Real Raw News is an American

fake news website Fake news websites (also referred to as hoax news websites) are websites on the Internet that deliberately publish fake news—hoaxes, propaganda, and disinformation purporting to be news, real news—often using social media to drive web traffic ...

created in April 2020. Many of its published stories include misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, fictional arrests and supposed executions of public figures.

History

Real Raw News was created in April 2020 by a person operating under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

of "Michael Baxter". The website started publishing articles that December. In 2021,

PolitiFact PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times ...

found that Baxter previously ran at least three other websites and associated

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channels that promoted

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

about topics such as alien visitations and the fictional planet Nibiru. On one such website, Twisted Truth, Baxter claimed to have worked as a "mainstream journalist" for the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'', ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' and ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

''. PolitiFact identified "Michael Baxter" as Michael Tuffin, a resident of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Following inquiries by PolitiFact,

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

stated it had removed the Real Raw News page for violating its

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

policies, and Google banned advertisements from two Real Raw News stories that promoted

and vaccine misinformation. In response, Real Raw News told readers to follow its

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

account.

Content

Since December 2020, the website has published articles that PolitiFact described as "spinning a narrative of military arrests and executions that reads like a wish list for diehard believers of the

QAnon QAnon ( ) is a far-right conspiracy theories in United States politics, American political conspiracy theory and political movement that originated in 2017. QAnon centers on fabricated claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals kno ...

conspiracy theory." It has published stories about the supposed arrests of figures such as

Deborah Birx Deborah Leah Birx (born April 4, 1956) is an American physician and diplomat who served as the White House Coronavirus Task Force, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator under President Donald Trump from 2020 to 2021. Birx specializes in ...

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...

and

Janet Yellen Janet Louise Yellen (born August 13, 1946) is an American economist who served as the 78th United States secretary of the treasury from 2021 to 2025. She also served as chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018. She was the first woman to h ...

, and executions of figures such as

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

James Comey James Brien Comey Jr. (; born December 14, 1960) is an American lawyer who was the seventh director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2013 until Dismissal of James Comey, his termination in May 2017. Comey was a registered Repub ...

and

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

. The website has also promoted the

deep state conspiracy theory In the United States, a Conspiracy theories in United States politics, political conspiracy theory posits the existence of a deep state within the US federal government, primarily composed of members of the FBI and CIA. Proponents argue that a ...

. Real Raw News has published misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, including baseless claims that they cause a disease called "monsterism" and that they contain pesticides and

scopolamine Scopolamine, also known as hyoscine, or Devil's Breath, is a medication used to treat motion sickness and postoperative nausea and vomiting. It is also sometimes used before surgery to decrease saliva. When used by injection, effects begin a ...

. In September 2021, it published a false story about 27

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

pilots resigning over the COVID-19 vaccine mandate; the story was shared widely by Twitter users, including then-

Fox Nation Fox Nation is an American subscription video on demand service. Announced on February 20, 2018, and launching on November 27 of that year, it is a companion to Fox News Channel carrying programming of interest to its audience, including origin ...

host

Lara Logan Lara Logan (born 29 March 1971) is a South African television and radio journalist and war correspondent. Her career began with various South African news organizations in the 1990s. Her public profile rose due to her reports on the American i ...

and former

Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

campaign aide

George Papadopoulos George Demetrios Papadopoulos (; born August 19, 1987) is an author and former member of the foreign policy advisory panel to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. On October 5, 2017, Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to a felony charge of mak ...

. Real Raw News has also published pro-

, pro-Russia and anti-Ukraine content, including a false story asserting that

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

had ordered the destruction of all COVID-19 vaccines in Russia. Following the

2023 Hawaii wildfires The 2023 Hawaii wildfires were a series of wildfires that broke out in early August 2023 in the U.S. state of Hawaii, predominantly on the island of Maui. The wind-driven fires prompted evacuations and caused widespread damage, killing at least ...

, Real Raw News promoted falsehoods about U.S. Marines attacking a

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

(FEMA) convoy fleeing the wildfires and arresting FEMA deputy administrator Erik Hooks. The website includes a rebuttal to fact-checkers on its About page, claiming they are "arms of the

Mainstream Media In journalism, mainstream media (MSM) is a term and abbreviation used to refer collectively to the various large Mass media, mass news media that influence many people and both reflect and shape prevailing currents of thought.Noam Chomsky, Choms ...

and the

Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

regime's criminal

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

Claims of publishing satire

In 2021, an email account named "Twisted Truth" claimed that Real Raw News was "a

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

site, exposing the insanity of rabid Trumpists (who lack the mental wherewithal to distinguish fact from fiction)" after the online misinformation tracker

NewsGuard NewsGuard is a rating system for news and information websites. It is accessible via browser extensions and mobile apps. It rates publishers based on whether they have transparent finances or publish many errors, among other criteria. NewsGuard ...

contacted the website to determine its editorial process. In April 2021, the website added a disclaimer that it "contains humor, parody, and satire"; Tuffin stated the disclaimer was included "to somewhat indemnify myself against potential legal ramification", but defended the content published on the website as truthful, saying, "I stand behind the articles and the sources who risk their safety to share information." Reports published by the website do not clarify if they are "informational and educational" or satirical. Law professor Amy Gajda of

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

said that the "satire defense is actually very protective" against

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

lawsuits. Garrett Kelly, professor of the School of Communication at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

, stated: "Someone who is inclined to believe the content hosted on the site might interpret the 'disclaimer for our protection' as insincere, only intended to protect the publisher from lawsuits. In that situation, the reader might mistakenly conclude that claims made on the site are real."

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://realrawnews.com 2020 establishments in the United States Internet properties established in 2020 Fake news websites QAnon