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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Crime & justice fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about crime & justice. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

6,857 published reviews in this topic

PolitiFactCrime & justice

Douglass Mackey was convicted “because he made a meme in the 2016 election.”

Publisher’s rating: Mostly False

Related reporting identifies Mackey’s 2016 posts as the conduct at the center of his case, but describes the conviction as being for conspiracy—not simply for making a meme. One account says the posts included deceptive vote-by-text images and that the government charged Mackey with conspiracy in 2021. It also reports that the conviction was overturned in 2025 because prosecutors had not proved an agreement with another person. That distinction makes the claim’s “because he made a meme” description incomplete: it reduces a conspiracy prosecution to the act of posting, while omitting the legal theory and the later reversal. The reporting describes memes telling Clinton supporters they could vote by text, including one that said “Avoid the Line. Vote from Home.” It says the government presented trial evidence that thousands of phone numbers texted the promoted number, but also says it offered no evidence that anyone was actually prevented from voting. These details support that the memes were central to the case, while clarifying that the reported basis for the conviction was a conspiracy charge rather than merely creating or sharing a meme.