Did the United States send $45 million in freshly-printed cash to the Taliban in Afghanistan on a chartered flight on December 8, 2025? No, that's not true: The photo used to make the claim was published in 2023 in a report about United Nations cash shipments to Afghanistan as humanitarian aid. The UN -- not the US -- has sent…
Is a video claiming that "all of our food is 3D-printed" or contains bioengineered ingredients to be taken seriously? No, that's not true: A TikTok video sent out a confusing message conflating bioengineered food and 3D-printed foods. Both are real things but they don't mean the same thing. The TikTok creator who made the claims as she reviewed food products…
Was "Irish Christian teacher Enoch Burke" sentenced to life in prison for transphobia and "refusing to use a transgender student's pronouns"? No, that's not true: The sentencing judge explicitly stated that the decision is about the repeated contempt of court for repeatedly ignoring an order to not trespas on school property. The same judge said that Burke "does not have…
Did the U.S. Coast Guard report that drugs were found on just 21% of the suspected drug-trafficking vessels stopped by the U.S. Coast Guard in the 13 months before airstrikes, while the rest -- 79% -- did nothing wrong? No, that's not true: Social media posts making the 21% claim reversed the numbers shared by Sen. Rand Paul, who was…
Do viral posts about a confrontation between AOC and Donald Trump's son Barron, with the involvement of Louisiana Senator John Neely Kennedy, describe a real-life event? No, that's not true: Contrary to the claim, there is no video recording of an exchange that allegedly happened on the Senate floor. The posts appear to be part of foreign-operated networks that share…
Did a "new" viral video posted Nov. 18, 2025 show "In Germany, large crowds of Muslims walk directly through a Christmas market chanting 'There is no God but Allah , Allah Akbar'"? No, that's not true: No chants of "Allah Akbar" (God is Great) can be heard on the clip's audio. The video was not new, either, having been on…
Did President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy invest $500 million or $1.5 billion "of his own money" in "a ski resort in Western Ukraine"? No, that's not true: Social media posts misattribute publicly known investment amounts about such a project. Talking to Lead Stories, the project's developer denied not only Zelenskyy's participation but also the presence of any direct government funding.…
Did Paul McCartney, Steven Tyler, J.K. Rowling, and Mick Jagger say "I see the world being corrupted by Gayness"? No, that's not true: The quote about Paralympic sprinter Valentina Petrillo was made up and attached to those four celebrities in a series of click-bait of social media posts manufactured by a spam factory in Vietnam. AI tools and fake Facebook…
Does a viral video show Muslims protesting against a Christmas fair in Germany? No, that's not true: The video has circulated since October, 12, 2024, showing a demonstration in Hamburg, Germany, against Israel and in solidarity with Palestinians. The time stamp on the 2024 posts puts the march a full month before Germany's traditional Christmas markets begin, according to tour…
Did the mother of Christopher Todd Erick discover the body of her deceased son, plastinated and on display in a Real Bodies exhibit in Las Vegas? No, that's not true: The bodies on display in the exhibit originated in China. According to Imagine Exhibitions, owners of the Real Bodies exhibit, the specimen in question has been on continuous display in…
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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