 | |
 Home page on 26 March 2024 | |
Type of site | Fake news website |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | Michael Tuffin |
| URL | realrawnews |
| Launched | April 2020 |
Real Raw News is an American fake news website created in April 2020. [1] Many of its published stories include misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, [2] [3] [4] fictional arrests [5] [6] [3] and supposed executions of public figures. [1] [3]
Real Raw News was created in April 2020 by a person operating under the pseudonym of "Michael Baxter". [1] The website started publishing articles that December. [1] [3]
In 2021, PolitiFact found that Baxter previously ran at least three other websites and associated YouTube channels that promoted conspiracy theories about topics such as alien visitations and the fictional planet Nibiru. On one such website, Twisted Truth, Baxter claimed to have worked as a "mainstream journalist" for the New York Post , The Village Voice and The Dallas Morning News . PolitiFact identified "Michael Baxter" as Michael Tuffin, a resident of Texas and New York. [1]
Following inquiries by PolitiFact, Facebook stated it had removed the Real Raw News page for violating its COVID-19 policies, and Google banned advertisements from two Real Raw News stories that promoted COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation. In response, Real Raw News told readers to follow its Telegram account. [1]
Since December 2020, the website has published articles that PolitiFact described as "spinning a narrative of military arrests and executions that reads like a wish list for diehard believers of the QAnon conspiracy theory." [1] It has published stories about the supposed arrests of figures such as Deborah Birx, Nancy Pelosi and Janet Yellen, [7] [8] [9] and executions of figures such as Hillary Clinton, James Comey and Tom Hanks. [1] The website has also promoted the deep state conspiracy theory. [10] [11] [3]
Real Raw News has published misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, including baseless claims that they cause a disease called "monsterism" [2] [3] and that they contain pesticides [4] and scopolamine. [12] In September 2021, it published a false story about 27 U.S. Air Force pilots resigning over the COVID-19 vaccine mandate; the story was shared widely by Twitter users, including then-Fox Nation host Lara Logan and former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos. [13] [1]
Following the 2023 Hawaii wildfires, Real Raw News promoted falsehoods about U.S. Marines attacking a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) convoy fleeing the wildfires [14] [15] and arresting FEMA deputy administrator Erik Hooks. [16]
The website includes a rebuttal to fact-checkers on its About page, claiming they are "arms of the Mainstream Media and the Biden regime's criminal Department of Defense". [3]
In 2021, an email account named "Twisted Truth" stated that Real Raw News was "a satire site, exposing the insanity of rabid Trumpists (who lack the mental wherewithal to distinguish fact from fiction)" after the online misinformation tracker NewsGuard contacted the website to determine its editorial process. [1] [3]
In April 2021, the website added a disclaimer that it "contains humor, parody, and satire"; [1] [3] Tuffin stated the disclaimer was included "to somewhat indemnify myself against potential legal ramification", but added, "I stand behind the articles and the sources who risk their safety to share information." [1] Reports published by the website do not clarify if they are "informational and educational" or satirical. [3]
Law professor Amy Gajda of Tulane University said that the "satire defense is actually very protective" against defamation lawsuits. [1] Garrett Kelly, professor of the School of Communication at Ohio State University, stated: "Someone who is inclined to believe the content hosted on the site might interpret the 'disclaimer for our protection' as insincere, only intended to protect the publisher from lawsuits. In that situation, the reader might mistakenly conclude that claims made on the site are real." [3]
Snopes, formerly known as the Urban Legends Reference Pages, is a fact-checking website. It has been described as a "well-regarded reference for sorting out myths and rumors" on the Internet. The site has also been seen as a source for both validating and debunking urban legends and similar stories in American popular culture.
Fact-checking is the process of verifying the factual accuracy of questioned reporting and statements. Fact-checking can be conducted before or after the text or content is published or otherwise disseminated. Internal fact-checking is such checking done in-house by the publisher to prevent inaccurate content from being published; when the text is analyzed by a third party, the process is called external fact-checking.
National Report is a fake news website that posts fictional articles related to world events. It is described by Snopes.com as a fake news site, by FactCheck.org as a satirical site, and by The Washington Post as part of a fake-news industry, making profits from "duping gullible Internet users with deceptively newsy headlines." The National Report describes itself as a "news and political satire web publication" and provides a disclaimer that "all news articles contained within National Report are fiction".
