Biden Did Not Lower the Age of Consent to 8
The Claim
The Biden administration has announced that they will lower the age of sexual consent to 8 years old.
News posted on
Emerging story
In January 2021, rumors began circulating on social media that U.S. President Joe Biden had lowered the age of consent in the United States to 8 years old.
Users across social media continued to push this claim.
Misbar’s Analysis
The Misbar team has determined that the claim is false. While it is unclear where the claim originated, a meme started circulating on Facebook that highlighted a fake story discussing the alleged announcement. The meme circulating shows a doctored headline but can be linked to this real story from CNN that has the same author's byline along with the specific time and date.
There have been no reports of anyone within the Biden administration or the Justice Department making any announcement to change the age of sexual consent.
While there is a federal law that outlaws interstate travel for the purpose of engaging in a sexual encounter with someone under the age of 18, age of consent actually varies by state, and such a national change in law would not be possible. We rate the claim as false.
