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Maarten Schenk

@mschenk.bsky.social

7.4K followers 5.3K following 680 posts

Fact checker. Co-founder of leadstories.com.

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Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · Nov 17

bsky.app/starter-pack...

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 14h

Yikes! Talk about an unfortunate cutoff...

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 5d

Google's AI overview denies there is a sequel to "This is Spinal Tap"... right below thumbnails for the official trailer.

The stupidity of AI goes all the way up to eleven!

#spinaltap

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 6d

That's a fake account.

Real one is here:
x.com/gbsumudfloti...

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 7d

Met stoppen met dingen :-)

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 9d

Sure, replace fact checkers with AI...

Lead Stories @leadstories.com · 9d

Wow, Grok (on the other site) blatantly claiming one of our fact checks says the exact opposite thing compared to what it actually says...

x.com/grok/status/...

leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2...

Reposted by Maarten Schenk

Lead Stories @leadstories.com · 9d

Wow, Grok (on the other site) blatantly claiming one of our fact checks says the exact opposite thing compared to what it actually says...

x.com/grok/status/...

leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2...

Reposted by Maarten Schenk

Full Fact @fullfact.org · 10d

Google Search is vandalising the internet.

👀 Our new investigation reveals how some of our fact checks are being shown in misleading ways:

Google Search is vandalising the internet. Here’s how. – Full Fact

Google Search is misrepresenting our fact checks, showing incorrect information to millions.

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 10d

This is why at @leadstories.com we try th put the conclusion of our fact checks within the first eight words of the headline if we can.

Harder for Google to muck up :-)

Full Fact @fullfact.org · 10d

Google Search is vandalising the internet.

👀 Our new investigation reveals how some of our fact checks are being shown in misleading ways:

Google Search is vandalising the internet. Here’s how. – Full Fact

Google Search is misrepresenting our fact checks, showing incorrect information to millions.

Reposted by Maarten Schenk

Lead Stories @leadstories.com · 10d

Reposting this oldie....

leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2...

Fact Check: Trump Did NOT Discuss Fictional 'Tesla Medbeds' on Fox News -- Interview is Fake | Lead Stories

Did President Donald Trump speak to Fox News about a "Tesla medbed," calling it an "incredible piece of technology"? No,...

leadstories.com

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 12d

I remember having beers with that guy when he was still a fact checker. My, times have changed...

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 12d

Eerste (en enige) job ook waar ik via IRC chat voor gesolliciteerd heb :-)

Ze deden een oproep in kanaal #vlaanderen als ik me goed herinner...

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 12d

Ah... Planet Internet. Ik heb daar nog gewerkt, eerst als jobstudent en dan een paar maanden als vaste medewerker op de helpdesk.

Zotte tijden!

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 12d

Inderdaad!

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 12d

Ah... Planet Internet. Ik heb daar nog gewerkt, eerst als jobstudent en dan een paar maanden als vaste medewerker op de helpdesk.

Zotte tijden!

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 12d

Don't repost this fact check or you might get flagged and tagged too!

ⓘ 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘢. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳.

Lead Stories @leadstories.com · 12d

Fact Check: Meta Did NOT Add New Tags On Threads Posts To Warn That Certain Users Are Suspected Of Membership In Antifa

leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2...

ⓘ 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘢. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳.

Fact Check: Meta Did NOT Add New Tags On Threads Posts To Warn That Certain Users Are Suspected Of Membership In Antifa -- Meme Appears To Mock Trump Administration War On Antifa | Lead Stories

Did Meta, the owner of the Threads social media platform, announce it had begun labeling some accounts with a warning...

leadstories.com

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 14d

BREAKING: The Rapture has been postponed by Executive Order... more soon.

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 14d

We sympathize with the plight of this poor, little billion-dollar company that has absolutely no legal or financial resources to fight this in court. Perhaps they can ask Mr. Kimmel and Disney for advice on how to proceed?

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 14d

Proudly announcing governmental oversight actions resulted in speech from fact checkers being withheld from the public...

Reposted by Maarten Schenk

Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 15d

... has repeatedly insisted that fact checking is, by itself, "censorship" and here we have Jim Jordan repeating the directly. When, what it really shows is how Jim Jordan's threats and pressure are actually *suppressing* fact checking speech.

Reposted by Maarten Schenk

Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 15d

Fact checking IS NOT AND CANNOT BE "censorship." It is literally the "more speech" that pretend free speech supporters always claim they want. It's more speech weighing in on the accuracy of other speech. It's literally a part of the "marketplace of ideas." Yet, over the last decade, the GOP...

Reposted by Maarten Schenk

Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 15d

There are plenty of misrepresentations going around regarding Google's pathetically sucking up letter to Jim Jordan, which deliberately misrepresents reality in a manner designed to make Jordan look good, but the one part that really gets me is this one:

Jim Jordan tweet: But that’s not all. YouTube is making changes to its platform to prevent future censorship.

YouTube is committing to the American people that it will NEVER use outside so-called “fact-checkers” to censor speech.

No more telling Americans what to believe and not believe.

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 15d

People on X speculate about increased Grindr usage during the Charlie Kirk memorial
--> Downdetector picks it up
--> Shows a spike
--> "Online Reports!"
--> People on X talk about the "online reports"
--> Downdetector picks up the talk
--> Bigger spike!
(repeat)

Grindr: "nope."

Lead Stories @leadstories.com · 15d

Fact Check: Grindr Denies Reports About Arizona Outages During Charlie Kirk Memorial Service -- Possibly Based On Social Media Speculation

Fact Check: Grindr Denies Reports About Arizona Outages During Charlie Kirk Memorial Service -- Possibly Based On Social Media Speculation

Did the servers for gay dating app Grindr in Phoenix or Glendale have problems handling increased traffic related to Charlie Kirk's memorial service in Arizona on September 21, 2025? No, that's not true: a website named Downdetector did show an...

leadstories.com

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 15d

bsky.app/profile/msch...

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · Dec 9

Any questions?

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 15d

Reposting some oldies today...

Lead Stories @leadstories.com · 15d

Fact Check: Amish Do NOT Universally Avoid Vaccines OR Escape Outbreaks Of Vaccine-Preventable Disease

leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2...

Fact Check: Amish Do NOT Universally Avoid Vaccines OR Escape Outbreaks Of Vaccine-Preventable Disease | Lead Stories

Do Amish people never vaccinate their children? Have there never been any outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in Amish communities? No,...

leadstories.com

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 15d

Reposting some oldies today...

Lead Stories @leadstories.com · 15d

Fact Check: NO Evidence Tylenol Use During Pregnancy Is Linked To Autism

leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2...

Fact Check: NO Evidence Tylenol Use During Pregnancy Is Linked To Autism | Lead Stories

Is Tylenol use during pregnancy linked to autism? No, there's no evidence to support that. Autism or autism spectrum disorder...

leadstories.com

Maarten Schenk @mschenk.bsky.social · 16d

Great stuff. I knew about the account enumeration json thing, but sometimes it even gets better: if they have the Gravatar plugin installed you can sometimes get a hash of their email address.

There's fun stuff you can do with that too:
leadstories.com/analysis/202...

NewsBlaze CEO Appears Linked To Anonymous Anti-Vax Site GoodSciencing.com | Lead Stories

This article lays out the evidence Alan Gray (CEO of alternative news site NewsBlaze) is quite likely the key...

leadstories.com