Do vaccines make people identify with a gender other than their gender assigned at birth by changing the composition of that person's DNA? No, that's not true: Vaccines do not change a person's DNA -- they provide immunity against diseases, an expert in genetics told Lead Stories. The claim appeared in an Instagram post on November 26, 2022. The post's…
Did the U.S. military arrest U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to charge him with "treason and child endangerment"? No, that's not true: The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 states that the U.S. military does not serve any roles in civilian law enforcement. This arrest claim was also made on a website that publishes fabricated content. The claim appeared in…
Does a photo circulating on social media show Lotta Volkova, a stylist for Paris-based fashion house Balenciaga, which is facing condemnation after releasing an ad campaign featuring children holding stuffed animals in bondage gear? No, that's not true: The woman in the image is a runway model in a 2016 fashion show in Beijing -- not Volkova. The claim appeared…
Does a photo of the Artemis I mission launch show that the rocket missed its target, falling short of the moon -- perhaps dropping into the ocean? No, that's not true: The launch went as planned and the Orion spacecraft orbited Earth once en route to the moon. This is a real photo of the launch of the uncrewed Orion…
Did the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services give illegal immigrants citizenship in exchange for voting for Democrats for the rest of their lives? No, that's not true: A Homeland Security representative pointed out the satire disclaimer that can be found on the Real Raw News website and linked to an article debunking Real Raw…
Does a trident superimposed on the gold and blue Ukrainian flag represent membership in, or support for, the Nazi political movement? No, that's not true: The trident is the national symbol of Ukraine that is often added to the country's flag. The claim appeared in an Instagram post from November 25, 2022, under the title "Here I am driving to…
Did CNN publish an article or a news report stating that "Elon Musk could threaten free speech on Twitter by literally allowing people to speak freely"? No, that's not true: As of November 28, 2022, the CNN website had not published such a story, which originated from a satirical website overtly presenting itself as a "source of fake news." The…
Does a natural "healing oil" from Nigeria advertised on social media cure HIV/AIDS? No, that's not true: While natural treatments are a mainstay of many non-Western medical systems, scientists have not yet discovered any medicine that can cure HIV. The man in Nigeria who made the claim was unable to produce anything but anecdotal evidence of his herbal treatment's efficacy…
Do household microwave ovens emit levels of radiation high enough to harm human health? No, that's not true: Federal law in the United States obliges microwave oven makers to adhere to radiation emission standards that are too low to cause health problems in humans. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tests the machines in its lab and monitors manufacturers' radiation-testing…
Were 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines recalled after giving people AIDS? No, that's not true: These vaccines were from a trial in Australia, where a plan to manufacture 50 million doses was suspended in December 2020 after the vaccine gave some patients false positive results for HIV. AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The claim appeared…
Does a viral video show Al Jazeera footage of "Nazi Ukrainians" "arrested in Qatar after they drew swastikas on football posters"? No, that's not true: The network denied that it had anything to do with the clip using its logo. More importantly, the video did not contain shots of the scene with the purportedly existing posters or provide any verifiable…
Did Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin "admit we never went to the moon"? No, that's not true: The 2015 video interview from which a clip was taken to support this claim actually showed Aldrin answering a different question. The claim reappeared in a post on Instagram published on November 24, 2022. The accompanying text comment said: It's clear as day…
Did Russian ex-president and the deputy chair of Russia's Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, tweet that Moscow "is ready to supply Poland with the best air defence systems to prevent further aggression from Ukraine"? No, that's not true: archived versions of his Twitter accounts do not show a tweet like that. The claim appeared in a Facebook post on November 20,…
Does a newly released dataset show that COVID-19 is a deadly "experimental toxin"? And does Dr. Anthony Fauci's resignation have anything to do with it? No, neither are true: the claims recycle old falsehoods based on a distortion of publicly available information, and new reports do not support it. Fauci, 81, the country's top virologist, started talking about stepping down…
Do COVID-19 vaccines or PCR tests make people "magnetic"? No, that's not true. There is no evidence that either of them can increase what is perceived as "magnetism." But theatrical glue, oily skin or body cream can do the trick of making objects stick to skin without fundamentally altering the properties of the human body, which is not known for…
