A look at what didn’t happen this week
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:
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New Georgia voting law is far stricter than that in Colorado
CLAIM: Major League Baseball moved the All-star game to Colorado because Georgia now requires voter ID, but Colorado has the same requirement.
THE FACTS: Colorado does not require a photo identification card to vote, while Georgia’s new law requires voters to use such IDS to request vote-by-mail ballots and existing state law requires them for voting in person. Furthermore, Georgia’s newly passed voting rules that caused a backlash among critics are more sweeping than just ID requirements. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a 98-page measure into law on March 25 that rewrote Georgia election rules. Critics say the new law is too restrictive and will lead to voter disenfranchisement. They highlighted a provision that make it a misdemeanor to hand out water or food to anyone waiting in line to vote within 150 feet of the polling place and within 25 feet of anyone in line. The new law requires voters applying to receive a mailed ballot to include a driver’s license or state-issued ID number in their application, and then write that number on the envelope when they mail back their ballots. The law, which also gives the Republicancontrolled legislature more authority over local election administration, follows former President Donald Trump’s false claims that widespread voter fraud occurred in Georgia and other states he lost in the November election. After the law passed, Major League Baseball released a statement on April 2 saying it would no longer hold its All-star game in Truist Park in Atlanta because the organization “fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.” MLB announced Tuesday that the new location for the game would be Denver’s Coors Field. Social media users compared voter laws in the two states to falsely claim that Colorado’s laws are not that different from Georgia’s. One tweet that was widely shared on Twitter and Facebook spread the falsehood that the states have the same voter ID requirements, proving that the move was foolish. “Soooo! MLB moved the All-star game from Georgia because of voter ID requirements, to Colorado WHICH ALREADY HAS VOTER ID!!” one Facebook post said. Despite what the posts online say, Colorado, a Democratic-controlled state, has less restrictive voting rules than Georgia. The state does not require voters to show photo identification to vote, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said 94%
In this Nov. 3, 2020, file photo, an election judge checks in a voter at the La Familia Recreation Center in the Baker neighborhood south of downtown Denver. On Friday, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly asserting Major League Baseball had moved the All-star game to Colorado because Georgia now requires an ID to vote, and yet Colorado also requires voter ID. But Colorado does not require an identification card to vote. Furthermore, Georgia already had a voter photo ID requirement, new sweeping rules include ID requirements to apply for a mailed ballot. of Colorado’s voters cast their ballots by mail in November since the state sends all registered voters mailed ballots automatically. “The simple fact is Colorado is one of the easiest states to vote in and also has the highest election integrity of any state in the country,” Becker said. When voters choose to cast ballots in person, the state accepts many forms of identification that prove a voter’s name and address, including a current copy of a utility bill, paycheck or bank statement. Voters who use a mailed ballot for the first time may also be asked to send in a photocopy of one of those documents.
Masks remain mandatory in Ohio
CLAIM: Masks are no longer mandatory in Ohio, and Republican Gov. Mike Dewine isn’t saying a word about it.
THE FACTS: Masks remain mandatory in Ohio in indoor spaces as well as outdoors when social distancing is not possible. Ohio rescinded its previous coronavirus health guidelines, including its facial covering requirement, on April 5 . Social media users posted the order from the Ohio Department of Health with false claims it means masks are no longer required in the Buckeye State. “Just a PSA — Masks are no longer mandatory in OHIO & Dewine isn’t saying a word about it,” one Facebook user wrote in a Wednesday post viewed more than 20,000 times. The social posts failed to mention that the previous orders were rescinded as part of a larger move by state officials to update and consolidate pandemic restrictions to make them simpler. A new order issued the same day — April 5 — requires individuals across the state to wear a facial covering at all times when in an indoor location that is not a residence, when outdoors without 6 feet of social distancing from others, and while using public transit, taxis, car services or ridehailing services. The order also outlines several exemptions to the mask requirement, including children under 10, people with certain health conditions and people actively engaged in exercise in a gym or athletic competition. “Everyone should wear a mask when engaging with others outside their household,” the order reads.
