'New York Post story' on U.S. Congress voting to criminalize questions around 9/11 attack is fake

By: Ankita Kulkarni
May 6 2024

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Screenshot of viral posts on social media. (X/Facebook/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

What is the claim?

A screenshot of a news article attributed to the New York Post is circulating on social media platforms, claiming that the U.S. Congress will be voting on a bill that will make it illegal to question the events around the 2011 September 11 terrorist attack, commonly referred to as the  9/11 attacks. In 2001, on September 11, Al-Qaida carried out a series of attacks against the United States, targeting New York's Twin Towers and the Pentagon. 

The headline in the screenshot reads, "CONGRESS TO VOTE ON BILL THAT WOULD CRIMINALIZE QUESTIONING THE EVENTS SURROUNDING 9/11." The article states, "With strong support from AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and the ADL (Anti-Defamation League), Congress is set to vote on a bill that would criminalize any questioning of the events that took place during the September 11th attacks. (sic)" Both the organizations mentioned in the alleged article are pro-Israeli organizations. The article adds that the bill prescribes a fine of up to $10,000 and five years imprisonment for questioning or challenging "the official narrative." 

Sharing the screenshot, one such post on Facebook (archived here) said, "You can't criminalize questioning anything. This is a direct and egregious violation of your constitutionally protected rights. This obviously proves they're hiding some serious criminal shit!" Other archived versions of such Facebook posts can be found here, here, and here. The image is also being shared on X (formerly Twitter) with similar claims; archives of such posts can be viewed here and here.

Screenshots of viral posts on social media. (X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the article mentioned in the viral posts is fake.

What did we find?

We searched for the purported article on the New York Post's official website to learn more about the mentioned bill but found no such report. The viral screenshot mentions the article's published date and time as "April 26, 2024," and "9:25 p.m." We then looked for reports published on that date and found a report with the same byline, date, and time as seen in the viral screenshot. However, the actual report is about former American film producer, Harvey Weinstein, being moved to Rikers Island a day after his 2020 New York rape conviction was overturned.

The comparison of both articles showed us the differences in font style and formatting, which points out that the viral screenshot was fabricated. Although the viral picture mimics how the organization's website would look when viewed on a mobile phone, it is inconsistent with the appearance of the New York Post's actual reports. In contrast with the genuine reports, the headline of the viral post is center aligned, while in the actual reports, it is left aligned; the font is different — entirely capitalized — and the tag mentioning the article's topic is also missing in the viral post. 

The image of the Twin Towers included in the alleged article is available on Getty Images where it is captioned, "A fiery blast rocks the World Trade Center after being hit by two planes September 11, 2001 in New York City (sic)." However, the above evidence establishes that the now-viral article carrying this image is fake.

Comparison between the purported article and the actual report published by the New York Post the same day with the same byline. 
(Source: X/New York Post/Screenshot)

We also looked for the bills relating to "September 11, 2001" on the U.S. Congress online database (archived here). We found no such bills or resolutions that propose to make it illegal for people to talk about or question the consensus surrounding the  9/11 attacks. There are also no news reports from any credible media outlet mentioning any such development.

It is worth noting that the fake article includes claims that pro-Israeli organizations like ADL and AIPAC "strongly supported the bill." This aligns with a broader conspiracy theory falsely alleging Israel's involvement in the 9/11 attacks. However, Logically Facts has previously debunked this, noting that Al-Qaeda was responsible for the attacks. 

Logically, Facts also contacted ADL and AIPAC to clarify their stance on the alleged bill. Both organizations told us the claim is false, and that they have not supported any such bill. We also contacted the New York Post and will update this story if and when we receive a response.

The verdict

The claim that the U.S. Congress is voting on a bill to criminalize and fine individuals for questioning the official narratives of the 9/11 attack is false. The New York Post article carried with the viral claim is fabricated. Therefore, we have marked the claim as fake.