Does a video show a real incident where a tiger escaped its cage while a keeper was cleaning the hall with a hose? No, that's not true: This video is AI-generated. It was originally published on Instagram by an account that posts almost exclusively videos of close encounters between keepers and dangerous animals. The account does not disclose the videos…
Was a Georgia school bus driver sued by parents because their children suffered scrapes when he stopped abruptly after a rock hit the windshield, critically injuring him? No, that's not true: There is no reporting about a lawsuit or school bus incident in Georgia matching these details. The photo of "Marcus" appearing in the video is a stock photo that…
Does a real unmanipulated video show Robert F. Kennedy Jr. saying "conspiracy theorists were right" and the COVID-19 vaccine maybe causes "gayness" and calling Anthony Fauci a "goblin"? No, that's not true: The audio in the video has been altered. An un-altered original video of RFK Jr. originally making the speech shows that he never claims the vaccine causes those…
Does a video show a real incident where British kids trapped a police officer inside a chain of locked shopping trolleys? No, that's not true: This video is a skit and the people are actors. The video was originally published on Facebook by the Official Jarvo69 Page, which boasts they are the "Greatest Prankster on Earth." The video resurfaced in…
Does a photo show President Donald Trump sitting with the Easter Bunny in the Situation Room at the White House in April 2026? No, that's not true: The image is a digital fabrication that adds a person in a full-body bunny costume, seated in a chair, to an official White House photo and includes an AI watermark. The original version…
Does an Artemis II photo taken in April 2026 show the same cloud patterns as an Apollo 8 photo from 1968? No, that's not true: The "Artemis 2" image, dated April 6, 2026, is AI-generated and is based on the famous Apollo 8 photo known as "Earthrise." There are no official NASA photos from Artemis II that match the fake…
Did a microphone at a press briefing catch the audible sound of a fart from Pete Hegseth, the secretary of war? No, that's not true: The press briefing clip published by the Iranian Embassy in Kenya has been edited to include a fart sound effect. The original video published on Instagram on March 13, 2026, the day of the press…
Does a photo show a "captured" American in Iran wearing an authentic U.S. military uniform? No, that's not true: The image is AI-generated, and online detection tools indicate it is fake, including a SynthID watermark indicating it was created or edited using Google AI tools. There are no reliable reports of an American service member being taken captive by Iran.…
Does a video show a cyclist finding the Hidden Valley Ranch logo in real life? No, that's not true: While the clip of a man exploring a tranquil valley in Northern California is real, the logo derived from it is fake, and the landscape on Hidden Valley Ranch products does not match the valley in the video. Analysis also revealed…
We agree with some very prominent people. Here's our proposal... Fact Checking Day on April 2, 2026 marks almost a year since Lead Stories published our last fact check as part of Meta's Third-Party Fact Checking Partnership. Since that day we've published over 1500 fact checks on our U.S. website on topics ranging from fake Epstein Files emails mentioning Elon…
Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
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