Posts share fake New York Post story saying a bill would make it illegal to question 9/11
New York City’s leading tabloids announce the end of the three-day transit strike in their Friday editions, Friday, Dec. 23, 2005. Social media users are falsely claiming that the New York Post published an article about an alleged bill that would make it illegal question the “official narrative” of 9/11. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)
CLAIM: The New York Post published a story with the headline, “Congress to Vote on Bill That Would Criminalize Questioning the Events Surrounding 9/11.”
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. No such article was published, a New York Post spokesperson told The Associated Press. An image made to look like a screenshot of a New York Post article was fabricated and shared on social media.
THE FACTS: Social media users are sharing the false image to erroneously allege that the U.S. government is considering limits on what people can say about the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The image mimics how an article would look if viewed on the New York Post’s website from a mobile device. It includes the outlet’s logo, below which appears a series of social media icons. But it is also inconsistent with the appearance of actual New York Post stories.
For example, the text of the headline is centered, uses a different font and is capitalized in its entirety. There is also no tag above the headline indicating the article’s section.
“With strong support from AIPAC and the ADL, Congress is set to vote on a bill that would criminalize any questioning of the events that took place during the September 11th attacks,” reads text below a photo of the World Trade Center after a plane flew into each of the twin towers.
The text adds that the bill includes penalties of up to $10,000 and five years in prison for anyone who “challenges the official narrative.”
One X post that shared the fabricated image states: “A law that breaks the first amendment? Orwellian.” It had received approximately 6,500 likes and more than 2,700 shares as of Thursday.
Searches on the New York Post’s website show no record of such an article. Iva Benson, a spokesperson for the outlet, confirmed that the image spreading on social media is “fake” in an email to the AP.
It appears that the image was created using an actual New York Post story about disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein being moved to Rikers Island after his 2020 New York rape conviction was overturned last week. Both the fake image and the real story say they were published on April 26 at 9:25 p.m.
Marshall Wittmann, a spokesperson for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, told the AP that AIPAC has “not supported any such legislation.” Anti-Defamation League spokesperson Todd Gutnick called the claims “a complete fraud.”
Congress is not considering a bill that would make it illegal to question the “official narrative” of 9/11. Current legislation related to the terrorist attacks include bills to provide the 9/11 Memorial Museum with a one-time grant and to limit the availability of plea deals for anyone responsible for the attacks.
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This is part of the AP’s effort to address widely shared false and misleading information that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.
