NOT REAL NEWS: 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.
CLAIM
Dr. Anthony Fauci’s experiments include one that magnified terror in the brains of monkeys and subjected them to frightening stimuli.
THE FACTS
A tweet that circulated widely across platforms this week falsely suggested a study decried by animal activists was among “Fauci’s experiments,” despite the fact that the nation’s top infectious disease expert had no part in the research, nor did the institute he directs, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
In reality, the research mentioned in the tweet was conducted by researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health, a division of the National Institutes of Health that is separate from the one Fauci heads. “Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is not involved and has never been involved in this study,” NIMH’s press team said in an emailed statement. “Additionally, the study was not funded by NIAID.” NIMH also disputed the framing of the tweet, saying that while the study did use lesioning techniques to alter the brains of monkeys, it was “critically important” research to learn more about brain circuits that help with emotion expression and regulation.
In the 2019 study, researchers used injections of acid to target areas of the brain in rhesus macaques. They then observed the monkeys responding to a fake rubber snake, a fake spider and neutral stimuli. The study authors said their work provided “insights into the neural regulation of defensive responses to threat and inform the etiology and treatment of anxiety disorders in humans.”
CLAIM
Refugees resettled in the U.S. receive $2,125 per month from the government, while Social Security recipients only receive an average of $1,400 per month.
THE FACTS
Posts sharing inaccurate comparisons between the amount of government funding given to refugees seeking resettlement in the U.S. and monthly payments received by Social Security beneficiaries have been circulating for months on Twitter and other platforms. The State Department defines a refugee under the Immigration and Nationality Act as someone who has experienced persecution or has a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group, making them eligible for resettlement in U.S. communities.
“The assertion made in the Twitter post is inaccurate,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price wrote in an email to the AP. The State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration offers a one-time, per capita amount of $2,275 to resettlement agencies, and of that amount, $1,225 is available for agencies to use toward refugees’ initial housing, food, clothing and furniture costs.
The rest of the funds go toward services including assistance with cultural orientation, assistance with enrollment in English language services and school, access to immigration assistance and referral to other social, medical and employment services. Assistance is only provided directly to refugees in the “rare event” they have established family or friend relationships who are able to meet their basic needs, such as housing, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said. In that case, a one-time payment of $1,225 per person is provided directly.
After the initial resettlement period, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement works through individual states and nonprofit organizations to connect refugees with language, employment and social services. The Office of Refugee Resettlement’s web page states that its Cash and Medical Assistance program, which is similar to Medicaid, lasts for up to eight months from the date of arrival in the U.S. Refugees are also eligible for public benefits such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid.
CLAIM
An image of a newspaper article shows that True Bethel Baptist Church in Buffalo, N.Y., recently became the first church in New York to obtain a liquor license.
THE FACTS
This claim and the image it appeared in have circulated widely online this week, but they are both fake, True Bethel Baptist Church and The Buffalo News confirmed.
“True Bethel Baptist Church becomes the first Church in NYS to receive a Liquor License: Rev. Darius Pridgen thanks Mayor Brown,” read the fake headline in the image, which was made to look like an issue of The Buffalo News.
“This is in fact a fake story,” said Amy Yakawiak, information specialist at The Buffalo News, who said it wasn’t clear where the false image originated. “This is completely false,” said Danetta McKinnon, pastor of administration at True Bethel Baptist Church.
McKinnon noted that the bogus claim had been circulating since early September. An internet search did not reveal any credible news articles making this claim, and a search of the New York State Liquor Authority’s website did not turn up any legitimate liquor license records matching True Bethel Baptist Church.
