Fact Check

Did Elon Musk offer to pay 100 homeowners to test the "newest technology of solar panels"? No, that's not true: This offer that's too good to be true is a ruse to collect personal information and is not associated with Musk or Tesla in any way. Schemes such as this, involving false solar panel installation promotions in order to generate…

Did Polish media "accidentally" catch on camera Volodymyr Zelenskyy's lookalike as he followed the Ukrainian leader during President Joe Biden's February 20, 2023, visit to Kyiv? No, that's not true: The person seen following the Ukrainian president is his bodyguard Maksym Donets, who has been photographed and filmed many times in public settings with the president. Social media posts shared…

Was human meat discovered in a McDonald's meat factory in Oklahoma City? No, that's not true: The video in this post was taken from a now-defunct satirical website and has been around since at least 2014. The claim resurfaced in a post on TikTok (archived here) on February 27, 2023. The 4-minute-plus video opened: OKLAHOMA CITY First Horse Meat, then…

Do Medicare data show that COVID-19 vaccines increase your risk of dying? No, that's not true: "There is no credible scientific evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are causing excess deaths," or deaths that wouldn't have otherwise happened, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) wrote in a March 2, 2023, email. Such deaths are calculated by subtracting the expected number…

Does a draft of a World Health Organization (WHO) pandemic treaty supplant U.S. sovereignty, giving the international organization the authority to dictate American policies? No, that's not true: Nothing in the draft states the U.S. will lose its sovereignty. In fact, the draft says the opposite by "[r]eaffirming the principle of sovereignty of States Parties in addressing public health matters,…

Is there proof that a Harvard Medical student discovered a "secret mineral" that can help someone lose "52 lbs in 28 Days"? No, that's not true: There is no scientific evidence for this claim in an online article. The images in the article purporting to show Harvard Medical student "Emily Senstrom," who supposedly discovered the secret mineral, are actually photos…

Was a homeless couple found living in a Walmart's attic with a hot plate, meth lab and 42-inch TV? No, that's not true: This story has been ripped from a fake news website called Now8News and reposted to another fake news website. No other news websites have reported on this event. The claim appeared in an article (archived here) published…

Can fentanyl be lethal during brief contact with the skin? No, that's not true: While this drug can alleviate pain in cancer and post-surgery patients in hospital settings via skin patches, this type of absorption is an extremely slow process requiring certain conditions, including moisture. Authoritative professional medical organizations and law enforcement have issued multiple statements over the years saying…

Will a 90-day diet of "herbs, water and juice" eliminate diabetes and impotence? No, that's not true: The assertion, made by "Dr. Sebi," a self-proclaimed healer and non-doctor whose health claims have been repeatedly debunked, is not backed by any credible evidence at the time of writing. The claim appeared in a reel posted to Facebook on February 12, 2023.…

Was John Podesta, a career politician and high-ranking operative of the Democratic Party serving as President Joe Biden's senior clean energy adviser, caught on camera dancing while naked? No, that's not true: In 2023, a tweet recycled previously debunked accusations associated with the QAnon conspiracy movement. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) published on March 1, 2023: Here's…

Did a pilot capture a photo of a complete full-circle rainbow while flying 30,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean? No, that's not true: This image is not a real photograph -- it's a fabricated image. Several key features present in real rainbows are missing from this image. Lloyd J. Ferraro, the pilot who has been incorrectly credited for taking the…

Is Elon Musk buying Facebook? No, that's not true: The article saying so has a clear disclaimer at the end that reads, "Recall that this is satire and not actual news." The claim originated in an article (archived here) published by Topad.News24.Info website on February 25, 2023, under the title "Breaking: Elon Musk confirms he's buying Facebook." It opened: We…

Are vaccines proven ineffective by a U.K. report published in February 2023, which found that 92 percent of "deaths involving COVID-19" occurred in fully vaccinated individuals? No, that's not true: Implying causality from a limited set of data leaves out consequential variables such as the ages of the dead, other underlying diseases, and whether booster recommendations had been followed. While…

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy say the United States should send its sons and daughters to war now to fight for Ukraine against Russia? No, that's not true: His quote was taken out of context. Zelenskyy was addressing a hypothetical situation of what he believes would happen if Ukraine were to lose the war and Russia were to enter the…

Does eating chicken cause a urinary tract infection (UTI)? No, that's not true: A food science professor told Lead Stories that while there may be research showing a genetic similarity between E. coli found in poultry and the bacteria that causes UTIs, "correlation does not equal causation." The claim appeared on Facebook (archived here) on February 11, 2023. It opened:…

Do a pair of photos that show completed repairs to a high-rise building in Ukraine only one year after it was damaged by a missile strike prove that the war in Ukraine is "fake"? No, that's not true: There is footage of the missile strike and photos of the aftermath from many angles. The strike to the apartment building at…

Does a video show HIMARS and Gepard military weaponry on a street in Romania heading to Moldova? No, that's not true: The footage was shot in November 2022 of a military rehearsal for the National Day Parade in Alba Iulia, Romania, approximately 566 miles from the border with Moldova. The Romanian government released a statement saying the footage is from…

Did a teenager named Brandon Smith go missing on February 28, 2023, in multiple American cities simultaneously? No, that's not true: Lead Stories analysis shows that a series of social media posts about a boy and his dog has characteristics of a scam campaign aimed at collecting people's personal information. One of the earliest posts said the youth had gone…

Are lawmakers, judges and other public officials in Arizona taking bribes from the Sinaloa cartel and fixing elections? No, there's no reliable evidence that's true: Jacqueline Breger, an insurance agent who made the allegations during a joint meeting of the Arizona House and Senate elections committees on February 23, 2023, did not provide credible proof to back up her explosive…

Does a study published by Chinese researchers prove that drinking Coke or Pepsi causes larger testicles and increases testosterone? No, that's not true: The study was only done on mice, not humans, so it doesn't directly apply. An associate professor of urologic surgery said a social media post characterizing the study in such a way "totally misses." The claim appeared…