Does a grainy green night vision photo show Osama bin Laden after he was shot and killed by U.S. Navy SEALs? No, that's not true: This image was made by adding bin Laden's face to a still image taken from the movie "Black Hawk Down." This fake image began circulating online shortly after his death was reported. The image appeared…
Did North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un call for Benjamin Netanyahu to be arrested in September 2026? No, that's not true: There are no credible news reports that Kim made an announcement calling for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to be arrested. The person who posted this video does not cite a source for his claim that Kim is demanding Netanyahu's…
Does a viral image authentically show the folding iPhone Duo released in September 2026 after three months of use? No, that's not true: Two online AI detectors found evidence of generative AI. Earlier versions of the image shared on social media did not document such pronounced damage from folding. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X…
A quarter of a century after four hijacked airliners crashed into New York's Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania field false claims about the September 11, 2001, terror attacks still draw interest. Here is a list of the top 9/11 conspiracy theories fact checked by Lead Stories ranked by how many readers searched for information about them. 1. 1967…
Did a real Grindr outage take place in Dallas during the 2026 Republican National Convention, which began on Sept. 9, 2026? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for Grindr told Lead Stories it had no outages connected to the convention, and its status page did not show any either. The Downdetector website did show an increase in outage reports nationally…
Is Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly dropping his bid for re-election after learning he's lost 40 points in the polls among veterans? No, that's not true: The story is entirely made up. It originated from a network of self-described satire websites that place multiple disclaimers on their content saying that nothing they publish is real. The claim appeared in a post…
Do real photos show a bear carrying an injured fox and an injured raccoon to the door of a wildlife center where it had once received care? No, that's not true: The images, designed to look like security camera footage, are AI-generated. The narrative paired with the fake images lacks verifiable details and originated from a Facebook page called StoryTime,…
Does a viral composite image show the real list of candidates running for office from the Reform UK party? No, that's not true: While some of the people on the list are real Reform UK affiliates, a closer manual examination showed that the collage displayed multiple inconsistencies strongly pointing to AI, including the alleged candidates who either shared the same…
Do real photos show former NFL star Clay Matthews with prominent muscles and a pronounced jawline? No, that's not true: The images are part of an ad campaign for Caesars Sportsbook, a gambling app. A video on the company's X account shows Matthews going through the transformation, including makeup and prosthetics, to turn him into the cartoonish character seen in…
Did a microphone cast an uncanny shadow across the upper lip of Alice Weidel, the leader of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party? No, that's not true: The image circulating on social media has been altered. The original photo from 2016 shows the microphone, but no shadow on Weidel's face. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) by…
Did President Donald Trump post "No more free Niagara Falls for Canada" on his social media accounts? No, that's not true: A review of Trump's Truth Social account found no record of such a post. The claim appears to have originated with a fabricated screenshot that shows Trump supposedly threatening to cut off the flow of Niagara Falls to Canada…
Did New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani post on X in September 2025 that he, Mamdani, had an interview with conservative activist Charlie Kirk shortly before his assassination? No, that's not true: At the time, Mamdani hadn't taken office yet and, thus, he didn't have access to the official account of the New York City Mayor on X whose images…
Does Nike have an ad campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney with the slogan, "Buy the stock. Just do it."? No, that's not true: The fake ad circulating on social media features an AI-generated likeness of Sydney Sweeney. The meme surfaced after the finance news broke that Nike would no longer be included in the S&P 100 index after Sept. 21, 2026…
Is the image that President Donald Trump shared of a United States Space Force Service Dress Uniform Next Generation the official uniform for the military branch? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the image shows the new official uniform for the Space Force. New ceremonial dress uniforms were introduced by the Space Force in Aug. 2026 but…
Does a real video show Miley Cyrus saying that Dolly Parton left her entire fortune to her? No, that's not true: An online AI detection tool determined the clip was very likely AI-generated, assigning it a 99% confidence score. There is no evidence that Cyrus inherited Parton's fortune, and no credible news organizations reported it as of Sept. 9, 2026.…
Does a viral image authentically portray Russia's Rossotrudnichestvo agency head Igor Chaika? No, that's not true: the picture was likely altered using AI to make the Russian official look bigger than in the original. Chaika's face and the logo of the Russian government media organization did not match what was seen in the video recorded in the identical settings. The…
Did President Donald Trump defend White House aide Natalie Harp after she posted nuclear codes on Instagram? No, that's not true: The claim originated on a website known for posting satirical news content, and there is no evidence that Harp actually posted nuclear codes on Instagram. No credible news organizations reported such an incident as of Sept. 9, 2026. The…
Did President Donald Trump write a Truth Social post declaring the "Moon a U.S.A. territory," saying it has "rare Moon metals"? No, that's not true: The claim was initially posted with a satire label. Searches across Trump's posts and an archived version of his Truth Social account did not show matches to the image social media users shared with an…
Have you seen viral videos showing a father crying at the hospital bedside of his unconscious young daughter asking viewers for prayers? Lead Stories has spotted a number of such videos recently and has found that many of them were created using artificial intelligence. They do not show real people or situations but appear to be modeled after social media…
Did Arnold Schwarzenegger say he was removing "negger" from his last name because it "could be offensive" and instead going by "Schwarzen"? No, that's not true: The account that posted the claim is a satire and parody entertainment site. There are no credible reports that Schwarzenegger is removing that last part of his name because it could be offensive. The…