In this Monday file photo, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden wave from the Blue Room balcony as they participate in an Easter event at the White House in Washington. The annual East Egg Roll at the White House was canceled due to the ongoing pandemic. On Friday, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly asserting Biden needed a special medical team at the White House and was taken to the hospital late Sunday. But Biden was not at the White House on Easter Sunday; he celebrated the holiday at Camp David. Biden returned to Washington via Marine One around noon on Monday, according to reporting by The Associated Press.
The U.S. government are “patently false,” according has no plans to require to Lawrence O. Gostin, ‘vaccine passports’ a professor, and director of
CLAIM: The federal govthe O’neill Institute for Naernment wants to require tional and Global Health Law Americans to present a health at Georgetown University. passport or vaccine certifi“There are no plans in the cate “on demand,” including US to introduce a vaccine for domestic travel. passport for domestic travel,”
THE FACTS: The U.S. Gostin said to the AP in an government has no plans email. “Neither the government to require so-called vaccine nor the US airline industry passports to travel domestihave announced any cally, or for any other purpose. plans for requiring proof of While private businesses are vaccination as a condition considering vaccine passports of interstate travel.” Gostin for certain activities, Biden explained that foreign carriers administration officials have were discussing a voluntary said the federal government COVID vaccine passport will not mandate vaccine passsystem, but it did not include ports. A vaccine passport is U.S. carriers yet. In the U.S., documentation that shows a only one state has rolled out person has been vaccinated a vaccine passport. New York against the novel coronavirus introduced an app through a or recently tested negative. limited government partnership The information will be with a private company. in the form of a scannable People can show proof of vaccode that can be stored on a cination or a negative test smartphone or printed out. with an app to enter places During a press conference on like entertainment venues. Tuesday, Press Secretary Jen Lawmakers in a handful of Psaki said that the Biden administration states, including Pennsylvania, is “not now nor are trying to ban vaccine will we be supporting a system passports. Last week, that requires Americans Florida Gov. Ron Desantis to carry a credential. There also issued an executive order will be no federal vaccinabanning businesses from tions database and no federal requiring customers to show mandate requiring everyone proof they got the shot. The to obtain a single vaccination Facebook post’s claim that credential.” But posts circulating people without legal status on social media are in the U.S. are allowed to enter falsely implying that vaccine without documentation is passports will be mandatory also misleading. Those trying in the U.S., including for to enter the U.S. must show domestic travel. “President proof they are an American Biden and the Democrats citizen or documents showing want to force Americans to they have permission to present a ‘vaccine passport’ enter the country, otherwise upon demand, yet they oppose they are placed in expedited presenting an ID to cast removal proceedings and face a vote,” reads a tweet by South deportation. The law does allow Carolina Gov. Henry Mcmaster. those without documents A Facebook post claims: who have a credible fear of returning “So, now, I will need a Health to their home country Passport to travel IN America, to enter and apply for asylum. but Illegals don’t need any kind of Passport to enter
INTO America!” Such claims
CLAIM: Doctors in Russia violated a World Health Organization rule by performing autopsies on deceased COVID-19 patients. They determined the illness is caused by bacteria — not a virus — and can be treated with antibiotics and aspirin.
