Does a viral image of world leaders showing their middle fingers as an act of apparent disagreement with U.S. President Donald Trump show a real 2026 TIME Magazine cover? No, that's not true: The magazine's website did not contain such a cover. The image displayed shows signs strongly pointing to generative AI. The claim appeared in a post (archived here)…
Did Zohran Mamdani, Melania Trump, Sen. John Kennedy, Paul McCartney, or other prominent Americans go live with a 3 a.m. emergency monologue claiming they were under threat for secrets they were about to expose about President Donald Trump or former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden? No, that's not true: Nearly identical stories mentioning those and other names were published…
Does a viral image authentically show several European leaders like Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen sitting on chairs in a White House corridor? No, that's not true: The image did not appear on any news sites. It contained glitches and discrepancies typical of AI generated images and at least one detection tool found signs of deepfake content. One…
Does a social media video authentically show a flight attendant with a "ripped bloody shoulder" on the top platform of the airstair when French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife arrived at Hanoi International Airport on May 25, 2025? No, that's not true: Footage of that moment captured by credible news agencies showed a scarf or patch on her shoulder.…
Is the United States shutting down a Naval base in Alexandroupoli, Greece, as reported in February 2025? No, that's not true: A defense official told Lead Stories there is no "US base in Alexandroupolis." Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth denied the claim on February 24, 2025, saying at the White House, "It's a no," according to the White House press…
Does a video authentically show Vladimir Putin going "past world leaders to shake Trump's hand"? No, that's not true: The version of the clip that went viral in the days leading up to Trump's second inauguration in January 2025 was edited to remove several key frames documenting one of the 2018 events commemorating the end of World War I. Multiple…
Did Al Jazeera publish a video that reported the United Arab Emirates froze the purchase of 80 Rafale F4 fighter jets from France over the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, as posts on X claimed? No, that's not true: Al Jazeera told Lead Stories that's not their report, and that the video is "fake." Likewise, the French embassy in…
Is a photo showing French President Emmanuel Macron kissing a man authentic? No, that's not true: The photo in this post was digitally altered to change the original image and make it appear like Macron was intimate with another man. In public media accounts, the unedited image displayed Macron play-fighting with his bodyguard while on vacation -- not kissing him.…
Does a photo show tractors lined up to block boats of migrants from landing at the port of Dover in the U.K.? No, that's not true: The photo on social media shows a protest on January 26, 2024, at a French seaside resort where President Emmanuel Macron has a second home. The farmers driving the tractors were protesting against various…
Does a viral video show authentic footage of Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and France's Emmanuel Macron dancing before becoming president? No, that's not true: Heavily edited, it contained a substantial amount of deepfake shots. Other people's faces were digitally replaced with those of Zelenskyy and Macron. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on Instagram on June 29, 2024, under…
Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
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