Technology

FACT CHECK: ‘George Soros Is Majority Owner Of New Social Platform Parler’ – Did Fox News Air This News Chyron?

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An image shared on Instagram purportedly shows a Fox News chyron reading, “Fox News Confirms: George Soros Is Majority Owner Of New Social Platform Parler.”

 

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Verdict: False

Fox News did not run this chyron, according to a Fox News spokesperson. A spokesperson from the Open Society Foundations confirmed Soros has no ownership in Parler.

Fact Check:

The Nov. 12 Instagram post attempts to link Parler, a social media platform similar to Twitter but with fewer rules, to billionaire George Soros. Parler has become a popular alternative among disgruntled Twitter users who felt as if the platform censored speech, according to The New York Times.

The image appears to be a screen grab of a tweet showing a scene from a live Fox News broadcast featuring “America’s Newsroom” host Sandra Smith and Fox News chief White House correspondent John Roberts. Below them is a chyron that reads, “Fox News Confirms: George Soros Is Majority Owner Of New Social Platform Parler.”

However, the chyron in the image appears to be digitally manipulated. The Daily Caller News Foundation found no news reporting to suggest Fox News reported on such a connection between Soros and Parler. A Fox News spokesperson confirmed in a phone call with the DCNF that the network did not run the chyron shown in the post or report anything about Soros owning Parler.

The image of Smith and Roberts used in the Instagram post appears to be from a Nov. 10 episode of “America’s Newsroom.” At the moment when both are on the screen, the actual chyron reads, “Trump Campaign Files Lawsuit Alleging Two-Tiered Voting System in Pennsylvania.” There is no mention of Soros or Parler during the segment.

Smith later addressed the fake image during a Nov. 13 episode of “America’s Newsroom,” saying, “A screen grab of this program was taken, edited and distributed to fit a completely false narrative. It was not real.”

Parler CEO John Matze additionally confirmed that Soros does not own the social media platform.

“The ownership structure of Parler is myself, a small group of close friends and employees,” wrote Matze on the website. In another post, Matze states, “George Soros has absolutely no association in any capacity with Parler.”

A spokesperson for the Open Society Foundations, a Soros-founded organization that supports progressive causes around the world, told the DCNF in an email, “George Soros has absolutely no financial interest or ownership in Parler.”