VA debunks false reports about veteran stimulus checks
- Veterans will not receive stimulus checks in 2024
- False claim comes from misreporting earlier this year
- VA: Increase in cost-of-living allowance likely confused with stimulus
(NewsNation) — Veterans will not receive stimulus checks in 2024 despite recent reports suggesting otherwise, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) confirmed to NewsNation.
The false claim that stimulus checks were on their way to veterans stems from misinformation that Newsweek reported earlier this year, the department said in an email.
“There is no Veteran stimulus,” a VA official wrote to NewsNation. “This misinformation began with a Newsweek article published several months ago where the reporter misreported and confused the increase in cost-of-living allowance (COLA) with a stimulus. We want to ensure Veterans know any talk of a stimulus is false.”
A 3.2% monthly benefits increase for eligible veterans took effect Jan. 1, following a recent COLA adjustment, the outlet Verify said in an article fact-checking the claim.
That adjustment will affect certain VA benefits, including, but not limited to, disability compensation, clothing allowance, and dependency and indemnity compensation for spouses and children, according to the VA’s website.
Artificial intelligence is likely playing a role in the repetition of false claims about new stimulus checks, AI and foreign influence editor for NewsGuard McKenzie Sadeghi told AARP.
“Content farms” focused on garnering clicks often post about incoming stimulus payments, Sadeghi said.
“The goal is to ‘rank high in search results in some way and attract viewers to their site,’ AARP wrote, citing Sadeghi.
“By bringing viewers and readers to their sites, they are hoping that people will, in turn, click on these advertisements and they will gain financial revenue,” Sadeghi told AARP.