by: Alan Duke
» Most Recent
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Fake News: Donald Trump Did NOT Say US and Italy Have Been Allies Since Ancient Rome, Did NOT Call Italian President "Mozzarella"
Did President Donald Trump call Italian President Mattarella "Mozzarella" during a press conference or public Oval Office meeting? And did he claim that the United States and Italy have been... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Former Atheist Brad Pitt Does NOT Become A Christian As He Recovers From Alcoholism
Did "former atheist" Brad Pitt "become a Christian" while recovering from alcoholism? No, that's not true: Pitt, who grew up as a Christian, told a GQ magazine interviewer in 2019... [Read the full story]- by: Alan Duke
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Fake News: Man's Penis Did NOT Explode After Attempting to Inflate It With Helium
Did an unnamed 34-year old man try to inflate his penis with helium for a prank and did he end up blowing up his penis? No, that's not true: the... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: NEW Starbucks CEO Did NOT Admit She Doesn't Like White Peope
Did "New Starbucks CEO" Rosalind Brewer admit she doesn't like white people? No, there are several things that are not true in that statement, the most obvious one being that... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Satanic Pentagram Was NOT On Democratic Debate Stage Ceiling
Was a satanic pentagram displayed on the ceiling above the stage of the Democratic presidential debate stage in Westerville, Ohio? No, that's not true: A purported photo showing the pentagram... [Read the full story]- by: Alan Duke
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Fake News: Black Female Prisoners Are NOT Sterilized To Cut Welfare Costs In California
Are African-American women inmates in Caifornia prisons sterilized to cut welfare costs in California? No, that's not true: The claim is a distortion of an investigative report that documented how... [Read the full story]- by: Alan Duke
»News & Analysis from the world of Fake News
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Clint Eastwood Death Hoax Tech Eerily Reminiscent of 2017 Rowan Atkinson Death Hoax
Earlier this week Lead Stories already reported that Clint Eastwood was NOT dead, despite what a YouTube video was claiming: Fake News: Clint Eastwood is NOT Dead | Lead Stories... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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That Fake 'Drunk Pelosi' Video Was A Dud: How Lead Stories And Facebook Defused A Viral Bomb
A viral video that was digitally altered to make it appear that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was slurring her words and drunk has raised questions about what social platforms... [Read the full story]- by: Alan Duke
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Press Release: Happy Fact-Checking Day! #factcheckingday
Lead Stories is happy to support Fact-Checking Day 2019! ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (April 2, 2019) - In most of the world, April 1 is a day for fools. April 2is... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Malinformation, Misinformation, Disinformation: Lead Stories NOT Using The Term F*ke N*ws Anymore
Update: Yes, of course this was an April Fools joke :-) For years we here at Lead Stories have put the term "F*ke N*ws" in every headline but it is... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Press Release: The International Fact-Checking Network launches FactCheckEU, its European fact-checking project
Hoaxes know no borders, especially in Europe. That's why the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) is proud to announce the launch of FactCheckEU, a collaborative effort from 19 European fact-checking outlets... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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On The Difference Between Fake News and Satire -- Why Lead Stories Needed A Satire Policy
Things used to be very simple and clear-cut here at Lead Stories. We used our Trendolizer engine to look for things that were trending online that were not true (but... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
» Europe
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Fake News: Photo Showing Two Men "Smiling" In Front Of Burning Notre Dame Is NOT Doctored (But We Still Don't Know If They Are "Laughing Muslims")
By Alan Duke and Maarten Schenk - Did the Russian news agency Sputnik digitally insert two smiling men into a photograph taken near the burning Notre Dame cathedral and then... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Press Release: The International Fact-Checking Network launches FactCheckEU, its European fact-checking project
Hoaxes know no borders, especially in Europe. That's why the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) is proud to announce the launch of FactCheckEU, a collaborative effort from 19 European fact-checking outlets... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Inaccurate News: MORE Than Two Whales Found Dead, NOT Only In Germany, NOT All Stomachs Full Of Plastic And Car Parts
Were two whales found dead in Germany in January of 2019 or 2018 and were their stomachs discovered to be "full of plastic and car parts"? No, not exactly: a... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Gypsies DID NOT Install Their Caravans On The Champs-Élysées In Paris For Gilets Jaunes Protests
Did several gypsy clans show up in Paris and did they install their caravans on the Champs-Élysées to participate in the Gilets Jaunes protests after ex-boxer Christophe Dettinger was arrested... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: French Riot Police Did NOT Loot A Store During #GiletsJaunes Protest
Did French riot police officers loot a store during recent "Gillets Jaunes" protests in France? No, that's not true. The confusion was caused by a viral tweet from a user... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Netflix Did NOT Announce French Version of Suicide Squad
Did Netflix announce a French version of the "Suicide Squad" movie? No, that's not true: the rumor was started by a Belgian satire website mocking the French government. It is... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
