The Latest Fact Checks curated by Media Bias Fact Check 09/22/2023

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

MOSTLY TRUE	Claim by Bernie Sanders (I): “CEOs are now making 400 times more than their average worker.” Politifact rating: Mostly True (A 2021 annual measurement of CEO wages versus average workers’ wages by one liberal think tank shows a 399-to-1 ratio. A 2022 estimate by the AFL-CIO that used different methodology found a lower ratio, 272-to-1, higher than ratios from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.) Do CEOs today earn 400 times more than their typical workers, as Bernie Sanders said?
BLATANT LIE	Claim by Entrepreneur Steve Kirsch: VAERS reports show 410,000 Americans were killed by COVID-19 vaccines; the COVID-19 vaccine caused 41 times more deaths than reported Health Feedback rating: Incorrect (The claim that vaccine-related deaths are being underreported by a factor of 41 is based on a flawed analysis co-authored by Kirsch, using assumptions that aren’t supported by evidence.An adverse event reported to VAERS doesn’t necessarily mean that the vaccine caused the issue. The VAERS database is a tool that helps identify unusual patterns that could indicate rare side effects. Determining whether the vaccine caused the event requires a much more detailed investigation beyond the total number of reports.) VAERS death reports don’t prove COVID-19 vaccines killed hundreds of thousands, contrary to claim by Steve Kirsch
FALSE	Claim by Caitlin Johnstone: NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg acknowledges that Russia invaded out of fear of NATO expansion Logically Facts rating: False (Stoltenberg referred to a well-known Russian draft treaty presented in December 2021. He did not acknowledge anything new. The draft treaty had little chance of being accepted.) Jens Stoltenberg did not admit that Russia invaded Ukraine because of NATO expansion Caitlin Johnstone Rating
BLATANT LIE	Claim via Social Media: “World leaders & elite businessmen are ingesting the blood of young children in order to achieve ‘eternal youth,’ a CBS report warns.” PolitiFact rating: Pants on Fire (Total crackpottery: In 2018, CBS News reported on a clinical trial focused on transfusing blood from young donors to adults older than 35. It didn’t warn that world leaders and elite businessmen were ingesting the blood of young children.) Social media posts exaggerate real stories about plasma transfusions to suggest something sinister
BLATANT LIE	Claim via Social Media: California Made A Trans History Month Before Women’s History Month. Lead Stories rating: False (Women’s History Month began in March 1988. California is tentatively planning to celebrate its first Transgender History Month in August 2024, roughly 36 years after its first Women’s History Month.) Fact Check: California Did NOT Make ‘Trans History Month’ Before Women’s History Month
FALSE	(International: Morocco): Cristiano Ronaldo is providing shelter to all those who were affected in the earthquake in Morocco. The Quint rating: False Is Cristiano Ronaldo’s Hotel in Morocco Offering Shelter to Earthquake Victims?

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.