The Babylon Bee is a conservative Christian news satire website that publishes satirical articles on topics including religion, politics, current events, and public figures. It has been referred to as a Christian or conservative version of The Onion.
World News Daily Report (WNDR) was a satirical fake news website purporting to be an American Jewish Zionist newspaper based in Tel Aviv and dedicated to covering biblical archeology news and other mysteries around the globe.
Occupy Democrats is an American left-wing media outlet built around a Facebook page and corresponding website. Established in 2012, it publishes hyperpartisan content, clickbait, and false information. Posts originating from the Occupy Democrats Facebook page are among the most widely shared political content on Facebook.
The People's Voice is an American fake news website based in Los Angeles. The site was founded as Your News Wire in 2014 by Sean Adl-Tabatabai and his husband, Sinclair Treadway. In November 2018, it rebranded itself as NewsPunch. Your News Wire was revived as a separate website in November 2020, and has continued publishing hoaxes similar to those in NewsPunch. In 2023, NewsPunch adopted its current name, The People's Voice.
Elizabeth Theresa Wheeler is an American conservative political commentator, author, and podcast host. From 2015 to 2020, she hosted One America News Network (OANN)'s Tipping Point with Liz Wheeler, where she was known for her finale segment, "Final Point". In 2019, Wheeler published her first book, Tipping Points: How to Topple the Left's House of Cards. In September 2020, Wheeler left OANN and currently hosts a podcast, The Liz Wheeler Show.
Plandemic is a trilogy of conspiracy theory films produced by Mikki Willis, promoting misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. They feature Judy Mikovits, a discredited American researcher and prominent anti-vaccine activist. The first video, Plandemic: The Hidden Agenda Behind Covid-19, was released on May 4, 2020, under Willis' production company Elevate Films. The second film, Plandemic Indoctornation, which includes more interviewees, was released on August 18 by Brian Rose's distributor of conspiracy theory related films, London Real. Later on June 3, 2023, Plandemic 3: The Great Awakening was released on The Highwire, a website devoted to conspiracy theories run by anti-vaccine activist Del Bigtree.
Michael Yeadon is a British anti-vaccine activist and retired pharmacologist who attracted media attention in 2020 and 2021 for making false or unfounded claims about the COVID-19 pandemic and the safety of COVID-19 vaccines. The Times has described him as "a hero of Covid conspiracy theorists" and "a key figure in the antivax movement". Until 2011, he served as the chief scientist and vice-president of the allergy and respiratory research division of the drug company Pfizer, and is the co-founder and former CEO of the biotechnology company Ziarco.
In many countries a variety of unfounded conspiracy theories and other misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines have spread based on misunderstood or misrepresented science, religion, and law. These have included exaggerated claims about side effects, misrepresentations about how the immune system works and when and how COVID-19 vaccines are made, a story about COVID-19 being spread by 5G, and other false or distorted information. This misinformation, some created by anti-vaccination activists, has proliferated and may have made many people averse to vaccination. This has led to governments and private organizations around the world introducing measures to incentivize or coerce vaccination, such as lotteries, mandates, and free entry to events, which has in turn led to further misinformation about the legality and effect of these measures themselves.
National File is an American right-wing blog and news website created by Alex Jones in August 2019. It is known for publishing false or misleading claims about COVID-19 and the COVID-19 vaccines.
The Exposé is a British conspiracist and fake news website created in 2020 by Jonathan Allen-Walker. It is known for publishing COVID-19 and anti-vaccine misinformation.
Disclose.tv is a disinformation outlet based in Germany that presents itself as a news aggregator. It is known for promoting conspiracy theories and fake news, including COVID-19 misinformation and anti-vaccine narratives.
Died Suddenly is a 2022 American anti-vaccination film produced by Stew Peters, a far-right and alt-right anti-vaccine activist. It promotes false claims about COVID-19 vaccines and Great Reset conspiracy theories. The film was released on Rumble and Twitter on November 21, 2022.
The Daily Sceptic is a blog created by British commentator Toby Young. It has published misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and climate change denial.