Beware of Websites With “Truth” in their Names
PLUS: Correcting the record on an alleged Hamas atrocity; Trump’s high-school graduation rate
Welcome to NewsGuard's Reality Check, a report on how misinformation online is undermining trust — and who’s behind it.
Today:
Be wary of news sites claiming to offer the “truth”
Israel debunks an explosive Oct. 7 claim about Hamas and dead babies
Quack cures soar as misinformation merchants capitalize on bird flu fears
Proud papa: Contrary to claims, Trump has attended all his kids’ high school graduations
And more…
Today’s newsletter was edited by Jack Brewster and Eric Effron.
1. How Websites with ‘Truth’ in their Names Mislead and Misinform
Beware of websites that promise you the truth.
Actually: Websites containing “truth” in their name are among the most prolific spreaders of misinformation on the internet, according to an analysis of website Trust Scores in NewsGuard’s database.
Of the 55 websites containing the word “truth” in their names (URLs) in NewsGuard’s database, NewsGuard analysts found that 89 percent — 49 websites — repeatedly publish false or egregiously false information. The average Trust Score across all the URLs containing “truth” is 15/100. Websites with such a low score come with a NewsGuard warning to news consumers: “Proceed with Maximum Caution: This website is unreliable because it severely violates basic journalistic standards.”
Some of the lowest rated “truth” websites include:
TheTruthAboutCancer.com (Trust Score: 12.5/100): The site, which says its mission is “to eradicate cancer,” repeatedly promotes ineffective, unproven, and dangerous treatments for cancer, including cannabis and moringa, an herb native to Africa and Asia. The site is owned by TTAC Publishing, LLC, a privately held company based in Nevada.
RussiaTruth.co (Trust Score: 7.5/100): An anonymously owned, pro-Russia news site that repeatedly publishes false or egregiously misleading claims about the Russia-Ukraine war and COVID-19. False claims advanced by the site include that Ukraine has a “dirty bomb,” a conventional explosive that contains radioactive material, and that COVID-19 vaccines have triggered an “epidemic of AIDS-Like symptoms.”
Truth11.com (Trust Score: 7.5/100): An anonymously run site that advances the false claim that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are “gene therapies” and that the U.S. operates biological weapons labs in Ukraine. In April 2021, the site republished an article from RealRawNews.com that claimed former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was set to be tried by a military tribunal for “crimes committed against America and its people.”
English.pravda.ru (Trust Score: 17.5/100): “Pravda” means “truth” in Russian. Pravda.ru belongs to the Pravda.Ru Holding company, which is owned by Russian journalist Vadim Gorshenin, a self-described supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This English-language site advances claims that Nazism is rampant in Ukrainian society and that the Russian bombing of a maternity hospital in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol in March 2022 was staged.
Some other low-rated sites in NewsGuard’s database containing “truth” in its URL include:
TruthUncensored.net (Trust Score: 0/100)
LaVeritaRendeLiberi.it (Trust Score: 7.5/100) (The Italian site’s name translates to “The truth makes you free”)
TruthandAction.org (Trust Score: 7.5/100)
TheTruthAboutVaccines.com (Trust Score: 12.5/100)
Learn more about "The Death of Truth."
2. Israel (Finally) Dispels ‘40 Beheaded Babies’ Claim that Was Advanced by the White House
What happened: Months after a claim that Hamas militants decapitated 40 infants at a kibbutz during their Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel was spread widely by Western media and even repeated by the White House, Israel has said that the claim is false.
“There were never 40 dead babies,” the Israeli government press office told the French newspaper Le Monde (Trust Score: 95/100).
The claim has also been contradicted by the Israeli National Insurance Institute and by data released in March 2024 by Israeli NGO the National Council for the Child. Both agencies reported that 38 minors were among the victims of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, two of whom were infants. An estimated 1,200 people were killed in the attack.
Backtrack: The claim that Hamas beheaded 40 babies emerged on Oct. 10, 2023, when the Israeli army invited foreign journalists to the Kfar Aza kibbutz near Gaza, where more than 60 civilians were reportedly killed during the attack.
Citing testimony from Israeli soldiers and first-aid workers at the kibbutz, several articles and posts on X stated that 40 infants had been decapitated.
The claim was widely repeated on social media platforms and by Western news organizations, including CNN (Trust Score: 80/100), The Times of London (Trust Score: 100/100), the Daily Mail (Trust Score: 64.5/100), and The Independent (Trust Score: 92.5/100).
Walking it back: Several media outlets that advanced the claim that Hamas beheaded 40 babies subsequently corrected their articles, while the Israeli embassy in France deleted an X post mentioning the 40 dead babies in March 2023.
On Oct. 11, 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden said at a meeting with Jewish community leaders that, “I never really thought that I would see and have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children.”
The White House told CNN the next day that U.S. officials and the president had not seen images or evidence confirming the reports about the decapitated babies. A U.S. administration official clarified to CNN that “Biden was referring to public comments from media outlets and Israeli officials,” according to an October 2023 CNN article.
Do you work in Trust and Safety for a technology company, in brand safety for advertising or otherwise counter misinformation as part of your job? Find out about NewsGuard’s weekly Risk Briefings, a more detailed briefing for professionals. Click here.
