Welcome to Reality Check, NewsGuard’s nonpartisan newsletter that tracks the false claims and conspiracy theories that shape our world — and who’s behind them. Please support us by becoming a premium member or sharing our work.
Fake reports impersonating Western news outlets are a key weapon in Russia’s disinformation arsenal. NewsGuard has identified fabricated articles designed to look like real news accounts from dozens of legitimate outlets — all created to spread false claims about Ukraine. Can you tell the fake headline from the real one?
Your time is recorded, and the highest score in the shortest amount of time wins a stylish NewsGuard cap.
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NewsGuard’s “False Claim of the Week” highlights a claim from NewsGuard’s False Claim Fingerprints, a proprietary database of provably false claims and their debunks. The claim that “hantavirus” means “fake virus” in Hebrew, suggesting Israeli involvement in the 2026 hantavirus outbreak is NewsGuard’s “False Claim of the Week” due to its widespread appearance across social media platforms and websites, its high engagement levels, and the high-profile nature of the sources promoting it. Those three factors, as well as its significant subject matter and potential for harm, make it our False Claim of the Week.
What’s...
Welcome to Reality Check, NewsGuard’s nonpartisan newsletter that tracks the false claims and conspiracy theories that shape our world — and who’s behind them. Please support us by becoming a premi...