A post on social media features two photographs of President Joe Biden’s swearing in ceremony that appear to show a different set up of the people on the background. Some users claim this mismatch between the images is proof that Biden’s inauguration was pre-recorded or somehow staged and inauthentic. This is false: the images, a photograph and a screengrab from C-SPAN footage, were captured from different angles.
A video that covers a range of conspiracies regarding COVID-19 vaccines is being shared on social media. The video includes the false suggestion that the vaccine manufacturer Pfizer shut down production because of deaths among vaccine recipients. There are other claims and opinions in the video that are outside the scope of this check.
A social media post has claimed that only 26 patients died from ‘COVID-19 alone’ at a Welsh Health Board. This statistic, however, has been taken out of context in posts that use it to further arguments that the UK's pandemic response has been disproportionate.
Social media users have been sharing a photograph online that shows President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and Hillary and Bill Clinton in proximity without face masks and claiming that it is a recent photograph after Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021. This claim is false: the photograph was taken in 2016.
Social media users have been sharing a video clip from a Zoom call where President Joe Biden seems to say that the United States is “doomed” because the country will be “minority white European” by 2040. Biden’s words have been taken out of context. In the call then President-elect Biden held with civil rights leaders, the statistic was mentioned as a reason why “significant progress on racial equity” was so important.
A video advocating for an airline that vows to resist any future COVID-19 restrictions such as requirements to be vaccinated, wear a face mask, or provide a negative COVID-19 test, contains false information about PCR tests for COVID-19.
Various posts on social media are sharing the incorrect claim that low influenza activity during the coronavirus pandemic is evidence that the flu is being mislabeled as COVID-19.
Social media users have been sharing posts that make various claims related to the QAnon conspiracy theory, including that Martial Law and the Insurrection Act have been invoked; power has been transferred from outgoing President Trump to the military, not President Joe Biden; there have been mass arrests; Biden is not President; and Trump will come back to power on March 4th. There is no evidence to support any of these claims, linked to the widely debunked QAnon conspiracy theory.
Users on social media are making the claim that U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris did not place her hand on the Bible but on a purse or a glove when sworn in on Jan. 20, invalidating her oath. This is false, as other angles show she had her hand on a Bible.
A 56-minute video in which a doctor claims to tell “the truth about CV19 vaccine” contains various misleading claims, including that vaccines will make people test positive for COVID-19, thereby artificially increasing the number of new cases; that the disease was renamed as part of a cover-up; and that there are proven effective treatments for COVID-19 that the media is ignoring. There are numerous other claims in the video that are outside the scope of this fact check.