Did a caption accompanying a viral image correctly claim it showed FIFA President Gianni Infantino making a phone call after Egypt took a 2-0 lead over Argentina? No, that's not true: Infantino did not attend this World Cup game in Atlanta on July 7, 2026. Instead, he was at the Switzerland-Colombia match, held in Vancouver a few hours later on…
Does a real English-language France 24 video factually describe a Ukrainian bill about construction of a monument aimed at commemorating national heroes? No, that's not true: The head of France 24 English told Lead Stories that the French broadcaster never produced such a video. Contrary to the fake video on social media, the actual Ukrainian monument legislation is not centered…
Is an email from the Epstein files with a joke about Mitt Romney's wife and Barack Obama real? Yes, that's true: The email appears among the Epstein files on the Justice Department website. It was sent to Jeffrey Epstein by Emirati businessman and billionaire Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem in November 2012. The claim appeared in a post and image (archived…
Does an image posted by President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account as evidence of "retribution" against Iran show a U.S. bombing in July 2026? No, that's not true: The photo shows a previous attack on Iran by Israel that took place more than a year earlier, on June 15, 2025. Trump got the image from another social media…
Have you seen the viral videos showing mass protests in the streets of British cities? Lead Stories has spotted several such videos recently and found that many were created using artificial intelligence. These videos do not show real people or situations. Instead, they seek to exploit feelings of sympathy and patriotism by triggering emotions such as indignation and anger among…
Does a viral video show FIFA President Gianni Infantino reacting to Egypt's goal during a July 2026 World Cup game? No, that's not true: The video clip was miscaptioned. The video had been online days earlier, before that match, and showed footage from a different 2026 World Cup match. The claim appeared in a post (archived here and here) on…
Did a caption below a viral image correctly describe it as showing FIFA President Gianni Infantino looking anxious after Argentine forward Lionel Messi missed a penalty kick during a World Cup match against Egypt? No, that's not true: The image is a screenshot from the telecast of a different game. It was shared in other social media posts ahead of…
Does a viral video actually show Italian PM Giorgia Meloni saying that she will not allow the implementation of Sharia law in her country? No, that's not true: The content of the video was replaced using AI. Unlike in the viral clip, Meloni did not speak English in the real address and said nothing about Sharia law. The claim appeared…
Does a real "live" news broadcast show footage of a group of furries chasing a member of Patriot Front in downtown Washington D.C.? No, that's not true: The video originated from an account that declares in both its username and tagline that its content is AI-generated. Aside from the posted disclaimers, the video also contains several glitches typical of AI-generated…
Does a real photo show Mitch McConnell on life support? No, that's not true: There is no evidence the image depicts an actual moment involving the senior U.S. senator from Kentucky in a hospital. An online AI detection tool found a SynthID watermark, indicating the image was generated using OpenAI tools, and the image contains visual inconsistencies commonly associated with…
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