Does a real video show officials at a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new asphalt road in Mukhosransk, Russia -- a road which was really just a fake roll-up prop? No, that's not true: This video is AI-generated. It is not just the asphalt road that's fake -- the whole scene is. Mukhosransk is not a real town in Russia,…
Is Britain banning VPNs next month? No, that's not true: The prime minister of the United Kingdom announced a proposed ban on major social media platforms for children under 16. Keir Starmer made the announcement at a public press conference and did not say the ban included VPNs. One politician said the legislation might regulate VPN use by age, but…
Does a video really show footage of the U.S. striking an Iranian fighter jet in "combat action" over the Strait of Hormuz? No, that's not true: The video was posted by a self-described parody account on social media. It also appears the footage shows Russian aircraft and was clipped from a video game. The claim was made in a post…
Does a video featuring a burning fuel tank rolling away after an explosion show an event in Iran in June 2026? No, that's not true: The footage shows an explosion at a gas station in Chechnya, a republic within the Russian Federation, in October 2024, not Iran. The clip also appeared on a social media account labeled as a parody.…
Does a viral video of fires capture the aftermath of the June 9, 2026, anti-immigration protests in Belfast, Northern Ireland? No, that's not true: The recording showed explosions that same day on a gas pipeline in Russia's Dagestan. The original sound did not include any chants -- that was later digitally added to the version of the video that went…
Did UN Women publish a report saying it confirmed "639 rapes and over 3,000 cases of sexual harassment in the Ukrainian Armed Forces"? No, that's not true: At the time of writing, there was no such report on the UN Women website, and the organization confirmed to Lead Stories it had never published such data. Posts with the claim reused…
Did Israeli-based news outlet Haaretz report that Zelenskyy's former associate Timur Mindich fled to Israel carrying "800kg of gold" on a private jet? No, that's not true: The claim shared in viral posts originated from a counterfeit website that mimicked Haaretz. No credible news organizations reported on "800kg of gold" supposedly carried by Mindich on board the plane bound for…
In a real social media post, did Donald Trump write about a Joe Biden visit to Moscow in 1987 and implicate him in various conspiracy theories? No, that's not true: The supposed post does not appear on the president's official Truth Social account, and there are no reliable reports that it ever did. Biden also never visited Moscow in 1987.…
Does a viral video of people washing their clothes in a fountain actually show "Indian visitors" seen at one of the major parks in Moscow, Russia? No, that's not true: The video was initially labeled as AI content. Lead Stories' manual analysis showed numerous inconsistencies strongly pointing to AI as well. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published…
Is a video showing a prisoner grabbing a female prison guard who is putting a dinner tray in their cell real? No, that's not true: The video shows clear signs of being AI-generated, and a detection tool confirmed this with 99.9% certainty. While the earliest versions of the video found online provided no sources or specific details about the alleged…
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