Health

Is a viral video showing President Donald Trump falling asleep during a press event at the White House real and did he actually hit his head on his desk? No, that's not true: The video and screenshots of it shared by social media users originated from a self-described meme account. The clip was digitally altered, likely using AI. The claim…

Did Colonel Richard Whitmore give his wheelchair-bound daughter Eleanor to Josiah Freeman, a 7-foot-tall enslaved man, after she was deemed unmarriageable? No, that's not true: This story is not based on true historical events, but is a fictional romance, illustrated with AI-generated images and details that may seem like real documentation. The earliest mention of a story involving people by…

Is a paper by Dr. Drew Pinsky, Dr. Peter McCullough, Dr. Harvey Risch, and nine others claiming that ivermectin and mebendazole improve cancer outcomes in 84.4% of cases a proper medical study? No, that's not true: Research experts told Lead Stories that the paper relies on an uncontrolled, self-reported survey with major bias, no independent verification of diagnoses or outcomes,…

Did dozens of celebrities suddenly all post a "positive update" on Facebook after a recent medical procedure or treatment? No, that's not true: The posts, often accompanied by images of the celebrity in question and a quote about "pushing through" a "few health challenges" or asking to "spare a prayer" were mass produced by a network of Facebook pages and…

Was a video about "Malcom tongue condoms" a real ad for a real product? No, that's not true: As of this writing, there was no such product available in the U.S. The clip, first uploaded by a digital creator, was generated by AI. The claim appeared in a post (archived here and here) published on March 17, 2026. It opened:…

Is a video that shows a "woman who identifies as a dog" being attacked by a dog real? No, that's not true: An online AI video detection tool determined that the clip is 97.3 percent likely to be AI generated. There are several telltale signs of AI in the video. The claim appeared in a March 17, 2026, video posted…

Does a mid-twentieth-century photograph capture the consequences of a transorbital lobotomy performed on a man named "James Peterson" for being gay in 1948? No, that's not true: The image is not a photograph -- it's an image generated by the AI tool Grok, as a barely visible watermark in the bottom right corner indicated. The content of the picture contradicts…

Was Decarlos Brown Jr., accused of killing Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, a foreign national who "came in through open borders," as Donald Trump said during the State of the Union address? No, that is not true: Brown was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and graduated from West Mecklenburg High School. Because he was born in the United States, he is…

Did California pay the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) more than $100 million mainly to fund protests as a viral social media post said? No, that's not true: California's payments to CHIRLA were overwhelmingly tied to immigration legal services and social welfare programs. There is no evidence in state budget records that any funds were used to pay or…

Did Rowan Atkinson, Barbra Streisand, Jon Bon Jovi and Stevie Nicks, and other celebrities all give the same speech to Mark Zuckerberg and a roomful of the rich and powerful on Dec. 20, 2025, saying "you are not creating change -- you are creating noise"? No, that's not true: Nearly identical stories mentioning those and other names were published by…