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FACT BRIEF

Is there a national boycott of gasoline on April 15, 2022, to emulate a successful protest from April 1997?

By Christiana Dillard
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NO

A social media post claiming a national gasoline boycott is a recycled post with a new date slapped on it. It has circulated in various iterations online since at least 2004. Except for the date, the wording is unchanged, including a reference to April 15, 2011, as though it were a future date.

Additionally, several publications have explained why a one-day national boycott of gas would not significantly lower gas prices: drivers would still need gas afterwards, so overall demand would remain unchanged.

The information included in the post also does not appear to be reliable. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that during each week of April 1997, there was no drastic drop in national average retail gas prices for gas overall, or specifically for regular, midgrade or premium.

See a full discussion of this at Lead Stories
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
NBC News Why one-day gasoline 'boycott' won't work
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Lead Stories
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.