KYM Review: Rumors and Hoaxes of 2016

Editor’s Note: This article is part of Know Your Meme’s annual review series looking back at some of the most memorable and popular memes, events and people that defined Internet culture in 2016 as we know it.

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he spread of false information online has became one of the year's biggest hot-button issues in the aftermath of the 2016 United States presidential election, with many blaming "fake news" sites for tilting the odds in favor of President-elect Donald Trump. While some have called on companies like Facebook and Google to censor content from these questionable online sources, others have called for initiatives promoting media literacy and critical thinking among the electorate. But these sites aren't the only ones responsible for spreading unsubstantiated rumors across the web.

Immediately following the election, reports that "thousands" of voters wrote-in Harambe for president began circulating on Twitter, sparking outrage among Clinton supporters mourning their candidate's loss. The rumor seemed largely based off a handful of trolling social media posts, featuring photographs of paper ballots with "Harambe" placed in the write-in candidate field. While it's certainly possible that some actually voted for the deceased gorilla, no official data has been released to support the claim.

Following the death of Fidel Castro, a rumor that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was actually the former Cuban dictator's illegitimate son was born on 4chan's /pol/ board. After circulating outside of 4chan among critics of the liberal politician, many of whom took issue his controversial statement regarding Castro's death, Snopes was forced to publish an article debunking the hilarious theory.

In entertainment rumors, Lindsay Lohan found herself at the center of a bizarre conspiracy theory alleging that the actress was being manipulated to spread propaganda in support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, based off video clips in which she praised the Turkish government for freedoms they provide to women. On YouTube, fans of vlogger Marina Joyce came up with an elaborate conspiracy theory that she had been kidnapped after spending way too much time analyzing her make-up tutorial and fashion videos, eventually leading the police to investigate the matter.

Even The Guardian appears to have been massively trolled this year by printing an anonymous confessional, in which a man claims to have narrowly avoided becoming a racist after exposing himself to internet personalities Sam Harris and Milo Yiannopoulos. Twitter satirist Godfrey Elfwick later took responsibility for the work, providing images of an earlier draft as evidence.

Let's take a look back at some of the other viral rumors and hoaxes that spread online this year, both serious and satirical in nature.

Bernie Sanders Glowsticks

An infographic urging supporters of Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary to create homemade glowsticks by mixing ingredients to make chlorine bombs.

• Duration: March 2016 – May 2016

• How It Started: An infographic aimed at tricking supporters of the 2016 Democratic presidential primary candidate Bernie Sanders into making chlorine bombs by providing false instructions for making homemade luminescent light sticks began circulating on Tumblr, 4chan and Facebook.

• How It Unraveled: Snopes published an article titled "Bernie's Blow Sticks" explaining how the viral image contained dangerous instructions for making chlorine-based explosives.

NAMBLA Donation Hoax

A false rumor that Donald Trump refused to disclose his tax returns because it would reveal charitable donations to the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA).

• Duration: July 2016 – August 2016

• How It Started: In response to a post on the /r/politics subreddit about Trump's refusal to disclose his tax returns, a Redditor jokingly speculated that the Republican presidential candidate was attempting to conceal donations made to NAMBLA.

• How It Unraveled: Snopes published an article listing the rumor as "False" on August 10th, 2016.

Vote From Home

Fake Hillary Clinton campaign images spread the false rumor that United States citizens could place their vote for the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate via text message or social media.

• Duration: June 2016 – November 2016

• How It Started: Photoshopped images urging Clinton supporters to vote for the candidate by posting “Hillary” along with the hashtag “#PresidentialElection” on their Facebook and Twitter accounts began circulating in various pro-Trump communities in June.

• How It Unraveled: Physicist Robert McNees launched a campaign against the hoax prior to the election in early November, leading Twitter to ban several accounts spreading the fake campaign ads.

Taylor Swift Is a Satanist Clone

A satirical conspiracy claiming that singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is a clone of the former Church of Satan spokesperson Zeena Schreck.

• Duration: May 2013 – June 2016

• How It Started: In May 2013, BuzzFeed highlighted several screenshots of Schreck taken from various television interviews conducted while she was the spokesperson for the Church of Satan in an article jokingly titled "Proof That Taylor Swift is Actually a Satanist." This year, the mock conspiracy theory saw a significant online resurgence on Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram.

