Does this video show images of flooding in Berlin "right now"? No, that's not true: Lead Stories was able to identify most of these scenes and none show flooding in Berlin. While several clips showing flooding from the summer of 2023, much of the footage is from the 2021 European flash floods in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany as…
Did the National Football League (NFL) ban the performance of the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing," also known as the Black National Anthem, at any NFL-sponsored venue after the purported performance of the song by Beyonce Knowles-Carter in San Francisco? No, that's not true: When this claim was published, September 19, 2023, Beyonce was not performing at any NFL…
Did Phoenix become the "first U.S. city" to prohibit "meat, dairy, private cars" in September 2023 at the directive of the World Economic Forum? No, that's not true: Had it been a real ban, it would have been officially announced on the government website of Phoenix, which has no traces of it. The claim stems from a misleading interpretation of…
Did American swimmer Lia Thomas quit competitive swimming? No, that's not true: This claim is from a satirical website and has not been reported by legitimate news outlets. The website where this claim originated has a disclaimer that reads, "Everything on this website is fiction." The claim appeared in an article published by conservativetears.com on September 27, 2023, titled "Lia…
Did Dr. Peter McCullough, a cardiologist who has repeatedly made anti-COVID-19 vaccine statements, officially appear before the European Parliament and call for a "total recall" of COVID vaccines on September 13, 2023? No, that's not true: McCullough was reportedly at an event that was held in a parliamentary building but on a day when no official committee meetings were scheduled.…
Are cancers appearing in "ways never before seen" following vaccination for COVID-19? No, that's not true: There is no scientific evidence to suggest that COVID vaccines cause or lead to the development of cancer in unprecedented ways. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also stated, "There are no data that suggest that COVID-19 vaccines cause cancer, lead…
Did Ukraine issue a stamp with an "image of the Nazi" who was "given a standing ovation in the Canadian Parliament" to recognize Yaroslav Hunka as Ukraine's national hero? No, that's not true: The website of the Ukrainian national postal service does not contain any mentions of the supposed stamp. Furthermore, the image shared on social media contained a barcode…
Did the head coach of the New York Jets say he'll quit "on the spot" if the team signs Colin Kaepernick? No, that's not true: Lead Stories could not find any news coverage where the coach was quoted saying this. The Dunning-Kruger Times, where the claim originated, is a satirical website that has a history of creating content surrounding public…
Were the 2023 Maui wildfires started because the island holds 120 million tons of lithium? No, that's not true: A U.S. Geological Survey representative and an associate professor emeritus of geology both said there is no evidence that there is that much lithium in Maui or throughout the Hawaiian islands. Lithium is mainly found in Australia, South America and Nevada,…
Did U.S. Navy SEALs save missing Maui children imprisoned in padlocked cages in Honolulu Harbor? No, that's not true: This claim is from a website that regularly publishes fabricated content. If this claim were true, there would be significant news coverage to substantiate it -- and there has not been. The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw…
Did the Mayo Clinic website change in September 2023 to say hydroxychloroquine can be used to treat COVID-19 patients, after previously saying it was ineffective? No, that's not true: First, the Mayo Clinic's website was not "recently" updated to say that the drug, used to treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, can also be used for the treatment of COVID.…
Did President Joe Biden misspeak while addressing a picket line of striking United Auto Workers (UAW) in Michigan on September 26, 2023, saying that while he had marched in other UAW picket lines it was the "first time I've ever done it in person"? No, that's not true: Biden was misquoted in a social media post. He was speaking into…
Does a viral video prove that Ukraine now employs bulletproof vests specifically made for "pregnant women fighters"? No, that's not true: The post on social media misleads audiences about the new body armor's design -- it was made not for pregnant people, but for all female military personnel in order to take their anatomy into account. The caption on the…
Did the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirm a "143,233% increase in turbo-cancers due to mRNA jabs," including COVID-19 vaccines? No, that's not true: A CDC spokesperson confirmed to Lead Stories that "There is no evidence to date indicating that COVID-19 vaccines cause cancer of any sort (including so-called 'turbo cancers')." The article where this claim originated didn't…
Did Bill Clinton and Pope Francis call for "urgent depopulation" to save the planet? No, that's not true: The pope and former President Clinton had a public conversation in September 2023 during the Clinton Global Initiative 2023 meeting where they spoke about climate change but never discussed "urgent depopulation," according to the official transcripts of the event. The website that…
Did Senator Rand Paul show up to work at the U.S. Capitol barefoot wearing a red bathrobe as an apparent comment on a change to the Senate's dress code? No, that's not true: This is an AI-generated image. The poster of this on X admitted that this is a picture made by artificial intelligence. The X user who originally made…
Does a photo of barrels inside the fuselage of a plane show anything strange or is it legitimately unclear what they are for? Nope, these are just water ballast tanks that allow a test plane to be loaded with weight which can be distributed in specific areas. The photo seen on social media is actually a screengrab from a video…
Does data from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) briefing from September 2023 show that mRNA COVID vaccines "CAUSE 100,000-200,000 severe side effects" for every one million shots given to "teens"? Yes, that's the label on a data chart, but it's misleading wordplay that makes vaccine aches and pains sound scarier than they are. The Food and Drug…
Did China pass a law formally prohibiting the use of "all iPhones" in the country? No, that's not true: No credible sources reported about the purported piece of legislation; China's officials denied the existence of such a law, and then, as a new iPhone model became available in mid-September 2023, people in China still could order these Apple devices. The…
Did the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) report that Poles have started to rename their Wi-Fi networks to insult Ukrainian refugees in Poland? No, that's not true: Both DW and the Ukrainian government refuted the claim. A Lead Stories analysis indicates that the claim's list of supposed Wi-Fi networks may predate Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine that displaced…
