Copypasta

Did police find human remains and evidence of cannibalism in TV producer Oprah Winfrey's Los Angeles, California, home that she purportedly sold in 2013? No, that's not true: This post reappeared on social media recently but it was copied from an older post. In the original post, the social media user who shared the news implied that it was shared…

Did Rep. Dan Crenshaw share a post on X that included inflammatory language boasting of "over 300 confirmed kills," as an image on the platform suggested? No, that's not true: The quote is known colloquially as the "Navy Seal Copypasta," a phrase used to mock aggressive rhetoric online. The supposed screenshot of Crenshaw's post shows signs of manipulation, including its…

Does posting a statement ensure that users of Meta services will not have their data used in Meta's artificial intelligence training? No, that's not true: Posting the viral statement, or any other statement, doesn't mean that Meta will not use that data for AI training, but users in Europe can object via a form in their account settings. The statement…

Was SpongeBob SquarePants based on the abusive childhood of a 9-year-old boy in the 1940s, as a video on TikTok suggested? No, that's not true: Stephen Hillenburg, the cartoon's creator, said in a 2015 interview that he was inspired by his marine science background to create the show and its characters. The show was primarily based on a comic book…

Did Facebook or its parent company Meta announce a plan to charge all of the platform's users $4.99 a month for access? Will copying and pasting a post about the change allow people to "opt out" or "bypass the system"? No, none of that is true: Neither Facebook nor Meta made such an announcement as of this writing. Different variations…

Is a recording sounding like President Joe Biden telling people to "own a musket for home defense" real? No, that's not true: Although the voice sounds like Biden, video clearly shows he's speaking different words than those heard in the recording. Also, the phrase -- "own a musket for home defense" -- is the start of a well-known copypasta, a…

Are unknown men stalking women in the discount retailer Marshalls in cities throughout the United States and Canada? No, that's not true: This claim is a copypasta, a chunk of text that is copied and pasted on social media about an event that is not happening in reality. Lead Stories spoke to the police department in Ruidoso, New Mexico, the…

Is there a national boycott of gasoline on April 15, 2022, to emulate a successful national protest from April 1997? No, that's not true: A post making that claim is a recycled post - "copypasta" that has circulated in various iterations online since at least 2004, with a new date slapped on it. Except for the date, wording in the…

Is it legal to have sex with a four-year-old anywhere and is there an effort to make it legal? No, that's not true: It is a false claim made by QAnon promoters who work to convince social media users that there is a global child trafficking operation involving "deep state" leaders. There is no basis in reality to the claim,…

Did Justin Bieber speak out about pedophilia and abuse in Hollywood? No, that's not true. A story that was first published in 2017 is going viral again, claiming Bieber dropped a bombshell claim that he quit his tour and took a break from the music industry because he was being encouraged to participate in a sick sexual act with a…