Is Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, the American wife of Britain's Prince Harry, "a clone or robot"? No, that's not true: The videos repeating this claim borrowed footage from the 2018 Madam Tussaud's live figures events, when actors put on latex masks to impersonate the real couple. The claim about the former Meghan Markle resurfaced in a TikTok video (archived here)…

Does an advertisement on Facebook lead viewers to a cannabidiol (CBD) product that can cure diabetes? No, that's not true: The link attached to this post displays a misleading advertisement. There is no "cure" for diabetes at the time of writing. This isn't the first time Lead Stories has debunked a post claiming to cure diabetes or misleadingly linking to…

Did Americans keep "100%" of their earnings up until 1913? Not exactly: While the 16th Amendment, which taxed individual income, was ratified in 1913, some higher-earning Americans paid income taxes between 1862 and 1872 to pay off the cost of the Civil War to the U.S. government. A tax expert with whom Lead Stories spoke listed additional pre-1913 taxes that…

Did Reuters publish a tweet claiming that Germany has invoked NATO's collective defense provision since the United States attacked the Nord Stream pipeline? No, that's not true: This tweet was not published by Reuters news agency, but by a satirical parody account. Although the account is clearly marked "(Satire)," it uses the real Reuters logo. Some users don't notice the…

Do any of the COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the United States contain graphene oxide? No, that's not true: Graphene oxide is not listed as an ingredient in any of the four COVID-19 vaccines available in the U.S. There is no publicly available credible evidence demonstrating graphene oxide is in any of the vaccines. The claim that graphene oxide…

Are four Range Rovers being given away because they "cannot be sold due to minor scratches"? No, that's not true: There is not a giveaway in North America for Range Rovers that have scratches, the company confirmed to Lead Stories. The false claim of slightly damaged Range Rovers being given away for free has been circulating on the internet for…

Did President Joe Biden order the replacement of the U.S. dollar with a trackable spyware version of digital money that will give the government control over the bank accounts of all Americans? No, that's not true: None of that language appears anywhere in the order, a spokesman for the U.S. Treasury told Lead Stories. Biden did sign a March 2022…

Did Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner pocket $640 million in jobs as advisers to former President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: Both Trump and Kushner worked at the White House on a pro bono (unpaid) basis, although they earned millions from business interests outside government. The claim appeared in a Facebook post on August 12, 2022. It…

Are nefarious actors based in China manufacturing fake eggs made of plastic and selling them for human consumption? No, that's not true. The absence of corroborating reports on what would be a noteworthy event in the history of food raises doubts about the claim. Experts Lead Stories spoke with said that, as of this writing, they were unaware that any…

Did the U.S. Postal Service allow babies and young children to be stamped and sent through the mail until 1913? No, that's not true: Although there are reports of some children being transported by mail carriers in the early 1900s, the practice was never legal. The claim appeared in a September 27, 2022 Instagram post with the title "Until 1913,…

Does the U.S. government own or co-own Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, giving it an "ulterior motive" for mandating the shots? No, that's not true: There is no evidence to support this claim. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which collaborated with Moderna on the shot, told Lead Stories in a September 28, 2022 email that it "neither owns…

Is the U.S. blood supply contaminated by donors who have had the COVID-19 vaccine? No, that's not true: There is no scientific evidence that the vaccine enters the bloodstream and Lead Stories spoke to experts who refuted the claim. The claim appeared in an Instagram post on September 23, 2022. It opened: YOU TELL LIES This is what the post…

Did Russian airlines ban men between 18 and 65 years old from buying tickets to other countries in response to the "mobilization" announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 21, 2022? No, that's not true: Despite rumors on social media, there was no such ban at the time of writing. However, high prices, a limited number of available destinations…

Did the U.S. military convict and execute Brian Stelter, a former CNN host, on September 20, 2022? No, that's not true: These claims were posted on a satirical website. Lead Stories had already debunked the site's prior claim that Stelter was arrested by the U.S. military on August 30, 2022, which renders this claim even more impossible. Further, the Posse…

Did CNN or Fox News report about "Two nurses fired after being caught at work"? No, that's not true: CNN or Fox News never published a story with this headline. This post is designed to introduce the name of a website to an audience on social media. Similar tactics have been used to advertise other dating and hook-up sites since…

Does the airline industry give passengers incorrect information about bracing themselves for a crash because the financial cost to airlines is $40 million lower for passenger deaths than it is when passengers survive? No, that's not true. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has conducted extended research on the brace position and found it increases the chance of survival, and that…

Has the call-and-response game "Marco, Polo" proven to be a tactic to initiate sex trafficking in stores? No, that's not true: Spokespeople from human trafficking advocacy and awareness organizations told us that there are no confirmed reports of such a scheme being used for human trafficking. The claim, which may have stemmed from a viral TikTok video published on August…

Did the Swiss government call on its citizens to turn in their neighbors to the authorities if people heat their homes above 19 degrees Celsius (66.2 degrees Fahrenheit)? No, that's not true: A claim on social media originated from a tabloid article that misled its readers about the extent of possible energy-saving measures in case of gas shortages. As of…

Did then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld report that $2.3 trillion was missing the day before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks? No, that's not true: Rumsfeld gave a speech on September 10, 2001 about the bureaucratic red tape in the U.S. government and his plans to update processes. He remarked that it was difficult to track financial transactions within…

Did a landlord of a supercharging station in Beaver, Utah, cover the superchargers in brown bags in July 2022 after electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc. did not pay rent? No, that's not true: The supercharging stations in Beaver, Utah, are open as of this writing and this video is "old and untrue," according to a manager at the Chevron…