The Latest Fact Checks curated by Media Bias Fact Check 02/16/2022

Each day Media Bias Fact Check selects and publishes fact checks from around the world. We only utilize fact-checkers that are either a signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) or have been verified as credible by MBFC. Further, we review each fact check for accuracy before publishing. We fact-check the fact-checkers and let you know their bias. When appropriate we explain the rating and/or offer our own rating if we disagree with the fact-checker. (D. Van Zandt)

Claim Codes: Red = Fact Check on a Right Claim, Blue = Fact Check on a Left Claim, Black = Not Political/Conspiracy/Pseudoscience/Other
Fact Checker bias rating Codes: Red = Right-Leaning, Green = Least Biased, Blue = Left-Leaning, Black = Unrated by MBFC

 FALSE Claim by JD Vance: “Joe Biden uses the ATF to illegally track your gun transactions.”

PolitiFact rating: False (The Government Accountability Office found that ATF is following the law in how it manages those records.)

JD Vance wrongly says ATF is illegally tracking gun sales

BLATANT
LIE
Claim by infowars.com: COVID-19 Vaccines Are ‘Dangerous And Ineffective’ And ‘Need To Be Withdrawn From The Market’

Lead Stories rating: False (Proven Safe)

Fact Check: COVID-19 Vaccines Are NOT ‘Dangerous And Ineffective’ And Do NOT ‘Need To Be Withdrawn From The Market’



Infowars Rating

BLATANT
LIE
Claim via Social media: “The second booster has eight strains of HIV.”

Politifact rating: Pants on Fire (Crackpot Pseudoscience)

COVID-19 vaccines do not contain HIV

MOSTLY
FALSE
Claim via Social Media: In February 2022, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel suddenly dumped $400 million worth of the company’s stock over worries that it was about to lose value because of “bad news,” and deleted his Twitter account.

Snopes.com rating: Mostly False (He did delete his unused Twitter account in February 2022; however, Bancel did not “dump” $400 million worth of Moderna stock all at once in February 2022. Bancel had sold less than $10 million worth of shares by mid-month, about $390 million less than claimed. Furthermore, these sales were done at predetermined times and had nothing to do with current events.)

Did Moderna CEO Suddenly Dump $400M in Stock?

FALSE Claim via Social Media: A video shows that “OnlyFans has guys on campus encouraging your daughters to do porn for ‘financial freedom.’”

PolitiFact rating: False (The original video appeared to be created as a joke, based on the caption and comments on Instagram and other platforms. The man seen in the video, a social media influencer, is not employed by or affiliated with OnlyFans, the company confirmed.)

No, OnlyFans isn’t recruiting for adult film stars on college campuses. Man in viral video is acting

FALSE (International: Indonesia): Video of Indonesian podcaster Babeh Aldo claims air pollution causing Covid-19 pandemic.

AFP Fact Check rating: False

Health experts dismiss false claim circulating in Indonesia that ‘air pollution causes Covid-19’

Disclaimer: We are providing links to fact checks by third-party fact-checkers. If you do not agree with a fact check, please directly contact the source of that fact check.


Do you appreciate our work? Please consider one of the following ways to sustain us.

MBFC Ad-Free 

or

MBFC Donation




Left vs. Right Bias: How we rate the bias of media sources

Found this insightful? Please consider sharing on your Social Media:

Subscribe With Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to MBFC and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 22.9K other subscribers



Comments

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.