Business

Do Canadian researchers propose to mass-vaccinate people with crop duster-style spraying of the populace, as a social media post implies? No, that's not true: The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) have paid researchers to develop a needle-free inhaler to inoculate people one at a time against the virus that causes COVID-19. The post that pushes the crop duster idea…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump post on Truth Social about "fat, ugly losers" criticizing the Sydney Sweeney American Eagle ad campaign? No, that's not true: The entry in question didn't appear on his profile or an archived version of it. A search of news archives yielded no entries that corroborated the purported remarks. The claim appeared in a post (archived…

Does an authentic video capture actress Sydney Sweeney breaking her silence about the controversy over her American Eagle "good jeans" ad? No, that's not true: The video contains a last-frame disclaimer that it is "Unreal." The video was first posted to an X account that routinely releases deepfake/AI-generated videos that show prominent people commenting on current events in shocking or…

Does a recently resurfaced old video show Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un refusing to drink after making a toast? No, that's not true: The original video from the 2019 North Korea-Russia summit shows the world leaders toasting each other and those beside them, and then both taking a sip of their drink. The edited version of this video appeared…

Did American Eagle apologize for the "combined impact" of Sydney Sweeney's "blue eyes, blonde hair, and general hotness" in the July 2025 ad campaign? No, that's not true: The company's official pages did not show such a statement. No credible media organization cited it as an authentic response to the social media debate about the campaign. The claim appeared in…

Did a Georgia man named Julian Brown invent the process for turning waste plastic into useful fuel? No, that's not true: Brown's Naturejab system harnesses solar-powered microwaves to heat a pyrolysis reactor. That is a well-understood chemical process in which heated plastics generate usable gas and oil that has been studied and refined worldwide for decades. The claim appeared in…

Is the viral video of Ozzy Osbourne saying "This was my final performance" an authentic recording of the late rocker? No, that's not true: It's an AI concoction. AI detection software found evidence that faces were manufactured for the video. The voice-over does not match statements issued by Osbourne, nor any fact-based reporting of his comments about his final concert…

Did Jerome Powell write a July 22, 2025, letter informing President Donald Trump of his resignation as Chairman of the Federal Reserve? No, that's not true: A widely-shared screenshot of such a letter was in fact a fake, most likely produced using AI. Powell had not resigned as of July 23. The fake letter appeared in a July 22, 2025,…

Was Caitlin Clark photographed at a 2025 WNBA All-Star event wearing a T-shirt that read "I Deserve NBA Money"? No, that's not true: The image is fake, posted to a self-described parody account. Authentic photos and video from a three-on-three competition showed Clark and other players all in identical players union protest T-shirts with the message: "Pay Us What You…

Did Megan Byron, the wife of a former Astronomer CEO, issue a "formal" statement saying that she "will not be engaging in performative forgiveness" and instead "retained counsel" and "reviewed holdings"? No, that's not true: The viral post of a statement attributed to her remains unverified. No credible media outlets reported that it was authentic. The claim appeared in a…

Did a statement by "Megan Kerrigan Byron" on Facebook declaring she "decided to leave" her husband because she "cannot tolerate sharing a bed with a man who has betrayed" her appear on the original account of the Astronomer CEO's wife on Facebook? No, that's not true: The page that published it was only created after the camera caught Andy Byron…

Does a viral video really show a Chinese electric helicopter you can buy for $300 and that can stay in the air for ten hours? No, that's not true: The video does not show a single-seat helicopter capable of flying at 120 kilometres per hour made by Xiaomi or "the world's cheapest helicopter". It shows an American-made helicopter from Florida…

Is Paige Bueckers 0-4 in collegiate and WNBA games that match her up against Caitlin Clark, as a social media post claims? No, that's not true: Bueckers and the University of Connecticut Huskies defeated Clark and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes 92-72 in the 2021 NCAA tournament. At the time the claim was posted, Clark and the Indiana Fever had…

Did X Engineering post that "bookmarks will be public for accounts that are not subscribed to X Premium" starting next week? No, that's not true: A falsified screenshot showed such a post made on July 10, 2025 but in reality it did not appear on the account. The faked screenshot originally appeared on a parody account on X. The faked…

Does a viral video really show body camera footage of a "crazy Karen" being arrested for keying a Tesla and shooting the driver's side three times with a handgun? No, that's not true: The "Axon bodycam" timestamp in the video is a fake that does not match the struck-through zeroes seen in real police video time stamps. The bullet holes…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump write on Truth Social that he regretted taking "advise" from tech billionaire Elon Musk, and affirm that there was no "white genocide" in South Africa? No, that's not true: A screenshot shared widely in July 2025 was digitally edited. An archive of the president's account on Truth Social showed that such a post never existed.…

Did President Donald Trump post the board of Tesla should approve a new compensation package for Elon Musk, "ASAP" and to get him "P-A-I-D"? No, that's not true: A viral image that showed such a post was fake. The Truth Social post was not found on Trump's account or on a site that archives all his posts. The bogus Trump…

Did Dunkin' Donuts' CEO announce in June 2025 that a woke ad campaign cost the company $1 billion, forcing it to backtrack? No, that's not true: The story is fiction and copies the idea, but not the words, of a September 2024 spoof produced by a Facebook page specializing in satirical news stories. No evidence-based news organization has published or…

Does a "Boeing Memorandum" shared on social media show a real "Stratoshade" trademark for a jet fuel additive to reduce solar radiation? No, that's not true: The image, purporting to be from the "Boeing Atmospheric Management Division" contains the name "Stratoshade" followed by a trademark symbol. However there is no such trademark in the United States Patent And Trademark Office…

Did President Trump announce in a video that the production of Tesla cars would be banned in the United States? No, that's not true:The audio in the viral video, in which Trump could also be heard calling Elon Musk a "snake", was generated using AI according to a detection tool. It originated on an Instagram account with "AI" in its…