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VERIFY: C-Span website lets users create any headline for news clips, like 'Joe Biden Confesses to Bribery'

The Verify team got to the bottom of a viral rumor that claims the former Vice President confessed to committing bribery.

WASHINGTON — QUESTION:

Did Joe Biden ‘confess to bribery’ in C-Span video?

ANSWER:

No, this claim is not true. 

SOURCES:

C-Span Programming Department

PROCESS:

Our Verify team works to show you what's truth and what's just online garbage.

One of the latest headlines circulating on social media reads: "Joe Biden Confesses to Bribery."

The clip apparently came from C-Span, a cable company-funded, non-partisan, cable channel. 

So, did the former Vice President actually confess to committing bribery? 

The link brings you to the legitimate C-Span website.

But there's a disclaimer above the headline that says the clip, title, and description were NOT created by C-SPAN.

Credit: Cspan.org

Now, if you sign up for a free account with C-Span, you or anyone else has the ability to clip a segment of any video, create any headline, sub-headline and post it on social media. 

But what you won’t see, is that disclaimer scrolling through your news feed that says video was not created by C-Span.

Verify researchers reached out to the C-Span programming department, who explained their staff does not regulate what headlines are being made for user-created video clips.

They also said they don't have enough staff on hand to do that, but you can report profane or abusive content to C-SPAN. 

As for this video, the Verify team watched it and at no time does the former VP confess to any bribery, plus C-Span did not create this headline. 

So, we can verify no, Joe Biden did not confess to bribery in this video.

But you'll want to be careful with any clips you see on social media from C-Span. This is because you won't know, unless you click on the link, if it was created by someone at C-Span or if it was created by someone with a political agenda.

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