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Did Ohio Democrat Amy Acton spread a fake video of Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy advocating year-round school, as social media posts claim? No, that's not true: Four days into the controversy over year-round school, the Ramaswamy campaign had not publicly stated the video was fake and declined to answer questions from Lead Stories. The Columbus Dispatch quoted an un-named…

Does a video show the final verdict being handed down in the trial of Decarlos Brown for the killing of Iryna Zarutska, who was fatally stabbed while riding a train in Charlotte, North Carolina? No, that's not true: This video montage was originally posted on Instagram with a caption suggesting that it was a hypothetical outcome, "This an idea of…

Did Disney World announce it is closing permanently at the end of 2025? No, that's not true: The rumor originated from a satire website. As of this writing, no credible news outlet has reported that Disney World is scheduled to shut down for good. The claim appeared in a reel (archived here) published on Facebook on November 21, 2025. The…

Is Iwona B. Horyn the real name of the acting chief security officer at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security? Yes, that's true: Some social media users have questioned if this was a joke, but Horyn's name is listed on several pages of the DHS official website. There is a LinkedIn profile with the same information and photograph used in…

Did Elon Musk acquire Donald Trump's Truth Social for $10 billion in November 2025? No, that's not true: A message purporting to be from Donald Trump's Truth Social account was fake. The person who posted a fake screenshot of the fake message wrote that they did so to entertain themselves. There are no news reports of Musk buying Truth Social…

Does a viral video of Israeli soldiers setting an American flag on fire show a real-life event? No, that's not true: The clip was likely created using AI, probably Sora, whose watermark appeared to have been covered by an emoji of a skull. The flag ends up undamaged despite being set alight, the type of glitch that is characteristic of…

Did a FedEx delivery driver comfort an eight-year-old boy wearing Spiderman pajamas while they waited for police to arrive because the boy's parents were involved in a domestic disturbance? No, that's not true: The video was likely AI-generated. It was posted by a page which publishes similarly fictional engagement bait tales. The video was published as a reel (archived here)…

Does a video show the real story of a man who helped a mother wolf get veterinary help after she was shot with an arrow, and who cared for her wolf puppies while she recovered? No, that's not true: This video is AI-generated. It originated from a TikTok channel which has published over ten different AI-generated videos featuring a man…

Did Netflix announce it is releasing a documentary about the life of former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg titled "Pete: A Spectacular Life"? No, that's not true: Neither the company nor media organizations said anything about that. The website that spread the claim appeared to be connected to an overseas network that capitalizes on people's engagement provoked by fake…

Did Pete Buttigieg stand at the podium at a public town hall meeting with Joe Biden joining by live feed, and announce he's running for President in 2028? No, that's not true: At the time the rumor was posted, no news outlets had carried the story of such an announcement by the former Secretary of Transportation. There were no news…