RumorGuard is a curated collection of viral misinformation examples that offer key news literacy lessons and insights. A product of the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit, RumorGuard is designed to help people learn to recognize and debunk misinformation when they see it online.

Each RumorGuard entry includes an example of misinformation, a summary of related fact-checks, and a news literacy takeaway highlighting important patterns and insights. These entries are designed to feature and explain the work of credible, standards-based fact-checking organizations. They also teach people how to recognize and debunk viral misinformation they encounter on social media.

Our process for producing RumorGuard entries involves a number of steps and considerations, including:


The News Literacy Project monitors viral rumors circulating online along with fact-checks published by credible, standards-based fact-checking initiatives and organizations. These include 

. We select examples of misinformation based on a variety of factors, including those that highlight common misinformation tropes, patterns and trends; illustrate key news literacy concepts and skills; and demonstrate helpful verification techniques. We also prioritize examples that have a greater potential to cause harm, including those that spread falsehoods about elections and public health.



Once we select an example of misinformation, we review all of the published fact-checks about it and verify their findings. We work to fill any gaps that might exist in these reports, adding details about the origin or spread of a particular viral rumor. We combine these findings into a concise summary explaining what is and is not true about each example. On occasion, the News Literacy Project team locates a piece of misinformation that has not been debunked by a fact-checking agency and produces an original fact-check. Finally, each entry on RumorGuard includes a verification analysis indicating which elements of credibility are missing and a collection of resources to help readers refine their fact-checking skills.


The News Literacy Project is a rigorously nonpartisan organization that advocates for the vital role that credible, fact-based information plays in public discourse. Our mission is to build a national movement to advance the practice of news literacy throughout American society, creating better informed, more engaged and more empowered individuals — and ultimately a stronger democracy. NLP’s resources are designed to teach people how to think, not what to think, about the news and other information they encounter and consume. We understand misinformation to be fundamentally exploitative, targeting people’s most deeply held beliefs, values and convictions in an attempt to deceive them. While many of the examples of misinformation on RumorGuard involve partisan or ideological claims, our mission is not to promote or disparage any political party or group. On the contrary, we understand our misinformation work to be a vital part of defending fact-based discourse and helping people protect themselves and others from being exploited by purveyors of falsehoods. We tackle rumors that span the political spectrum and do not shy away from addressing examples that involve contentious or polarizing topics. We seek to provide RumorGuard readers with accurate and unbiased information that will allow them to make authentic, informed choices.



The RumorGuard team needs your assistance to make sure our work is as helpful as possible. Send us feedback about specific entries, tips for new entries or questions related to verification techniques at rumorguard@newslit.org.