No, Coolmath Games isn’t getting taken down (2024)

Have you unwittingly been part of a criminal enterprise while playing your favorite online logic and skill games?

One Facebook post would have you believe the answer is "yes."

"Coolmath Games is being taken down cause it was run by the Mexican drug cartel?" reads the screenshot of a tweet that was shared on Facebook. It goes on to say, in all capital letters, "Hold up so my lil 10-year-old a-- was helping the drug cartel while playing the pizzeria games???"

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.)

But fear not. It isn’t time to say goodbye to Coolmath Games — and the site doesn’t have any known ties to the Mexican drug cartel.

This is not the first time rumors about Coolmath Games — which was launched in 1997 to "make math enjoyable for people who thought it couldn’t be fun" — have popped up online.

In December 2020, the website had to repeatedly assure its users that Adobe’s decision to stop supporting Flash Player would not be Coolmath Games’ killing blow.

"In case you haven't heard, we're alive & thriving," Coolmath Games said in an Instagram post on Dec. 11, 2020.

Featured Fact-check

Threads posts

stated on May 16, 2024 in a Threads post

Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker said we should go back to a time when “women had more babies than thoughts.”

The same post linked to a Coolmath Games webpage that explained why the end of Flash games wouldn’t "have much effect" on the site or the games available.

A few online publications debunked the claims that Coolmath Games was coming to an end. To address the rumors, Coolmath Games set up a page on its site titled, "Coolmath Games Isn't Shutting Down."

The tweet about a connection to the Mexican drug cartel emerged around the same time as the Flash games rumor. The tweet has since been deleted, but not before someone captured a screenshot of the tweet and Coolmath Games’ response.

"Cannot believe we actually have to say this, but… This is absolutely false," Coolmath Games tweeted on Dec. 29, 2020. "C'mon guys. Really?"

There is no evidence that Coolmath Games has connections of any sort to organized crime or a Mexican drug cartel. We searched for news clips using multiple search engines. The only connection between Coolmath Games and a drug cartel appeared to come from screenshots of the unsubstantiated tweet.

Our ruling

A post claims Coolmath Games is "being taken down" because it was run by "the Mexican drug cartel."

Coolmath Games has denied rumors that the website was shutting down, and there is also no evidence that the gaming website has connections to or is being run by "the Mexican drug cartel."

We rate this post False.

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