In June 2021, Misbar published 181 fact-checking articles.
One of the most important topics covered was the ongoing crisis in Palestine. We debunked fake videos and images, claims about Gaza strip relief, multiple fake claims about Hamas funding, and Palestine’s lack of representation on Google Maps.
Another significant topic was Juneteenth, a holiday meant to memorialize the end of slavery in the United States. It has been celebrated for over a century, despite former President Donald Trump’s claim that he made it famous.
The Trump family was the subject of many other fact-checks, including claims that Ivanka was the target of the Miami condo collapse and that Donald wore his pants backwards. We examined continued election fraud claims, including allegations of illegal votes from an empty dorm room, the still-ongoing Dominion lawsuits, and bad ballots ostensibly reported on by One America News network.
Misbar also wrote on dozens of health-related claims, with topics including a fake Mike Tyson anti-vax photo, the reasons behind increased methamphetamine in Florida, suspicions surrounding a woman’s claim she gave birth to decuplets, and lingering COVID concerns.
Throughout June, claims about aliens were out of this world. However, several alleged UFO sightings turned out to have earthly explanations.
Strange but true news verified by Misbar in June includes Jeff Bezos’s summer job working at a McDonalds; Queen Elizabeth using a sword to cut a ceremonial cake; and several politicians falling for a prank to retweet images of Lee Harvey Oswald.
For our June articles, fake was the most common finding, followed by misleading, and finally commotion.
The most common topics were politics, health, and news.
We also published ten blogs covering a variety of topics including Nigeria’s infodemic, Palestinian news coverage, John McAfee’s mysterious Q post, street harassment, and both sides of the critical race theory debate – along with our regular On Our Radar blog posts.
Misbar will continue to debunk fake news, confront false narratives, and advocate for transparency and truth in July.