3. Misinformation Merchants Sell Dubious Cures Amid New Flu Scares
By John Gregory
First COVID-19, now bird flu: Scammers never rest.
What happened: Now that traces of the bird flu virus have been found in pasteurized milk, health misinformation sites are seizing the opportunity to push the baseless remedies they once touted for COVID-19.
A closer look: An April 25, 2024, X post to the 765,000 followers of The Gateway Pundit (Trust Score: 30/100) stated, “FDA Says Bird Flu Discovered in Grocery Store Milk – Here Is One Way To Be Prepared.”
The post linked to a sponsored article from the Florida-based Wellness Company, which describes itself as “healthcare without the propaganda.” The article encouraged readers to buy its “Contagion Kit,” which includes the antiparasitic drug ivermectin and the anti-malaria medication hydroxychloroquine.
“Get the prescription drugs you need to keep your family safe from bird flu, COVID, or whatever the globalists throw at us next!” the post stated.
Actually: Save your money.
Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine are proven treatments for parasitic infections and malaria, respectively — but not for COVID or any type of flu.
A representative from The Wellness Company, identified only as “Max,” defended the company’s claims in an email to NewsGuard: “Please understand that these treatments are based on real science – from real public health experts, like Dr. Peter McCullough.”
McCullough is a Texas cardiologist who has repeatedly advanced COVID-19 misinformation, including falsely claiming in February 2023 that NFL player Damar Hamlin’s on-field cardiac arrest was linked to COVID vaccines.
Click here to find out more about NewsGuard Trust Scores and our process for rating websites. You can download NewsGuard’s browser extension, which displays NewsGuard Trust Score icons next to links on search engines, social media feeds, and other platforms by clicking here.
4. And One More Thing: Anti-Trump Social Media Users Falsely Claim He Didn’t Attend Kids’ Graduations
Welcome to politics 2024, where even going to your kids’ graduations are fodder for polarizing false narratives.
What happened: Social media users claim that former U.S. President Donald Trump did not attend the high school graduations of any of his four older children.
Context: The false narrative circulated after Trump, during his Manhattan hush-money trial, accused New York Judge Juan Merchan of barring him from attending his youngest son Barron’s upcoming graduation from Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida.
A closer look: Anti-Trump social media users, including liberal bloggers Jeff Pearlman and Andrew Wortman, capitalized on the media attention surrounding Barron’s graduation, claiming the former president was a no-show at his other childrens’ commencement ceremonies.
The narrative first gained significant attention from an April 15, 2024, X post by Pearlman. He listed the graduation dates of Trump’s four older children and stated, “Donald Trump failed to attend graduation.” He continued: “In 1996, Donald Trump, Jr. graduated from the Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Donald Trump failed to attend graduation…” Pearlman’s post, which has since been deleted, had 2.1 million views as of April 16, 2024.
Similarly, Wortman told his 245,000 followers on X, “Donald Trump did not attend the High School graduation ceremonies for: Don Jr, Eric, Ivanka, or Tiffany.” Wortman’s post had 702,000 views as of April 23, 2024.
The false narrative was also advanced in an April 17, 2024, episode of Political Beatdown, a podcast covering the multiple criminal cases against Trump. In the episode, the podcast’s co-host, civil rights lawyer Ben Meiselas, read Pearlman’s X post on-air. Meiselas prefaced his reading of Pearlman’s post by stating, “This is from Jeff Pearlman's research — a good reporter.”
Actually: Trump attended each graduation.
Donald Trump Jr.: A photo of Donald Trump Jr.’s graduation from Pennsylvania’s The Hill School in 1996, provided to Snopes (Trust Score: 100/100) by a classmate of Trump Jr., shows former President Trump in attendance with his wife at the time, Marla Maples.
Ivanka Trump: According to an April 2016 article in The Choate News — the official student newspaper of Ivanka Trump’s private Connecticut boarding school, Choate Rosemary Hall — Trump was at Ivanka’s graduation in 2000.
Eric Trump: Frank Runyeon, a writer for legal news publication Law360 and a high school classmate of Eric Trump’s, said in an April 17 X post that the elder Trump was present at his son’s graduation from The Hill School, a Pennsylvania boarding school, in 2002.
Tiffany Trump: A November 2016 opinion article in the Los Angeles Times (Trust Score: 92.5/100), written by a classmate of Trump’s younger daughter, Tiffany Trump, reported that Trump sat in the third row at Tiffany Trump’s graduation from the Los Angeles-based Viewpoint School in 2012.
All’s well that ends well: On April 30, Judge Merchan announced that Trump could take off Barron’s graduation day, May 17, from court. Initially, it was unclear whether the trial would proceed in his absence. However, The New York Times (Trust Score: 87.5/100) later reported that Judge Merchan clarified that court would not be in session on that day.
Produced by co-CEOs Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz, and the NewsGuard team.
We launched Reality Check after seeing how much interest there is in our work beyond the business and tech communities that we serve. Subscribe to this newsletter to support our apolitical mission to counter misinformation for readers, brands, and democracies. Have feedback? Send us an email: realitycheck@newsguardtech.com.