Bill McCarthy

This photo is not from recent anti-deportation protests in Portland, Oregon. The image is more than a decade old and can be geolocated to Toronto, Canada. factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

This photo is not from recent anti-deportation protests in Portland, Oregon. The image is more than a decade old and can be geolocated to Toronto, Canada. factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

Republicans post fake image of Oregon protest – using photos of South America A federal judge had blocked Trump’s request to deploy California national guard to Portland

Republicans post fake image of Oregon protest – using photos of South America

"Chemtrails" conspiracy theorists are using the US federal government shutdown to advance -- and argue about -- their baseless ideas that aircraft condensation trails show the government "spraying" weather-manipulating chemicals.

Via @manonjacob.bsky.social: www.barrons.com/news/nothing...

🎶Nothin' but blue skies to see here! Conspiracy theorists have found their silver lining amid the government shutdown: no more chemtrails... unless 🤔: tinyurl.com/59z53ex5

Portland's anti-ICE protests have become a magnet for MAGA influencers Right-wing influencers and media figures have flocked to Portland, helping bring national and Trump administration attention to ICE protests in the city.

Portland’s anti-ICE protests have become a magnet for MAGA influencers

Even Portland police say the influencers are acting more like counterprotesters, initiating fights and scuffles.

Trump has praised them, bringing them to the White House and sending them notes.
www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...

Fake NFL fan pages on Facebook are churning out made-up reactions to Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show, with foreign clickbait articles attributing the same quote calling the singer a "puppet of the left" to over a dozen different coaches and players. factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

US President Donald Trump repeated his false claim today that Amish communities have "no autism."

Fact-check: factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

Fake NFL fan pages on Facebook are churning out made-up reactions to Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show, with foreign clickbait articles attributing the same quote calling the singer a "puppet of the left" to over a dozen different coaches and players. factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

These images have been falsely claimed to show water cannons being deployed against US protesters opposing ICE and Donald Trump's mass-deportation policies.

The photos actually come from footage of a September protest in Montpellier, France.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

The Viral MAGA Accounts Run by a Man Who Has Never Been to America Two influential MAGA social media accounts are run by Rumen Naumovski, a Macedonian who may have illegally donated to a U.S. election.

NEW: A MAGA X account often shared by Senator Mike Lee and House Republicans like Nancy Mace--that often alleges Democrats encourage voting fraud-- is run by a man who not only has never stepped foot in the US, he also illegally donated to an American campaign.

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

This photo is being falsely claimed to show an ICE agent detaining a young migrant child in Chicago.

The image is from 2024 -- before Trump's presidency -- and comes from a video of a Texas policeman playfully handcuffing his son in a make-believe game.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

A deepfake video of a US military leader criticizing Donald Trump and demanding the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related files has gone viral across platforms.

It is an AI-generated fake, modeled on an image from 2007 of a long-retired lieutenant general.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

This photo is being falsely claimed to show an ICE agent detaining a young migrant child in Chicago.

The image is from 2024 -- before Trump's presidency -- and comes from a video of a Texas policeman playfully handcuffing his son in a make-believe game.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

🏆 AFP reporter Samad Uthman took home the top award for "Fact Check of the Year" by a professional fact-checker at the #AfricaFactsSummit2025, which brought together journalists and information integry experts from across the continent.
Read the winning story here: u.afp.com/AIfactcheck

Screenshot of a post on Threads with a red x across the text to indicate it is false

A clip of a WWII era tank was also misrepresented.

The clip dates to August and the Oregon National Guard confirmed soldiers are not driving tanks in the Portland area u.afp.com/PortlandTank

Screenshot of a post on X with a red x across it to indicate it is false

Several clips have been shared out of context by supporters of President Trump's move to federalize national guard, including this footage from an annual transgender pride celebration hosted in the United Kingdom u.afp.com/ManchesterNo...

UK health blogger 'adversely influenced' daughter's cancer treatment, coroner says Kate Shemirani is a British blogger who promotes conspiracy theories on social media to tens of thousands of followers.

A UK coroner ruled a British health blogger who promotes conspiracy theories had "adversely influenced" her daughter to refuse chemotherapy, causing her death from cancer. www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/5...

4chan troll campaign tried to block Indians from flying to the US amid Trump’s H-1B change

Far-right trolls on 4chan attempted to block Indians from flying to the US amid Trump’s H-1B change.

The campaign spread widely among the far-right on multiple platforms, garnering thousands of shares.

My latest:

These two photos do not show the Matthew J. Ruth who at 24 years old ambushed and killed police in Pennsylvania last week and then died in an exchange of gunfire.

The pictures are of a different and still very much alive man with the same first and last name.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

My latest @factcheck.afp.com: Trump falsely claims Amish 'have essentially no autism' factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

My latest @factcheck.afp.com: Trump falsely claims Amish 'have essentially no autism' factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

Anti-vax groups struggle to explain how Tylenol fits in with their whole thing The White House's very weird autism announcement triggers a moment of opportunity and crisis.

Some MAHA activists are extremely frustrated that Trump has blamed the existence of autism on Tylenol, and not vaccines.

YouTube will allow creators previously banned for promoting Covid-19 misinformation and false election-related content to apply for reinstatement, according to a letter sent Tuesday by parent company Alphabet to a Republican lawmaker. www.france24.com/en/live-news...

Massive Charlie Kirk sports news scam targets NFL players, teams An SFGATE investigation revealed a misinformation ring profiting off NFL outrage.

An @sfgate.com investigation revealed dozens of NFL team-specific Facebook pages leaning hard into inciting anger over Kirk’s death w/ fake quotes from NFL stars, from Detroit Gridiron Heroes (Lions), to Green and Gold Legacy (Packers), to Ravens Purple Wings (Ravens): www.sfgate.com/49ers/articl...

A man with the same first and last name as the gunman who fatally shot Pennsylvania police officers last week had his image blasted across the internet in posts falsely linking him to the attack -- a chilling example of the harms wrought by misinformation. factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

These two photos do not show the Matthew J. Ruth who at 24 years old ambushed and killed police in Pennsylvania last week and then died in an exchange of gunfire.

The pictures are of a different and still very much alive man with the same first and last name.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

I geolocated the clip to an apartment complex in College Park, Georgia: factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

As Donald Trump sends the National Guard to Memphis, this video has gone viral with claims it shows residents stealing tanks.

In fact, it shows a music video being filmed near Atlanta in 2020, two local rappers involved with the shoot confirmed to me.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

Been talking to some of the groups Rs want to target in post-Kirk crackdowns. The Wren Collective, with 11 employees, hired security and scrubbed staff names from its website after Chip Roy mentioned them in his demand for a "select committee" probing the left. www.semafor.com/article/09/1...