Great White Shark Photo

A digitally edited image of a great white shark erupting from the ocean falsely circulated as an award-winning photograph from National Geographic.

• Duration: December 2016

• How It Started: An image of a great white shark jumping out of the water originally posted by Russian 3D graphic artist Alexyz3d on Shutterstock began circulating online with the erroneous caption that it was taken by fictional National Geographic reporter Bob Burton.

• How It Unraveled: Twitter user @foomandoonian revealed that the photographs had originated on Shutterstock and that there was no photographer named "Bob Burton" at National Geographic.

Fake Election News Sites

Websites containing fake news stories published numerous articles related to the election, many of which circulated among Trump supporters on Facebook.

• Duration: All of 2016

• How It Started: Throughout 2016, residents of the Macedonian town of Veles launched 140 United States politics sites, including WorldPoliticus.com, TrumpVision365.com, USConservativeToday.com, DonaldTrumpNews.co and USADailyPolitics.com. The sites published a high volume of fabricated news stories, some of which were widely circulated by supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Facebook.

• How It Unraveled: In early November, BuzzFeed published an article titled "How Teens in the Balkans Are Duping Trump Supporters With Fake News", which included interviews with founders of several Macedonian fake news sites who revealed they launched the sites to make money from the advertising revenue.

"Sam Hyde is the Shooter"

During initial reports regarding violent attacks that occurred over the year, posts falsely identifying the attacker as Sam Hyde circulated on social media.

• Duration: 2015 – Now

• How It Started: Starting in 2015, internet trolls began falsely identifying comedian Sam Hyde as the gunman responsible for shootings across the United States.

• How It Unraveled: Following reports that Hyde was responsible for the June 2016 UCLA shooting, Forbes published an article titled "How 4chan Tricked The Internet Into Believing This Comedian is a Mass Shooter."

Ted Cruz the Zodiac Killer

A mock conspiracy theory alleging that 2016 Republican presidential primary candidate Ted Cruz was the unidentified serial killed nickanmed the "Zodiac Killer."

• Duration: March 2013 – April 2016

• How It Started: In March 2013, the @RedPillAmerica Twitter feed joked that Cruz was delivering a speech titled "This Is The Zodiac Speaking." Over the next several years, similar jokes circulated on Twitter and Facebook, gaining a significant surge in popularity during the 2016 Republican primary election.

• How It Unraveled: Many news sites reported on the rumor as a satirical internet meme in February 2016, including NPR and The Verge.

Shakira Law

Images warning about Muslim extremists attempting to bring "Shakira Law" to the United States.

• Duration: November 2016 – December 2016

• How It Started: An image of United States President Barack Obama standing next to DJ Khaled erroneously identifying the rapper as the "leader of ISIS" attempting to "implement Shakira Law in America" began circulating on Facebook, an intentional misspelling of "Sharia" Islamic law. The following month, a image of a donut with Orkish script from the Lord of the Rings trilogy began circulating with a caption referring to it as an "Islamic donut" with Arabic script calling for "Shakira Law in America."

• How It Unraveled: Several news sites published articles identifying the viral images as parodies, including NME and Snopes.

Pizzagate

A conspiracy theory regarding a secret society of pedophiles operating out of the Comet Ping Pong pizza restaurant based on leaked messages from John Podesta's email account.

• Duration: November 2016 – Now

• How It Started: After Wikileaks published 20,000 messages taken from John Podesta's compromised email account, 4chan users began posting threads speculating about coded messages in the emails regarding an underground pedophile ring. Rumors about the restaurant Comet Ping Pong's involvement in the fabricated conspiracy subsequently circulated on both 4chan and Reddit, with innocuous pictures taken from the owner's Instagram account provided as evidence.

• How It Unraveled: After the conspiracy theory continued to pick up steam following Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 United States presidential election, the proprietor of Comet Ping Pong was repeatedly harassed and threatened by those who believed he was running an underground pedophile ring. In December, Snopes published an article listing Pizzagate as "False," noting that they were unable to substantiate any of the claims made by proponents of the theory. Most recently, a man was arrested after firing a gun inside Comet Ping Pong, claiming he was there to investigate the Pizzagate rumors.