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Investigate the Source: What does Aftermath know about Nintendo suing the U.S. government?

SKILL: Investigate the Source

DIFFICULTY: Challenging

SUBJECT(S): Pop Culture, Politics/Current Events

Posted: April 1, 2026

Related Lesson

Verification Skills Lesson #2: Investigate the Source (sign-in required)

Link to Example

Nintendo Suing the US Government (Reddit)
Artwork depicting Nintendo character Wario in a pile of gold and jewels.

Background

In April 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed global tariffs (taxes) on many products and materials imported from other countries. On February 20th, 2026 the American Supreme Court ruled that these tariffs were illegal. Many American companies have since sued the U.S. government to request a refund on the tariffs they paid. 



About the Example

Teacher note: If you cannot access Reddit click here for a screenshot of the post that you can share with your students, and here for the link contained in the post.

This post on the subreddit r/NintentoSwitch shares the headline, “Nintendo Suing U.S. Government Over Tariffs,” and links to a source called “aftermath.site.” Clicking on the link brings us to an article explaining Nintendo has filed a lawsuit seeking refunds of tariffs they paid to the U.S. government. This might not be a surprise to gamers, for whom Nintendo’s proactive legal team has become a meme. But we can’t rely on memes to assess the credibility of this story, so let’s investigate Aftermath to learn more about its agenda and reputation. 

The Wikipedia entry for Aftermath tells us it’s an independently owned website that covers news about video games, the video game industry, and internet culture. Notably, it is founded and owned by several experienced video games journalists. From a source evaluation perspective, this is an ideal combination: not only are we getting our information from professional journalists, but from journalists with extensive experience on the topic.

As one Reddit user put: “Looks like they’ll be Pokemon Going to the courtroom”



Activities 

  1. Show students the post and have them identify the claim and the source. Fill in any background information you students might need to understand the claim.
  2. Have students investigate the source using Wikipedia by either:
    • Adding Wikipedia after the root URL in the search bar (https://aftermath.site wikipedia); or
    • Searching for “aftermath.site Wikipedia”
  3. Ask students to skim the Wikipedia entry. Guiding questions:
    • Is Aftermath a reliable source to learn about Nintendo suing the U.S. government? What evidence did you find to support your assessment?


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