Did an official study conclude that masks caused more COVID-19? No, that's not true: This is not an official study by a government or medical organization. It is a study written by an individual, Beny Spira, an associate professor of microbiology at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil. Also, the conclusions section of his report says, "no cause-effect conclusions…

Do Pfizer documents reveal vaccinated people will transfer their COVID-19 shots to the unvaccinated through inhalation and skin contact? No, that's not true: The claim is based on the standard clinical study protocol used for a wide range of medicines. There is no publicly available evidence the mRNA COVID vaccines cause vaccinated persons to cast off excess spike proteins. The…

Did the Irish Examiner publish a report about a sudden increase in heart problems among sports players due to referee whistles? No, that's not true: A spoof image was created using a fake story and the masthead of the Irish Examiner. This was circulated on social media via a screenshot -- but this article never appeared in the Irish Examiner.…

Did Russia go back to using a currency that operates on a gold standard? No, that's not true: Although Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced the abolition of the value-added tax (VAT) on precious metals in March 2022, this change is unrelated to whether the Russian ruble, Russia's currency, is based on the value of gold. The claim appeared in…

Did a former CIA agent confess on his deathbed that he infected reggae legend Bob Marley with cancer? No, that's not true: There is no record of a now-deceased CIA agent named Bill Oxley, beyond a story published in 2017 and later deleted by the publisher, who explained to Lead Stories it was unpublished in a purge of unreliable conspiracy…

Did Jim Carrey say that Hollywood elites eat whole babies for Christmas and that the more they suffer, the better they taste? No that's not true. This story originated on a website that was notorious for publishing questionable stories and has since rebranded. The 2017 story was erased from the websites, and the publisher has provided a retraction stating there…

Did Mel Gibson say that Hollywood is controlled by "parasites" who are involved in child sacrifice and pedophilia? No, there is nothing to substantiate the old claim that Gibson said it while on a promotional tour in 2017. The actor's spokesman told Lead Stories, "I can assure you that he never said such a thing ... he never stated that…

Did leaked IRS tax returns show George Soros wired $1.7 million to Antifa? No, that's not true: The Open Society Foundations, created by Soros, has made several large donations to The Center for Community Change, but that group is not affiliated with Antifa. The tax documents were not leaked since they are widely-available public records. The claim originated in a…

Did President Trump order the military prison at Guantanamo Bay to prepare for "high level" prisoners? No, that's not true: The original publisher of the story posted in 2018 determined it was an "unreliable conspiracy" theory and retracted it. In the two years after the claim was first made, there have no arrests of American politicians as was predicted. The…

Did Bill Gates admit in a CNN interview that vaccinations are intended to reduce the world's population? No, that's not true: The Microsoft founder was talking to CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta in 2013 about his investment in delivering child vaccinations to third world countries with the goal of saving lives. Gates said that reducing population growth is one of the…