&Quot;Child Porn&Quot;

On June 3, 2025 I was invited to make a statement during a public hearing at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium organized by the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield. The hearing was titled "Enforcement of the EU Digital Rulebook and political advertising in the context of foreign interference: understanding Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) and disinformation…

Did Germany decriminalize the possession of child pornography in 2024? No, that's not true: Possession of child pornography in Germany remains a crime as of this publication. However, in some cases, German lawmakers in May 2024 reduced the minimum jail sentences for possessing, distributing or acquiring such material, while the maximum sentences remained the same. The claim appeared in a…

Did President Joe Biden unilaterally release a Chinese spy convicted of possessing child pornography? No, that's not true: A White House spokesperson told Lead Stories a Chinese doctoral student sentenced to 8 years in federal prison in 2022 was granted clemency and deported on November 22, 2024, as part of a prisoner swap between the United States and China. Three…

Does a New York Post headline claim that James Gordon Meek, a former investigative journalist for ABC who pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in September 2023, also "debunked" the "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory? No, that's not true: Such a headline never appeared in the New York Post. Additionally, there's no evidence that Meek ever wrote a story about Pizzagate. The…

Has a journalist who debunked the "pizzagate" conspiracy theory also been charged with child pornography? No, that's not true: the allegation was based on a faked screenshot of a non-existent New York Post headline. While former ABC investigative reporter James Gordon Meek was sentenced in September 2023 for possessing child sexual abuse material, he is not one of the journalists…

Was a website that posted photos from Hunter Biden's laptop shut down for distributing child porn? No, that's not true: The social media account that originated the claim routinely posts satire. The tweet that began the claim was deleted from the account and a reply to the tweet read, "Folks, this is satire." The claim appeared as a post (archived…

Did NASA announce the discovery of a massive unidentified flying object (UFO) spotted between the Earth and the sun and did this result in the closure of six solar observatories to hide something from the public? No, that's not true: This UFO clickbait narrative has been circulating online since at least September 13, 2018, and has continued to evolve with…

Was former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal arrested for possessing child pornography? No, that's not true: The article is from a satirical website and is completely made up. It was originally published without a satire label but has been updated to note that it is an "obvious satire article." The claim appeared in an article published by Vancouver Times on December…

Does the misspelled, separated name of fashion house Balenciaga as "Baal enci aga" translate to "Baal is the king" in Latin? No, that's not true: The claim arises from bugs in Google Translate. In Latin, "Baal is the king" would be "Baal est rex". In Latin, "enci" is not a word and "aga" is the root of several words but…

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…