» Hoax Alert
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Fake News: Hillary Clinton Did NOT Claim Russians 'Grooming' Tulsi Gabbard As Third-Party Candidate
Did Hillary Clinton claim Russians are "grooming" Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as a third-party presidential candidate in 2020? No, that's not true: Clinton suggested in a podcast that the Trump campaign... [Read the full story]- by: Alan Duke
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Fake News: Donald Trump Did NOT Say US and Italy Have Been Allies Since Ancient Rome, Did NOT Call Italian President "Mozzarella"
Did President Donald Trump call Italian President Mattarella "Mozzarella" during a press conference or public Oval Office meeting? And did he claim that the United States and Italy have been... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Former Atheist Brad Pitt Does NOT Become A Christian As He Recovers From Alcoholism
Did "former atheist" Brad Pitt "become a Christian" while recovering from alcoholism? No, that's not true: Pitt, who grew up as a Christian, told a GQ magazine interviewer in 2019... [Read the full story]- by: Alan Duke
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Fake News: Man's Penis Did NOT Explode After Attempting to Inflate It With Helium
Did an unnamed 34-year old man try to inflate his penis with helium for a prank and did he end up blowing up his penis? No, that's not true: the... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: NEW Starbucks CEO Did NOT Admit She Doesn't Like White Peope
Did "New Starbucks CEO" Rosalind Brewer admit she doesn't like white people? No, there are several things that are not true in that statement, the most obvious one being that... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Satanic Pentagram Was NOT On Democratic Debate Stage Ceiling
Was a satanic pentagram displayed on the ceiling above the stage of the Democratic presidential debate stage in Westerville, Ohio? No, that's not true: A purported photo showing the pentagram... [Read the full story]- by: Alan Duke
» Politics
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Fake News: Hillary Clinton Did NOT Claim Russians 'Grooming' Tulsi Gabbard As Third-Party Candidate
Did Hillary Clinton claim Russians are "grooming" Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as a third-party presidential candidate in 2020? No, that's not true: Clinton suggested in a podcast that the Trump campaign... [Read the full story]- by: Alan Duke
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Fake News: Donald Trump Did NOT Say US and Italy Have Been Allies Since Ancient Rome, Did NOT Call Italian President "Mozzarella"
Did President Donald Trump call Italian President Mattarella "Mozzarella" during a press conference or public Oval Office meeting? And did he claim that the United States and Italy have been... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Satanic Pentagram Was NOT On Democratic Debate Stage Ceiling
Was a satanic pentagram displayed on the ceiling above the stage of the Democratic presidential debate stage in Westerville, Ohio? No, that's not true: A purported photo showing the pentagram... [Read the full story]- by: Alan Duke
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Fake News: Donald Trump Did NOT Tweet: 'We Need A Civil War To Fight The Deep State Of Dems'
Did President Donald Trump tweet that "We need a civil war to fight the deep state of Dems"? No, that's not true: An image of the purported Trump tweet was... [Read the full story]- by: Alan Duke
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Fake News: Los Angeles County Does NOT Have The Same Population As All Of The Bottom 43 States
Does Los Angeles County have the same population as all of the bottom 43 American states? No, that's not true: The census bureau estimates there were 10,105,518 people living in... [Read the full story]- by: Alan Duke
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Fake News: No Greenpeace Banner On Vegas Trump Hotel Saying He Betrayed and Murdered The Kurdish People
Did Greenpeace unfurl a banner from the Trump hotel in Las Vegas saying Trump "betrayed and murdered the Kurdish people"? No, that's not true: the video has been digitally manipulated,... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
» Entertainment
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Fake News: Former Atheist Brad Pitt Does NOT Become A Christian As He Recovers From Alcoholism
Did "former atheist" Brad Pitt "become a Christian" while recovering from alcoholism? No, that's not true: Pitt, who grew up as a Christian, told a GQ magazine interviewer in 2019... [Read the full story]- by: Alan Duke
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Fake News: MacGyver Star Richard Dean Anderson NOT Dead at Age 67
Did actor Richard Dean Anderson, most famous for his role as MacGiver, pass away? No, that's not true: an old April Fool's joke posted to Medium in 2017 seems to... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Kevin Hart Did NOT Die A Day After Suffering 'Major Injuries' In Car Crash
Did actor and comedian Kevin Hart die a day after suffering major injuries in a car crash and was this news reported by Associated Press? No, that's not true: the... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Tom Cruise Did NOT Die Filming A Deadly Jet Fighter Dogfight Stunt For His New Movie TOP GUN 2
Did actor Tom Cruise die filming a deadly jet fighter dogfight stunt while filming Top Gun 2? No, that's not true: it is a hoax we found on a site... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Kevin Hart NOT Paralyzed After Car Accident, Did NOT Permanently Injure Vocal Cords
Was Kevin Hart in a car crash leaving him paralyzed and with permanent injuries to his vocal cords? No, that's not true: while the actor and comedian was involved in... [Read the full story]- by: Maarten Schenk
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Fake News: Clint Eastwood is NOT Dead
Did Clint Eastwood recently die? No, that is not true: It is a celebrity death hoax. The "Dirty Harry" actor is alive and well as of September 1, 2019, contrary... [Read the full story]- by: Alan Duke