&Quot;German Politician&Quot;

Was German politician Björn Höcke fined in May 2024 for simply using a patriotic phrase in a speech three years earlier? No, that's not true: His conviction and fine were related to a phrase deemed to violate German laws regarding Nazi propaganda and slogans. The German Criminal Code is particularly strict about language that could be interpreted as promoting Nazi…

Was German politician Marie-Thérèse Kaiser convicted and fined in May 2024 solely for sharing statistics regarding sexual assaults committed by Afghan immigrants? No, that's not true: Kaiser was found guilty of "incitement to hatred" under the German Criminal Code, not merely posting government figures. The law stipulates that individuals who incite hatred against specific groups based on nationality, race, religion…

Does a social media post accurately summarize the events portrayed in an episode of "The Simpsons" -- that a solar superstorm struck Springfield, causing an electromagnetic pulse that led to a complete shutdown of the town and internet access? No, that's not true: The 2013 Simpsons episode mentioned in the social media post -- Episode Nine of Season 24 --…

Does a social media video show a European Parliament member sniffing cocaine during a public meeting? No, that's not true: The man seen in this video is a former German politician who was never a European Parliament member. Also, he is legally using dry snuff tobacco -- not cocaine. The claim originated in a post on Twitter (archived here) on…

Did German politician Friedrich Merz issue a warning that something would occur on September 24, 2022, which would be remembered into the future and not be forgotten by any person? No, that's not true: On February 27, 2022, just days after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Merz spoke of the first pictures seen, and first thoughts in…

On November 10, 2021, Lead Stories published a fact check about an article published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on November 2, 2021. In response, the BMJ published an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg on December 17, 2021, calling our fact check "inaccurate, incompetent and irresponsible." We addressed their concerns in a December 18, 2021, article, going over their…

Does a new study from Germany show that a higher COVID-19 vaccination rate results in higher death rates? No, that's not true: A German politician had presented a paper in a state parliamentary debate on November 17, 2021, that allegedly found that German states with a higher vaccination rate showed a higher excess mortality during six weeks between September and…