Tag Archives: widely

Hoax posts claiming that a rattlesnake has bitten and seriously injured a dog have been shared hundreds of times in Facebook groups around the UK. 

Full Fact has seen examples of the posts in “buy and sell” groups in Dudley (West Midlands), Carluke (Lanarkshire), Alfreton (Derbyshire) and Great Yarmouth (Norfolk).

The posts all use near-identical language, which says: “Alarm ALERT 

“Diamond Rattlesnake found in [location] bitten one of my pups today and left it fighting for it’s life .Please be watchful of your surroundings, toilets, openings, potted plants etc. Stay safe everyone

“SPREAD THE WORD AND SAVE LIFE!! [sic]”

But this isn’t a real alert. Aside from the obvious fact that the same person cannot have had their dog injured by the same snake…

A screenshot shared in a tweet by Andrew Bridgen (a former Conservative MP who currently sits as an independent after having had the whip withdrawn earlier this year) purports to show a list of “Communist Rules For Revolution”. Mr Bridgen shared it with the words: “These rules were written in 1919. Over 100 years later people have intrinsically not changed that much. We should all read and study this, it must be resisted at all cost.”

This list dates back several decades, and has been widely labelled a hoax.

The screenshot, which has also been shared a number of times on Facebook, says:

“In May, 1919 at Dusseldorf, Germany, Allied forces captured a very significant document: “Communist Rules For Revolution.” As you read these “Rules” now 50 years…