Did New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani only put Iran's flag on New York subway trains? No, that's not true: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which serves New York City, Long Island, southeastern New York State, and Connecticut, decorated trains to represent each of the 48 countries competing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Each train features the colors of a competing…
Does a video show Japanese soccer fans "destroy stadium after defeat by Brazil"? No, that's not true: The video has been reversed -- when played forward it shows scenes of Japanese fans collecting litter after the match with the Netherlands. This footage predates the June 29, 2026, match with Brazil, and was already circulating online after the match with the…
Does the opening clip of a video with a screaming woman in a hot air balloon show footage from the accident in Brazil where an "entire family" was killed? No, that's not true: That clip shows Casey Cleaver during a different hot air balloon ride, not the accident in Brazil. The remaining footage in the video does show the real…
Does a real video show the hands of hundreds of people who were buried alive in Sudan? No, that's not true: The content detection tool at Hive Moderation determined the video was 81.6% likely to be AI-generated. A visual analysis by Lead Stories found that many of the hands pictured were malformed in a way characteristic of AI-generated content. An…
Does a photo show a man from Gaza buried in concrete by Israeli soldiers? No, that's not true: Social media posts using this same picture first claimed in May 2026 it was linked to a murder in Brazil by a criminal gang. Lead Stories found no credible news reports or other reliable evidence confirming that Israeli soldiers did this to…
Does a viral video really show fans filming Brazilian soccer star Neymar Jr. in the restroom? No, that's not true: Facial recognition software says it's a different person. The video features a lookalike who has spent nearly four years impersonating the soccer player. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published by @Nowfootball on X on May 20, 2026.…
Is a video that shows an elderly Michael Jackson sitting on a bus in Brazil legitimate? No, that's not true: The video was originally posted by an account with a bio that states it is an artificial intelligence portal. An AI-generated content detection tool rated the video 94.2% likely to be AI-generated. Jackson died in 2009 and Lead Stories obtained…
Does a viral video capture a real fight between Brazilian soccer players Neymar and Robinho Júnior? No, that's not true: The clip contained glitches typical of AI-generated content. Neymar was not part of that soccer club when the video's timestamp suggested the incident took place. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on May 5, 2026.…
Did comedians Stephen Colbert or Jon Stewart or actor Tom Hanks broadcast a television program to disclose the names of numerous people not previously known to be implicated by the files of investigations into Jeffrey Epstein? No, that's not true: Nearly identical stories mentioning those and others were published by a network of foreign websites and Facebook pages. There were…
Did the family of Epstein's late survivor Virginia Giuffre, Stephen Colbert or Elon Musk spend millions of dollars to file a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and other people? No, that's not true: A federal court database showed no such case filed by Giuffre's surviving brother, and credible media organizations did not publish any reports of such a…
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