# Snopes **Snopes** is the original internet fact-checking site, founded in **1994** by David and Barbara Mikkelson as the "Urban Legends Reference Pages." It grew from debunking folklore into the general reference for checking viral claims. In the vault it is part of the [[Fact-Checking]] infrastructure, and the longest-running test of how far debunking can go against motivated belief. ## Ownership fights - **2016–17.** Barbara Mikkelson sold her 50% to Proper Media, owned by Chris Richmond and Drew Schoentrup, in July 2016. When David Mikkelson ended the company's services contract in March 2017, Proper Media withheld ad revenue and sued. The Mikkelsons' company, Bardav, raised $500,000 on GoFundMe in 24 hours to keep the site running. The dispute was later settled. (Details largely from one source.) - **2022.** On September 16, 2022 Richmond and Schoentrup bought the remaining shares, taking full ownership. Richmond became CEO and David Mikkelson left the company. ## Facebook Snopes was one of Facebook's first fact-checking partners and quit on February 1, 2019, two years before Meta ended the U.S. program for everyone (see [[PolitiFact]]). ## The plagiarism scandal On August 13, 2021, BuzzFeed News reported that David Mikkelson had published at least 54 articles (2015–19) containing material copied from the *Los Angeles Times*, *The Guardian*, the *New York Times*, CNN, the BBC and others, some under the invented byline "Jeff Zarronandia." Snopes reviewed 140 stories and retracted 60. Mikkelson was suspended from editorial work but stayed CEO and half-owner until the 2022 buyout. For critics of fact-checking it became a standing exhibit: a fact-checker caught plagiarizing under a fake name. ## Today Richmond is CEO and Jessica Lee is editor. In June 2025 its editorial staff of about ten announced a union drive with the Media Guild of the West (one source). ## See Also - [[Fact-Checking]] · [[PolitiFact]] · [[BuzzFeed News]] · [[Meta]]