Did California Gov. Gavin Newsom criticize Nick Shirley, or did Sen. John Neely Kennedy criticize Adam Schiff, saying "Lock him up for lying to Congress, abusing power, and betraying the public trust!"? No, that's not true: Nearly identical stories mentioning those and other names were published by a network of foreign websites and Facebook pages. A search of Google News…
Does a video of an ICE agent taking a U.S. citizen off a plane in Texas show a real incident? No, that's not true: The video was a scripted skit performed by actors, showing a person wearing a face covering and flashing a badge before removing a man from a plane. The TikTok account where it was originally posted features…
Does a real video show Iranian missiles destroying a U.S. Navy warship in the Strait of Hormuz? No, that's not true: There are no credible news reports of such an attack, and the clip appears to be from a military simulation video game known for its realistic graphics. There is no evidence that Iranian missiles hit an American military vessel…
Did Lufthansa offer free business class upgrades to people in Israel to apologize for the Holocaust? No, that's not true: The company publicly denied it. Two online AI detectors said the image purportedly providing the proof was likely to have been generated by AI. The claim originated from a post (archived here) published by the @0xRacist X account on March…
Did President Donald Trump announce that everyone born before 2000 would get all their debt erased? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that he made such an announcement or is considering a similar plan, and no official statements, proposals, or policy platforms support this claim. There has also been no credible policy discussion from administration sources about forgiving…
Is the viral selfie of the seven dogs walking home together in China a real photo? No, that's not true: The picture was likely generated by AI. AI detection results from two tools pointed to AI generation, as did a key detail in the image itself: dogs appearing to take a selfie -- something real dogs cannot do. The claim…
Does a video montage show real scenes of courtroom verdicts and repossessions related to Somali daycare fraud in Minnesota? No, that's not true: These videos are AI-generated ragebait. They are not real videos of courtroom verdicts or repossessions. The videos originated as stand-alone shorts published by one YouTube channel, and were republished as a montage on X with a "Made…
Does an actual Truth Social post by President Donald Trump threaten to use weapons of mass destruction against Iran? No, that's not true: Even though a viral image claims to show one, there is no such post on his Truth Social account. There are also no news reports of such a threat coming from the White House, which, if it…
Is the story of a man with "eleven properties in the metaverse" (including a "beachfront villa in Horizon Worlds") whose net worth peaked at $1.2 million real? No, that's not true: It appeared on the X account of content creator and security researcher Peter Girnus. His account features several other satirical tall tales about being a leader or executive of…
Does a video show President Donald Trump patting a Secret Service agent on her backside? No, that's not true: The video appears to show a version of the White House Oval Office that does not match the real one, with visual details that differ from the actual room. There is also no evidence that the incident occurred or that the…
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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