Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Aug 22, 2026

The 10 most-viewed fake-news stories on Facebook in 2019 were just revealed in a new report

Facebook is the largest social media service on the planet, with over 2 billion users -over a quarter of the world's population. As such, policing Facebook is a tremendous challenge. One of the service's biggest policing issues is with fake news stories, which was a particularly big problem in the US during the 2016 presidential election cycle.

Despite Facebook's efforts to stop the spread of fake news, the massive social media service is still rife with it: In 2019, the top 100 fake news stories on Facebook were viewed over 150 million times -"enough to reach every registered voter at least once," according to Avaaz, the non-profit that did the study.

In 2019, many Facebook users saw news posts that claimed President Donald Trump's grandfather was, "a pimp and tax evader," and that his father was a member of the KKK -none of which is true.

Facebook's 2 billion-plus users also had access to a post claiming that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposed a ban on motorcycles (she didn't), and that House speaker Nancy Pelosi was diverting Social Security funding for the Trump impeachment inquiry (she wasn't).

These are just a few of the most-shared political fake news stories of 2019, according to a new study from the non-profit Avaaz. The top 100 fake news stories on Facebook in 2019 were viewed over 150 million times -"enough to reach every registered voter at least once," according to the report.


Here are the top 10 fake-news stories of 2019:

10. "Joe Biden Calls Trump Supporters 'Dregs of Society'"

9. "NYC coroner who declared the death of Jeffrey Epstein a suicide made half a million dollars a year working for the Clinton Foundation until 2015"

8. "Tim Allen quote Trump’s wall costs less than the Obamacare website"

7. "Democrats Vote To Enhance Med Care for Illegals Now, Vote Down Vets Waiting 10 Years for Same Service"

6. "‘BREAKING: Nancy Pelosi’s Son Was Exec At Gas Company That Did Business In Ukraine"

5. "Ilhan Omar Holding Secret Fundraisers With Islamic Groups Tied to Terror"

4. "Trump Is Now Trying To Get Mike Pence Impeached"

3. "AOC proposed a motorcycle ban"

2. "Nancy Pelosi diverting Social Security money for the impeachment inquiry"

1. "Trump’s grandfather was a pimp and tax evader; his father a member of the KKK"

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Petrol Bombs Set Luxury Cars Alight Outside Birmingham Wedding as Police Hunt Three Men
Bitcoin Surges Toward $80,000 as Short Squeeze and ETF Inflows Ignite Crypto Rally
Twenty-Nine US States Take Meta to Trial Over Alleged Child Addiction on Instagram and Facebook
Former Scottish National Party Executive Peter Murrell Jailed for Five Years Over £400,000 Embezzlement
Moderna and Merck's Personalized Cancer Vaccine Succeeds in Historic Late-Stage Melanoma Trial
Prince Harry and Meghan to Move Back to Britain With Their Children
England and Wales Have Fewer Than 1,800 Prison Places Left for Men
Suspected People Smuggler Arrested After Investigation Identified Him
Children's Doctors Warn That Vaping Can Lead Young People to Smoking
Hundreds of Thousands of Students Receive GCSE and Vocational Results Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Here Is What Can Never Happen in Your Country: Taiwan Is Giving Money to All Its People Because It Collected Too Much Tax
UK Inflation Rises to 2.9% as Energy Bills Jump
UK Issues New Conduct Guide for Asylum Seekers on Consent and Respect
A Sleepless Night on Wall Street: Nasdaq to Begin Nearly Round-the-Clock Trading
"The First in the World": 69-Year-Old Protested Artificial Intelligence—and Went to Jail
Ukraine's Ousted Defence Minister Calls for Wartime Presidential Election
China’s Lifelike AI Humans Move From Livestreams Into Real-World Service Roles
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
Thieves Steal Antonello da Messina Renaissance Masterpieces From Sicilian Museum
Better.com Founder Who Fired 900 Employees on Zoom Is Ousted as CEO
Italian Speed Camera Issues Nearly 32,000 Fines in 10 Weeks, Worth More Than €3 Million
AI Manager at San Francisco Store Recommends Firing Human Employee
Google Launches Pixel 11 With Gemini AI at the Center of Its Hardware Strategy
Reform UK Unveils Plan to Cut Welfare Spending by More Than £50 Billion a Year
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Praised Extinction Rebellion for Doing a 'Great Service'
UK Wildfire Phone Alert Triggers Backlash as Users Switch Off Emergency Warnings
Heathrow Roads Reopen After Burst Water Main Floods Access to Terminals 2 and 3
Former NBA Players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White Say They Will Enter 2027 WNBA Draft
Former Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Found Dead Days After Resigning Amid Plagiarism Row
US Appeals Court Rules AI Agent's Website Actions Are Legally Attributed to the User
France's Constitutional Council Blocks Social Media Ban for Children Under 15
Liechtenstein Changes Royal Succession Rules to Allow Women to Inherit the Throne
Women Allege Rape and Sexual Abuse at British Army College for Teenage Recruits
Minnesota: Two independent investigators posed as Muslims (one wearing a burqa) and showed how they could vote in elections without identification.
China’s Kimi Launches AI-Focused Credit Card With Agricultural Bank of China and American Express
Former Labour Adviser Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for China Held Privileged Access as Top Party Donor
Turkish Parliament Passes Landmark Bill Granting Conditional Amnesty to Disarmed PKK Members
Donald Trump Warns FIFA Against Ousting Gianni Infantino Amid Revolt by Global Football Leaders
Jeff Bezos Joins Investor Group Closing In on $6 Billion Liverpool FC Stake
UK Councils to Receive Sweeping Planning Powers to Ban New Vape and Betting Shops
Russia’s A7 Builds a State-Linked Payments Network Beyond Western Sanctions
Hyper-Realistic Reborn Dolls Draw Collectors Seeking Comfort and Craft
Gen Z Cuts Back on Dating as a Night Out Nears $200
Patients Turn to Artificial Intelligence for Therapy as Psychiatrists Warn of Privacy and Clinical Risks
Couples Embrace ‘Sleep Divorce’ to Protect Rest and Reduce Tension
Meta Ordered to Pay $567 Million and Change Facebook and Instagram Safeguards for Children
Up to only 10 Months in Prison for Swedish Officer’s Murderer Sparks Anger
Success: Nvidia Turned Gaming Chips Into the Engine of the AI Boom
Jorge Messi, Lionel Messi’s Father and Longtime Agent, Dies at 68
×