China

Does a viral video really show a Chinese electric helicopter you can buy for $300 and that can stay in the air for ten hours? No, that's not true: The video does not show a single-seat helicopter capable of flying at 120 kilometres per hour made by Xiaomi or "the world's cheapest helicopter". It shows an American-made helicopter from Florida…

Does a viral video show an attack, fire or explosion in Tel Aviv, Israel? No, that's not true: The video actually shows a fire in a parking lot for motorcycles in Chongqing, China. Several social media posts falsely claimed the footage showed the result of an Iranian attack on Israel. An example of such a false attribution can be seen…

Did cadets' concerns about upholding their Honor Code cause Donald Trump to leave West Point graduation on May 24, 2025 without shaking the hand of every graduate, as a viral social media post claimed? No, that's not true: The post, reshared 39,000 times on Facebook in less than a day, was satire, author Robert Hawks said after fact checkers looked…

Did the Pentagon in May of 2025 approve acquisition of a "Qatari-built jet" to be the next Air Force One? No, that's not true: There is no aircraft manufacturing industry in Qatar that could make a jet of that size. The Pentagon on May 21, 2025 announced it had approved President Trump's plan to accept a Boeing 747 as a…

Did Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. testify before Congress that "China is putting gay chemicals in the vapes, coupled with fruity pina colada flavoring agents"? No, that's not true: The video uses generative AI to imitate Kennedy's voice and mouth movements, but it ends with a screen of text that says it is a deepfake. The account on which the video…

Does a video show China air-dropping humanitarian aid into Gaza in May 2025? No, that's not true: The video is from March 2024, when U.S. military planes dropped food and supplies onto a beach in Beit Lahiya, Gaza. Other videos posted at the time show the same scene, and news reports documented the event. There is no evidence that China…

Does a video show Chinese fighter jets escorting a Chinese cargo plane over Egypt's Giza pyramids en route to an air-drop of food and supplies to Gaza? No, that's not true: The video shows a May 4, 2025 joint training drill between China and Egypt's military called "Eagles of Civilization 2025," according to an official statement on China's military website.…

Did CNN broadcast a graphic touting Pakistan's supposed military success against India, including a caption that read "Pakistan Strikes India's Air Defense"? No, that's not true: A CNN spokesperson told Lead Stories it was a "fabricated image". India has denied Pakistan's claims of having inflicted significant damage on their S-400 air defense system. The fake CNN graphic was presented as…

Did a widely-shared video authentically show President Donald Trump speaking in praise of Pakistan's Air Force, and claiming India had "humiliated itself", in the context of May 2025 clashes between the two countries? No, that's not true: The video contained fake audio of Trump's voice making remarks he never did, in reality. The fake voice and conspicuously fake mouth movements…

Does a viral video show an explosion that is possibly a tactical nuclear weapon being used in the 2025 conflict between India and Pakistan? No, that's not true: The footage showing a huge explosion almost engulfing two tall buildings and a construction crane at night was originally filmed in China in 2015. It showed an industrial accident in Tianjin, China.…