# Snopes

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/snopes/

6 people recommended Snopes in Hacker News comments and 6 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 12 months, in 4 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend Snopes for its background info and primary-source verdicts readers can check themselves. Critics most often cite political bias and funding conflicts.

Summary written by Claude from 20 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 19 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Background info to check findings (2 comments in the sample): "they provide ample background info for you to replicate (or repudiate) their findings" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48149789)) "find primary sources, present them, and give a verdict based on those primary sources" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48150607))
- Quick accurate answers on rumors (2 comments in the sample): "is actually completely right about the incident in question" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45883225)) "Snopes cleared it up in a matter of minutes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48149280))
- Consistent results over time (2 comments in the sample): "Snopes continues to do what it was meant to do." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47050123)) "pretty good so far, in their case" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48149737))

## What people warn about

- Perceived left-leaning political bias (3 comments in the sample): "Many 'fact checking' platforms are self-admittedly focused on left advocacy (snopes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48310837)) "Snopes engaging in this type of behavior… their problematic approach to their work" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48150231)) "sources that back up the lies that Snopes and other fact-checkers peddle" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48149848))
- Questionable claims and weak track record (3 comments in the sample): "they said that masks do nothing to the airborne viruses" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46161649)) "yet I have seen them make questionable claims" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46160102)) "their track record is not great" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48149823))
- Funding and ownership conflicts of interest (2 comments in the sample): "Your links are mostly about ownership, supposed sources of bias, and internal politics." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48150407)) "because of the conflict of interest created by who / what groups fund them" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48223703))
- Shifting answers and archive exclusions (2 comments in the sample): "They now often answer with a very different context than they start out with." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45884747)) "Snopes excluded itself from the Wayback Machine during 2020" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46169071))

## Other reference websites people recommend

- [Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sheldon-brown-s-bicycle-technical-info/): 47 recommend, 1 mixed, 0 criticize
- [Animated Knots by Grog](https://hackerapproved.com/p/animated-knots/): 11 recommend, 3 mixed, 1 criticize
- [Ian's Shoelace Site](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ian-s-shoelace-site/): 10 recommend, 0 mixed, 1 criticize
- [OEIS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/oeis/): 9 recommend, 0 mixed, 1 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Snopes", https://hackerapproved.com/p/snopes/ (6 recommend, 0 mixed, 6 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.