Instagram post misleads on monthly coronavirus checks

An Instagram post from a New York radio station misleads by claiming that there’s $2,400 a month that people can get from the government besides the one-time $1,200 stimulus check.

"The (CARES) Act saw the Treasury Department send $1,200 stimulus checks to millions of eligible Americans. ⁠What many citizens might not know though is that those checks aren't the ones available to them, in fact, a lot of people can get an additional $2,400 — and they can do it every month!" said a Power 105.1 Instagram post from May 19.

The post image shows a person’s hand raising dollar bills, below it is text that says: "There’s another $2,400 a month from the government you can get right now."

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Instagram is owned by Facebook.

The Instagram post directs to a link that clarifies that the additional $2,400 a month isn’t as available as was the one-time $1,200 stimulus check. It says that unemployed Americans can get $600 a week, or $2,400 a month, if they qualify for federal unemployment help under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act.

The U.S. Department of Labor says that the $600 a week benefit under the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation is only available through the end of July. The radio station does not make that clear. 

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Several Instagram users commented on the post, calling it "very misleading" and "click bait."

"Stop giving us fake news," wrote one user.

The Instagram post contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it Mostly False.