Does a real yearbook photo show an edgy punk teenage Pete Hegseth with black spiky hair and eyeliner? No, that's not true: The image is AI-generated and is not Pete Hegseth's yearbook photo. Forest Lake High School has an archive of past yearbooks and the real yearbook photos of Hegseth in his sophomore, junior, and senior year are different. The…
Have you seen viral images of an "activist" talking to a middle-aged farmer, paired with the caption claiming to describe their dialogue? Lead Stories has spotted a number of such pictures recently and has found that many of them were created using artificial intelligence. They do not show real people or situations. This article is part of a series of…
Does a real photo show Edinburgh Castle displaying Argentine flags ahead of the World Cup match against England on July 15, 2026? No, that's not true: The image appears to have been digitally edited. The Argentine flags were added to an older photo of the Scottish landmark. A reverse image search shows the original photo predates the 2026 World Cup…
Have you seen viral videos showing Sandra Bullock asking for personal information of followers? Lead Stories has spotted a number of such videos recently and has found that many of them were created using artificial intelligence. They do not show the real Sandra Bullock or real situations. They seek private or personal information in order to scam people. This article…
Do viral screenshots of a Wikipedia article about French soccer referee François Letexier confirm that he is Jewish? No, that's not true: The edits made after the 2026 Egypt-Argentina FIFA World Cup game didn't link to credible sources stating that. Lead Stories found no publicly available information suggesting that Letexier grew up in an "Orthodox Jewish family." The claim appeared…
Have you seen the viral videos showing mass protests in the streets of British cities? Lead Stories has spotted several such videos recently and found that many were created using artificial intelligence. These videos do not show real people or situations. Instead, they seek to exploit feelings of sympathy and patriotism by triggering emotions such as indignation and anger among…
Did Congressman Jack Kimble actually speak with his friend, Senator Mitch McConnell on July 7, 2026? No, that's not true: Congressman Jack Kimble does not exist. The rumor about the supposed conversation came from a page that has been known as a satire account for years. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X by @RepJackKimble on…
Have you come across viral videos showing people who appear to mock Native Americans selling Indigenous-style jackets? Lead Stories has identified several of these clips in recent weeks and determined that many were showing "Artificial Indians" (also known as "AI"). The people are not real Native Americans and the scenarios depicted in the videos were not real -- social media…
Have you come across viral videos showing how people mock influencers for wearing Christian-themed clothing? Lead Stories has identified several of these clips in recent weeks and determined that many were AI-generated. The people and scenarios depicted there were not real -- social media accounts posted this kind of content to play on religious sentiment, driving likes and shares as…
Have you seen viral videos showing large cruise ship disasters with the boats sinking dramatically into the water? Lead Stories has spotted a number of such videos recently and found that many of them were created using artificial intelligence. The videos have similar looking cruise ships sinking with various crowds watching as the ships go down. Some of these accounts…
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