quick Take  Hunter Biden served on the board of the Ukrainian oil and gas company Burisma Holdings from 2014 to 2019. But Ted Nugent posted a Facebook meme falsely insinuating that Hunter’s payments from the company ended with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Full Story  In May 2014, Hunter Biden — the son of then-ViceContinue reading “Hunter Biden Left Ukrainian Company in 2019, Contrary to Ted Nugent Post”

Quick Take  More than 100 people were arrested during the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa. But a video on social media falsely claimed protesters were released “in the middle of nowhere” because the arrests were “illegal.” An associate professor of law who observed the protests said that “police had the authority to arrest and chargeContinue reading “More than 100 Protesters Arrested in Ottawa, Despite Claims in Facebook Video”