From claims of people eating pets to stories of hit-and-run accidents, the US presidential election race has set social media abuzz.
We take a look at five of the claims that have gone viral, how they spread, and whether there’s any truth behind them.
Claim #1 – Kamala Harris "was involved in a hit-and-run accident" - Fake
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At the start of September a website called KBSF – San Francisco News shared a story claiming that US presidential candidate Kamala Harris had been involved in a hit-and-run accident in 2011 that left a 13-year-old girl paralysed.
A reverse image search by BBC Verify revealed that the image of the smashed car was originally used in a 2018 article about a different crash. There was also no public record of the news outlet and the website’s domain had only been set up in August 2024.
Even though the original website was an obscure source, the video was still widely shared by social media accounts and it’s estimated that it had millions of views.
Russia has been linked to fake local news websites being used in the US to share disinformation that can cause confusion and increased political division. BBC Verify assesses that this video and the way it was spread has several hallmarks of a Russia-linked operation run by an ex-Florida cop they have investigated earlier.
Earlier this year, Russia was also linked to disinformation that was being spread in the run-up to the Paris Olympics.
You can help to stop the spread of false information by pausing before you share and taking a closer look at details such as the source of the story, images used and any inconsistencies in the details.
Claim #2– Haitian immigrants "are eating geese and ducks in Ohio" - No evidence
An image of a man with two dead geese went viral in September with false claims it showed evidence of a Haitian migrant slaughtering geese in Springfield. However, the picture wasn’t taken in Springfield and the Ohio Division of Wildlife confirmed to TMZ that the real location was 45 minutes away and that it showed a man collecting two geese that had been hit by a car.
The issue of immigration took centre stage during a televised debate between the two presidential hopefuls when Donald Trump’s ‘they are eating the pets’ claim about Haitian immigrants in Springfield became the most talked about moment from the broadcast.
The claims are believed to have come from a number of different sources on social media, including a Facebook post from a woman who said she heard it from a neighbour, who heard it from a friend, who heard it from their daughter.
These false claims gained further traction after Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance shared a post on X saying, “In the last several weeks, my office has received many inquiries from actual residents of Springfield who've said their neighbors' pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants. It's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false.” The post was viewed 16.1m times on X and reposted 32k times.
The Haitian authorities have called the accusations ‘a vile racist lie’ and city officials in Ohio told BBC Verify that there had been ‘no credible reports’ that anything like this had actually happened.
Stories with sensationalist headlines and dramatic images can be tempting to click on and share on your social media platforms, but this type of content is often clickbait which has been created to catch your attention.
Claim #3 – Kamala Harris "wore a secret earpiece during television debate" - No evidence
False or unevidenced stories can be used to try and discredit candidates in the run-up to an election.
In the days following the televised debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, there were claims Harris had worn earrings with a secret audio device that allowed her to receive prompts, with one of the posts receiving 24.7m views on X.
Some of these claims pointed to an advert for similar looking earrings that had wireless earphones embedded. A fact check by the news agency Reuters noted that a comparison of the presidential candidate's earrings and those from the ad showed that the design was different and they concluded there was no evidence that she was being fed answers.
Similar unsubstantiated claims about candidates receiving audio prompts – involving wired devices rather than earrings - were made against President Biden in 2020 and Hilary Clinton in 2016, both in debates against Donald Trump. However, these types of theories go back decades – in 2004 President George W. Bush was accused of getting secret help in a debate opposite his rival candidate John Kerry.
False stories and Conspiracy theories can spread quickly among people who want to believe what they are reading. You can avoid this type of confirmation bias by looking at social media posts from people who hold different points of view to see what they are saying about the story.
Claim #4 – "The assassination attempts on Donald Trump were staged" - No evidence
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Theories that the assassination attempts on Donald Trump were staged have been hugely popular on social media with some individual posts getting 4m+ views.
These conspiracy theories are popular with some opponents of Trump, who were against his original presidency as well as his possible re-election in November.
Many of the posts suggested that the assassination attempts were set up to boost popularity for Trump’s campaign, yet the posts failed to offer any evidence to support their claims.
Manipulated images of Donald Trump were also shared widely in the wake of this news. With photo editing software and AI tools so readily available, it’s now easier than ever to manipulate images so you should always question what you are seeing and look out for the small details that could be a giveaway. You could also try doing a reverse image search to try to find out where the image originated, but it's worth noting this won't always bring up a match.
Conspiracy theories about assassinations are nothing new with the most famous centring around the death of US President John F Kennedy in 1963. JFK’s assassination has inspired countless books, TV series and even an Oscar-winning movie.
Claim #5 – Kamala Harris "is white" - False
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Kamala Harris's heritage has been the subject of intense scrutiny on social media with many accounts incorrectly claiming she wasn't eligible to run for president when outgoing president Joe Biden first endorsed her bid for the White House.
Some of these posts declared she wasn't eligible to run because she wasn't born in the United States (which is incorrect) and others, because her parents weren't born there. However, Harris was born in California and, according to the 14th Amendment of the US constitution, is eligible to serve as president as she is a "natural born" US citizen.
More recently, her birth certificate was shared online with the word ‘Caucasian’ circled in posts containing false claims that questioned her black and Indian heritage and has led to both misinformation and disinformation spreading online.
However, a closer look reveals that the circled field on the certificate refers to Harris’s mother, who was born in India, as birth certificates in California at the time did not specify race of child. An expert explained to Reuters, “Indians were classified as white/Caucasian in the US in the 1960s. This is probably why Harris’s mother picked Caucasian as the term to use.” Harris’s father is listed as Jamaican on the certificate.
Donald Trump has questioned Kamala Harris’s heritage, telling one convention: "I didn't know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black and now she wants to be known as black." The singer Janet Jackson has further fuelled this conspiracy in an interview with The Guardian where she said, “She’s not black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian.”
Harris's team has reiterated that her mother’s listing as ‘Caucasian’ on the birth certificate does not alter her identity.
If you're unsure about something you've read in a social media post, you should check official sources and reliable news outlets to see if you can find information about it there.
Not sure if the news you’re seeing on social media is true or false? Can you always tell if the things you see online are real or fake? Learn how to get the other side of the story with our quizzes, videos and explainers.
