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Legal consequences of spreading misinformation

The legal trend of holding individuals accountable for spreading false information about public figures, with courts treating sustained online smear campaigns as more than speech disputes.

Fact-Checks

2 results
Jan 14, 2026

What legal and ethical standards apply when filmmakers use deception to obtain interviews with public figures?

Filmmakers who use deception to secure interviews with public figures operate at the intersection of limited legal defenses and strong ethical constraints: U.S. law often permits portrayal of public f...

Jan 6, 2026

Trumps mother statement

The short answer: there is no credible evidence that Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, Donald Trump’s mother, ever said the widely circulated line calling her son “an idiot” who would be a “disaster” in politi...