Technology

Did X.com suspend user privileges of the "Press" account for California Governor Gavin Newsom? No, that's not true: The photo offered as proof was a screenshot of @GovNewsomPress, a fake account. The authentic press account for the governor of California, @GovPressOffice, was not suspended. The claim was made in an August 15, 2025 X post (archived here) on the @americapapabear…

Does a viral social media video show a Ford electric car malfunctioning, with its steering locked and accelerator to the floor? No, that's not true: Lead Stories used geolocation techniques to find the scene of the accident and obtain a police report that a malfunction did not cause the wreck. California Highway Patrol said the driver was arrested for driving…

Did Tesla remotely deactivate rapper Big Huey's Cybertruck in August 2025? No, that's not true: The company denies it. The screen message, reading "return to dealer", is clear evidence of a hoax, since Teslas are not sold through dealerships. The "cease and desist letter" accompanying the purported deactivation showed an incorrect current title for Tesla's legal counsel. The claim appeared…

Does a video marked "Real Footage" show a bloody attack by a dolphin on a marine park trainer named Jessica Radcliffe? No, that's not true: The video caption and title both say the footage is real, but the account that published it describes its content as "Realistic AI visuals | Viral edits". Several glitches in the scene, such as people…

Did a viral image show a real CNN report about tech billionaire Elon Musk being hospitalized on August 4, 2025? No, that's not true: Searches across Google and CNN produced zero confirmation that the network ever published such an article on its website. The account that spread the image on social media identified itself as a troll account. The claim…

Do Canadian researchers propose to mass-vaccinate people with crop duster-style spraying of the populace, as a social media post implies? No, that's not true: The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) have paid researchers to develop a needle-free inhaler to inoculate people one at a time against the virus that causes COVID-19. The post that pushes the crop duster idea…

Does an authentic video capture actress Sydney Sweeney breaking her silence about the controversy over her American Eagle "good jeans" ad? No, that's not true: The video contains a last-frame disclaimer that it is "Unreal." The video was first posted to an X account that routinely releases deepfake/AI-generated videos that show prominent people commenting on current events in shocking or…

Is the viral video of "Titan" the giant dog authentic? No, that's not true: The creator of the original TikTok video clip labeled it "AI-generated" when posting it on July 27, 2025. Subsequent re-posts and lower-resolution copies did not keep the label and attempted to pass it off as real video of a real dog. The video of the gargantuan…

Did the most recent, July 2025 version of the 2023 U.K. Online Safety Act prohibit "all criticism" of unauthorized immigration on social media? No, that's not true: According to the full text of the law, what is considered an offense is assisting illegal immigration and human trafficking. Social media posts offering people smuggling services would be against the law, not…

Did a Georgia man named Julian Brown invent the process for turning waste plastic into useful fuel? No, that's not true: Brown's Naturejab system harnesses solar-powered microwaves to heat a pyrolysis reactor. That is a well-understood chemical process in which heated plastics generate usable gas and oil that has been studied and refined worldwide for decades. The claim appeared in…

Is a viral video of former President Barack Obama saying "Trump crossed my bottom line" authentic? No, that's not true: The video is an obvious fake, with an extra-large gap between Obama's front teeth and lip movements that don't match the words being spoken. No Obama video statement about the situation were found on credible news sites, nor on Obama's…

Does a viral video really document Donald Trump pointing at minor girls as they walk by him and Ghislaine Maxwell? No, that's not true: A leading deepfake expert says the video used "motionizing" software, which is widely available, to turn authentic photos into video of something that did not happen. The original version of the cropped photo used to create…

Does a viral image show the site of the July 21, 2025, military training plane crash in Dhaka, Bangladesh? No, that's not true: The social media image contradicted what was shown in footage and photographs published by credible media outlets. Authentic visual materials showed that most of the plane's fuselage was obscured from cameras by the debris. The claim appeared…

Does a video circulating on social media show a real-life arrest of a woman "in her own garden for growing lettuce"? No, that's not true: The video originated from an account, Bodycam Declassified, that publishes video skits mimicking police bodycam footage. The timestamp in the clip doesn't match the format for this particular type of recording device seen on the…

Did Astronomer CEO Andy Byron release a statement in which he lamented how "a private moment became public" without his consent? No, that's not true: A widely-shared screenshot showed a fake statement first published by a parody account on X. Byron, who is married, was the subject of news coverage in July 2025 after he appeared to have been shown…

Does a viral video really show a Chinese electric helicopter you can buy for $300 and that can stay in the air for ten hours? No, that's not true: The video does not show a single-seat helicopter capable of flying at 120 kilometres per hour made by Xiaomi or "the world's cheapest helicopter". It shows an American-made helicopter from Florida…

Did X Engineering post that "bookmarks will be public for accounts that are not subscribed to X Premium" starting next week? No, that's not true: A falsified screenshot showed such a post made on July 10, 2025 but in reality it did not appear on the account. The faked screenshot originally appeared on a parody account on X. The faked…

Does a viral image show "a 27-year-old man from Jackson, Mississippi," who was arrested in early July 2025 "after allegedly hacking into the Hinds County Human Services system and approving every single application for food stamps"? No, that's not true: Variations of this recycled rumor have been circulating on the internet at least since 2020. No credible media organization reported…

Does a viral video document Iranian missiles being made ready for an imminent launch? No, that's not true: It's an AI-generated video. Several visual artifacts call attention to the kinds of inconsistencies and illogical details found in AI images. Also, the missiles shown do not visually match any of the 25 missile systems Iran had as of June, 2025, according…

Did a video really show a B2 bomber landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier? No, that's not true: The video, which went viral in the wake of the U.S. bombing Iranian nuclear plants with such planes in June 2025, appeared on a TikTok channel that publishes video game footage. It appeared there months before the strikes on Iran…