Do real photos show Lionel Messi bathing baby Lamine Yamal in 2007? Yes, it's true: It has been nearly 19 years since members of the Barcelona soccer team posed with children for a charity fundraising calendar. The five-month-old baby paired with then-20-year-old Messi was Lamine Yamal, who would go on to become a star player for Barcelona and the Spain…
Does a crisp in-focus photograph help identify the two Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who were on the scene of a shooting in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13, 2026? No, that's not true: According to the content detection tool at Hive Moderation this image was AI-generated. Only some elements of the image align with details at the scene in the…
Are YouTube content creator Nick Shirley and Charlie Kirk shooting suspect Tyler Robinson cousins? No, that's not true: No verifiable evidence exists that the two men are related. Some people making the claim cited a response from the AI assistant Grok saying that Shirley's and Robinson's mothers are half-sisters, but another Grok response said the opposite. Shirley also denied the…
Did Donald Trump post a photo where he shows European leaders a map of North America with Canada, Greenland and Venezuela covered in the U.S. flag? Yes, that's true: Trump did post the image on his Truth Social account, but the image was doctored. It was originally taken in August 2025, and the map did not show Canada, Greenland and…
Does a viral image prove that Argentina-England referee Ismail Elfath "asked for a photo" with Argentina's captain Lionel Messi? No, that's not true: The photo was cropped to remove the captain of the opposing team, who was posing with Messi and the referees for a standard pre-match shot. The image was produced in 2022, before a different match played by…
Was a real Florida corrections officer named "Lena Hale" arrested for impregnating inmates? No, that's not true: No credible news organizations reported the story. Viral posts making the claim shared images showing a person supposedly having two different hair colors at the moment of booking. The alleged mugshot displayed signs that were consistent with the use of generative AI. The…
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…
Are the captions on a video of Norwegian soccer player Erling Haaland saying he will support Argentina over England in the World Cup accurate? No, that's not true: The captions on the video are fake, and Haaland never said he would support Argentina's Lionel Messi and his teammates over England in the 2026 World Cup semifinals. Video of his postgame…
Did the family of Marcus Williams sue a bank for $500,000 after he was electrocuted trying to rob an ATM in Houston? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that such an incident ever happened to anyone named Marcus Williams or anyone else in the United States. No news reports describe someone dying from an electrical shock while trying…
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…
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