Is there a child sex trafficking facility in Tucson, Arizona? No, that's not true: It's a new migrant facility, built to house people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border while federal agencies review their cases. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published on June 8, 2021. The post includes a photo and reads: this is a child sex trafficking…

Did makers of the COVID-19 vaccine "intentionally" add a component in order to force mRNA into body parts -- a process called magnetofection -- which made vaccinated people magnetized? No, that's not true: While magnetofection is a real thing, this developing nanotechnology was not used in the production of the vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. There is nothing in the…

Did Coca-Cola produce and disseminate soda cans with the slogan "Try to be less white" featured on the side? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the beverage company told Lead Stories that such cans were never made. The claim follows controversy from February 2021 over diversity training material available to Coca-Cola employees that included content encouraging them to be…

Does this photo show that ballots in Maricopa County, Arizona, have watermarks? No, that's not true: The photo was first posted by Vernon Jones, a former state representative in Georgia who is running for governor in that state. His post says the photo shows ballots that Arizona officials are considering for use in future elections. The claim appeared in an…

Does a draft research paper refute the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ban on using hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, and does it prove the anti-malarial is a life-saving drug for COVID-19 patients? No, that's not yet true: The website where the "preprint" paper was released cautions that this early in the process, research reports may still contain errors and put…

Does a list of indictments, arrests and executions reveal a number of politicians, celebrities and royals who have been executed including Barack and Michelle Obama? No, that's not true. This list is completely false. It is part of the baseless and debunked QAnon conspiracy theory: that Donald Trump is fighting a secret international cabal of child sex predators made up…

Were 174 batches of ballots missing in the Fulton County, Georgia, vote count? No, that's not true: A spokeswoman for the county said no ballots were missing. A clip making the claim did not provide any sourcing to support it. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published by "Populist Press" on June 7, 2021. Titled "'Explosive' Evidence Coming…

Did Joe Biden incorrectly refer to bullets as "clips" during a 2019 campaign rally in New Hampshire? Yes -- but he immediately corrected himself. A post that cites Biden's partial remarks at a November 8, 2019, rally is missing context: although Biden did say in the speech that guns should not have "100 clips," he immediately corrected himself and said…

Were Dr. Anthony Fauci's emails leaked to the public? No, that's not true: Several media outlets, including The Washington Post, CNN and BuzzFeed News, filed Freedom of Information Act requests to access copies of Fauci's office emails. As Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, courts have held that, barring certain exemptions, public official…

Did a Starbucks in downtown Denver post a sign in their window that told customers it was closed to "educate white people about their racism"? No, that's not true: That sign is a doctored image that mocks racial bias training Starbucks hosted on May 29, 2018. The training was the company's response to backlash after a store manager at a…

Does the movie "Absolutely 9-0" released by Mike Lindell contain credible evidence of a Chinese cyberattack against the U.S. election? No, that's not true: he reuses the same debunked data he already showed in his previous movies "Absolute Proof" and "Absolute Interference," and it is unlikely this will sway the Supreme Court, even if he somehow manages to get a…

Was former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta executed at the U.S. government's prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? No, that's not true: The claim is "false," the Department of Defense told Lead Stories. The claim was published without on-the-record attribution to knowledgeable sources or any other evidence, and without specific disclaimers saying whether the article is fiction, parody…

Did Facebook and Instagram reinstate former President Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts on June 2, 2021? No, that's not true: There was no change in the status of Trump's social media accounts, Facebook spokesman Andy Stone said in a tweet on June 2, 2021. Trump's ability to post new content was suspended by Facebook in the wake of the…

Did President Joe Biden jail Dr. Anthony Fauci for his "dirty" money to China? No, that's not true: The claim is made in the headline of a video that says nothing about the president jailing the nation's top infectious disease expert. There is no other public evidence supporting the allegation. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published…

Does Dr. Anthony Fauci's private email on masks, dated February 2020, conflict with what he was saying publicly around that time? No, that's not true: His email was consistent with the guidance given then. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, recommendations on masks have evolved as the science on the virus becomes more clear and the situation changes. Health…

Did Joe Biden and Kamala Harris make zero mention of the military who lost their lives and of their family members over the Memorial Day holiday weekend? No, that's not true: The president and vice president both attended a wreath laying service at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day where he spoke about the sacrifices made by military members and…

Could Joe Biden be legally ousted from the White House and Donald Trump returned to the presidency before the next election if fraud were found to have put Biden there? No, that's not true: A sitting U.S. president can only be removed through impeachment under Section 4 of Article Two of the U.S. Constitution, death or a declaration of disability…

Do people not need a COVID-19 vaccine because the immune systems of 99% of people who came down with it fought it off without one? No, that's missing context: A 1% fatality rate is not low for an infectious disease, public health experts point out, especially if the disease is as transmissible as COVID. In addition, some groups of people…

Does a video promising to blow the lid off COVID-19 vaccines present only true and verified statements? No, that's not true: It makes claims about vaccine-related deaths that are not proven. The video also questions why pregnant women and people who have recovered from COVID-19 would get the vaccine, ignoring what most medical experts say about those groups. Finally, it…

Did Dominion Voting Systems lose its lawsuits against Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell? No, that's not true: At the time of writing, court records show that both defamation cases remain open. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published on May 30, 2021. The post read: ABSENT from the News Dominion LOST their law suits against Rudy Giuliani…