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Tech NewsFakes
Donald Trump Jr. Posts Fake Letter to Instagram Mocking Woman Allegedly Assaulted by Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh
Republicans have come up with a lot of excuses for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s alleged attempted rape of a 15-year-old girl when he was 17. Some say it never actually happened. Others say he shouldn’t be held accountable for something he did as a teenager. But still others seem to think that it’s all … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFakes
Researchers Come Out With Yet Another Unnerving, New Deepfake Method
Deepfakes, ultrarealistic fake videos manipulated using machine learning, are getting pretty convincing. And researchers continue to develop new methods to create these types of videos, for better or, more likely, for worse. The most recent method comes from researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, who have figured out a way to automatically transfer the “style” of … Continued
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Tech NewsFakes
This Photo Claiming to be ‘Cassini’s Last Image’ is Totally Fake
Have you seen this photo, supposedly showing the last image captured by the Cassini space probe before it crashed into Saturn’s atmosphere? It’s beautiful. But unfortunately, it’s also totally fake. The image has been doing the rounds over the past few days, racking up tens of thousands of views and retweets on social media. But … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFakes
Texas Governor Tweets Fake Churchill Quote About Fascism, Gets Flooded With Equally Made-Up Replies
Have you heard the famous Winston Churchill quote that “the fascists of the future will call themselves anti-fascists”? Well, it’s a fake quote. Churchill never said it. But that didn’t stop Texas Governor Greg Abbott from tweeting the fake quote late last night. And while Abbott is rightly being taken to task, the responses to … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFakes
This Viral Photo Doesn’t Show Maria Butina in an Oval Office Meeting With Trump
On Sunday, 29-year-old Russian national Maria Butina was arrested and charged with being an unregistered agent of the Russian government while trying to influence the 2016 presidential election. Ever since, people online have been combing through old photos of Butina posing with American politicians. But one photo has gotten a lot of attention today. It … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFakes
Russian State TV Photoshops an Awkward Smile on Kim Jong Un’s Face [Updated]
Russia-1 aired a segment yesterday about Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s recent meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. But one part of the news broadcast was pretty weird. Take a look at Kim’s face in the screenshot on the left. Kim has been photoshopped to look like he’s smiling. And it’s not even … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFakes
This Viral Video of Ducks Waiting for a Green Light to Cross the Street Is Totally Fake
Have you seen this video of ducks in Germany waiting for a green light before they cross the street? It’s gone viral, getting tens of thousands of views on Twitter and over 2.5 million views on Facebook. But the video is totally fake. The ducks are computer generated. Don’t believe me? Take a closer look … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFakes
Trump and Macron’s Disappearing Tree is Just in Quarantine to be Monitored For Pests
US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron planted a tree at the White House on April 23rd in a friendship ceremony. But the tree quickly went missing, and some people started to wonder if a conspiracy was afoot. But there’s no grand conspiracy. The tree, which was brought from France, is simply in … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFakes
Winning Wildlife Photo Disqualified Because of Suspected Fake Anteater
The Natural History Museum of London has disqualified a winning image from its 2017 Photographer of the Year competition on the grounds that the photographer almost certainly used a stuffed anteater—a blatant violation of the contest rules. It was a photograph that looked too good to be true. As we wrote back on October 18, 2017, … Continued
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Tech NewsFakes
That Viral Photo of Our Big Lumpy President Is Actually Photoshopped
Have you seen this photo of President Donald Trump bursting out of his jacket? The US president is a large man, but he’s not quite that lumpy. The photo has been photoshopped. The original photo, which you can see below, was taken by Tom Brenner for the New York Times. It shows President Trump arriving … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFakes
Julian Assange, Notable Edgy 14-Year-Old, Tweets Fake Ricky Gervais Quote in Earnest
Julian Assange likes to boast that WikiLeaks has a “perfect record” of “accurate vetting.” But if Assange’s Twitter account is any indication, Assange can’t even spot a ridiculous parody of “edginess” when he sees it. Rob Rousseau, a freelance writer from Montreal, created some fake Ricky Gervais quotes and posted them to Twitter earlier today. … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFakes
That Viral Video of a Convenience Store Robbery Is Worse Than Fake
An extremely compelling video has racked up over 2 million views on Twitter in less than 24 hours. It appears to show security footage of two young skateboarders stealing chips from a convenience store when a dude with a shotgun enters and attempts to rob the place. And then the skateboarders totally stop him and … Continued
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Tech NewsFakes
That ‘Loaded Grenade Launcher’ Found in a Goodwill Bin Is Actually an Airsoft Toy
On Thursday, news outlets around the country reported what seemed like an “only in Florida” story: Goodwill workers in the state found a grenade launcher in a donation shipment, complete with a live grenade. More skepticism was warranted, however, as keen-eyed readers (and authorities themselves) later determined the device is nothing more than a big … Continued
By Hudson Hongo -
Tech NewsFakes
Viral Photo of Andrew McCabe ‘Escorted Out by FBI Security’ Was Actually Taken Last Year
Have you seen this photo of Andrew McCabe allegedly being escorted out of the FBI building by security? It’s become a popular meme for Trump supporters on social media after McCabe announced this week that he was stepping down as Deputy Director of the FBI. But the image isn’t quite what it seems. The photo … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFakes
The ‘Lottery Winner’ Promising $5,000 for Every Retweet Is a Hoax
Have you seen this viral tweet? It looks like it’s from Shane Missler, a 20-year-old lottery winner in Florida, and he’s promising $5,000 to every person who retweets the account. But it’s 100 percent fake. The fake tweet reads: “Hey guys! I am the lottery winner of $451 Million. With this incredible opportunity I am … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFakes
We Regret to Inform You That Donald Trump’s ‘Gorilla Channel’ Is Totally Fake
Journalist Michael Wolff released a book today with some explosive claims about the Trump regime. Fire and Fury contains stories that seem almost too incredible to be real. And in the case of one excerpt you may have seen on social media, it’s indeed too good to be true. Twitter user PixelatedBoat is an Australian … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFakes
29 Viral Photos and GIFs From 2017 That Were Totally Fake
It’s that time of year again when we look back at the photos and GIFs that went viral over the past 12 months. We did similar year-end round-ups in 2014, 2015, 2016 and I must say that 2017 was even weirder than usual. How so? There were so many fake images swirling around the internet … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFakes
That Viral Video of a Robot Violently Throwing a Basketball Is Totally Fake
Have you seen this GIF of a humanoid robot in a lab? It shows an inventor gently tossing a basketball at his robot. The inventor excitedly turns to the camera only to have the robot throw the ball back and hit him in the face. The GIF has gone viral recently, but it’s totally fake. … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFakes
That ‘Town Crier’ Who Made the Royal Engagement Announcement Is Totally Fake
Did you see that video of the town crier announcing the engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle? Yes, the happy couple are really going to have a royal wedding. But that “town crier” is just a random guy dressed in goofy clothes and has nothing to do with Buckingham Palace. The self-appointed town crier, … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFakes
No, Sarah Sanders Didn’t Steal a Thanksgiving Pie Photo From PBS
The amateur sleuths of Twitter thought that they had uncovered a Thanksgiving conspiracy today, claiming that White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders stole a photo of a pie from PBS and posted it as her own. Did Sanders lie about her pie? No. And we’ll show you why. The origin of this bizarre conspiracy … Continued
By Matt Novak