Hoaxes
The Dark Side of 'Canoe Man', the Tabloid Sensation Who Faked His Death
John Darwin's bungled "disappearance" is now the subject of an ITV drama. But it wasn't as laughable as it seemed to those he left in his wake.
He Was an Ex-FBI Serial Killer Profiler. Then His Lies Caught Up With Him.
True crime author Paul Harrison claimed he'd interviewed the world's most infamous murderers – only to be exposed as a fraud and scammer.
Brazil's Far-Right Influencers Are Deleting Videos About Fake COVID Cures
Researchers say thousands of COVID hoax videos—some from accounts tied to President Bolsonaro—are disappearing from YouTube after a government probe.
Please Ignore the ‘Mouthwash Kills COVID’ Story
If you're hoping for a COVID miracle cure, keep looking.
Somehow This Wild Hoax Bill Gates Anti-Vaxx Video Doesn't Violate YouTube's Policies
The video is obviously faked, but it's still setting the anti-vaxx internet on fire.
How to Stop Your Boomer Parents From Spreading Fake Coronavirus News
Four ways to survive the social media "infodemic."
We Can't Believe We Have to Say This, But... Crystals Won't Cure COVID-19
“PrattDaddy.com out here saving lives energetically !”
Jussie Smollett allegedly faked his attack. But hate crimes are almost never hoaxes, data shows.
In both 2016 and 2017, only about .3 percent of reported hate crimes turned out to be fake.
Researchers Retract Study That Said Fake News Is Just as Likely to Go Viral as the Truth
A paper that claimed the quality of information doesn't factor into how viral it becomes under conditions of "information overload" has been retracted.
Boomers Share the Most Fake News on Facebook, Study Finds
A new study found that age was the main factor that determined whether someone would spread misinformation on Facebook.
'This Is Pure Business. It Has Nothing to Do With Personal Politics': Inside the Hoax Industry
In part two of "Mass Confusion," journalist Adi Renaldi meets the people who create black campaigns and learns how a hoax goes from an operative's Twitter account to trending in a matter of minutes.
Indonesia's 2019 Election Is Keeping Fake News Fact Checkers Way Too Busy
In part one of "Mass Confusion," writer Adi Renaldi meets the people who are trying to combat the spread of hoaxes in the run-up to April's election.