Fact Check

RFID Chip Implemented in All Public Schools by 2015 - Effort to Curb Gun Violence

Are U.S. schools requiring children to be implanted with RFID chips in an effort to curb gun violence?

Published July 7, 2014

Claim:

Claim:   U.S. schools are requiring children to be implanted with RFID chips in order to curb gun violence.


FALSE


Example:   [Collected via e-mail, July 2014]


Are RFID chips to be implanted and mandatory in school children?
by 2015?

 

Origins:   On 12 June 2014, the National Report published an article positing that U.S. schools are requiring children to be implanted with RFID chips in an effort to curb gun violence:



Due to the recent boom in school shootings many educational facilities across the nation have required that parents have their children implanted with RFID chips before being allowed to attend class.

“Implantation of these devices will reduce deaths in the event of serious emergencies. Not only does it allow us to locate the whereabouts of all students, but they are also able to synch up with the student's smartphone devices so that witnesses may immediately inform other students and most importantly, the authorities [sic].

"Teachers will be able to perform lock-downs much more efficiently in order to prevent more injuries and deaths. The perpetrators of these crimes can also be located and contained more efficiently before they can cause any additional harm."


Soon afterwards links and excerpts referencing this article were

being circulated via social media, with many of those who encountered the item mistaking it for a genuine news article. However, the article was just a bit of fiction from the National Report spoofing conspiratorial rumors about the government's mandating the implantation of RFID chips in citizens. The National Report has trod this ground several times before, including publishing a July 2013 piece claiming that residents of a Wyoming town were being implanted with microchips under a requirement of recently passed legislation, and a June 2014 article asserting that one out of every three Americans has been implanted with microchips.

Lest there be any more confusion, we note here that the National Report is a web site that publishes outrageous fake news stories such as "IRS Plans to Target Leprechauns Next," "Boy Scouts Announce Boobs Merit Badge," and "New CDC Study Indicates Pets of Gay Couples Worse at Sports, Better at Fashion Than Pets of Straight Couples." The National Report's (since removed) disclaimer page notes that:



National Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental.

National Report publisher Allen Montgomery has also stated to the legitimate press that in no way should anyone construe the National Report as real news:



"It is our opinion that if a person is too lazy to check for multiple references [or at least one other source] ... and they spread misinformation around as fact, then they are to blame for their own stupidity, not us," he said.

Last updated:   7 July 2014

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.

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