THE FACTS: Popular posts on Instagram made multiple false claims about the coronavirus and autopsies of COVID-19 patients. WHO does not prohibit COVID-19 autopsies, which have been performed since the early months of the pandemic. “Russia is the first country in the world to dissect Covid-19 corpses, and after a thorough investigation, it was determined that COVID-DOES NOT EXIST AS A VIRUS,” reads the erroneous post. The post’s caption further claims that “Doctors in Russia are violating the World Health Organization (WHO) law that does not allow autopsies of people with Covid-19,” which is also false. The WHO does not discourage autopsies of deceased COVID-19 patients. In fact, the organization issued guidance on how to handle such autopsies in March 2020. The first published full autopsy of a deceased COVID-19 patient with photographs appeared in a Chinese journal in February 2020, according to a German study of COVID-19 autopsies. In December, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said that autopsies in Russia are routinely performed when people die of the disease. “We have autopsies in 100 percent of cases, except some exclusions for religious reasons. But in case of infectious diseases, and the coronavirus is considered a highly dangerous infectious disease, we have autopsies in 100 percent of cases,” she said, according to the Russian state news agency Tass. Multiple Instagram posts falsely claimed that the cause of COVID-19 is not a virus, “but rather bacteria that cause death and lead to the formation of blood clots in the veins and nerves, from which the patient dies because of these bacteria.” Scientists have identified SARS-COV-2, a coronavirus, as the virus that causes COVID-19. WHO officials in China were first informed about the virus in December 2019, and the virus was isolated on Jan. 7 by Chinese authorities, The Associated Press reported.
French police tossed cuffs in protest, but not for lockdowns
CLAIM: Video shows French police symbolically dropping their handcuffs to declare they will no longer participate in national lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
THE FACTS: The video is from June 2020 and does not show a protest against COVID-19 restrictions. The French police officers in the video were dropping their cuffs to protest new limits on arrest tactics and criticism of alleged violence and racism in their ranks after George Floyd’s death in the United States. Floyd, a Black man, died May 25 after Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck while Floyd was held face-down on the ground. Protests over police killings erupted worldwide, including in France, where Interior Minister Christophe Castaner announced in June that the nation’s police force would no longer teach or permit chokeholds during arrests. Castaner acknowledged that there are racist police officers and promised “zero tolerance” for racism within the force going forward. Police officers in France responded with their own protests, gathering in several cities to throw down their handcuffs in symbolic opposition to Castaner’s announcement. The digital media company Brut covered one such protest on June 11 at a police headquarters in the Paris suburb of Bobigny. In a tweet with a video of the event, a Brut reporter said the police denounced the stigmatization of their profession and disagreed with Castaner’s decision to forbid the strangulation method during arrests. A clip of Brut’s livestream that day is circulating anew this week along with false claims it shows a COVID-19 antilockdown protest. “French police declare they are no longer participating in the lockdown by symbolically dropping their cuffs,” text over the video reads in a Monday Tiktok post. The same video was shared with thousands of likes on Twitter and Instagram. A sideby-side analysis confirmed this is an old video. There’s no evidence for the claim that French police are boycotting coronavirus restrictions.
Kansas City schools superintendent didn’t tweet at rapper
CLAIM: Mark Bedell, the superintendent of Kansas City Public Schools, tweeted in response to rapper and influencer Bhad Bhabie’s post about sending private messages on Onlyfans, a social media platform that allows people to sell explicit content to subscribers.
THE FACTS: The tweet came from an account impersonating the superintendent, both Bedell and an Associated Press analysis of the image confirmed. This week, an image falsely claiming to show a tweet from a superintendent in Kansas City, Missouri, circulated widely on Facebook and Twitter. The image showed an April 1 tweet from rapper Bhad Bhabie, whose real name is Danielle Bregoli. In the tweet, she said she planned to respond to direct messages on Onlyfans, a platform where models and social media influencers charge subscribers to view explicit images, videos and other content. A Twitter user appearing to have the same picture and Twitter handle as Bedell replied to Bregoli’s tweet, saying he had “been waiting” and accusing Bregoli of “teasing” users. However, a closer look at the image shows the user’s Twitter handle employs an uppercase “I” instead of a lowercase “L” to impersonate Bedell’s handle, which is @Markbedell—kcps. The account that posted the tweet has been deactivated. Twitter has permanently suspended a different account with a similar handle to Bedell for violating the Twitter rules on impersonation, a Twitter spokesperson confirmed. Bedell responded to the fake accounts on Monday in a tweet that was shared by Kansas City Public Schools. “You may be seeing some fake accounts popping up under my name; please know that your senses are correctthey are fake!” Bedell wrote. “We have removed 3 fake accounts over the last 10 days. We are in the process of verifying my account with @Twitter.”