Technology

Did the messaging service Telegram announce that Apple might be deleting the Telegram app from devices in August 2024? No, that's not true: No such announcement has ever been made by Telegram. A false social media hoax from 2021 resurfaced after Telegram's CEO, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France on August 24, 2024. It was debunked in 2021, and it's…

Did Elon Musk and Donald Trump team up to conduct a cryptocurrency scam that would violate election laws, as claimed in a post on X? No, that's not true: Footage from the 2024 Tesla shareholder's meeting, streamed live, was altered with a fake AI-generated voice and facial synchronizing animation. Musk's original presentation had no mention of "crypto", the altered video…

Had doctors aboard the Brazilian airline flight that crashed in August 2024 vowed to release evidence linking mRNA technology to "turbo cancer", as an article by The People's Voice said? No, that's not true: The People's Voice is a website with a long history of publishing made up news and it provided no sources to back up the part about…

Did Leonardo Ferreira die in a Brazil plane crash in August 2024, as a post on X claimed? No, that's not true: Leonardo Ferreira, the man shown in the video, confirmed to Lead Stories that he is alive and well. Another man with the same last name, retired professor José Roberto Leonel Ferreira, was killed in the crash, according to…

Did Japan declare a state of emergency in August 2024 after "nanobots" were found in 96 million citizens? No, that's not true: A state of emergency in Japan would be major news worldwide and yet there have been no stories about it. The "news" came from a website with a reputation for making things up. The journal article the website…

Did Fox News broadcast a segment about online influencer MrBeast starting his own online casino "where everyone wins"? No, that's not true: The video contained signs of digital manipulation, and an AI-detection tool further confirmed that the segment was not authentic. A Fox News spokesperson denied that the network aired such a segment. Lead Stories found no traces of the…

Do images shared on Facebook genuinely show what appears to be a UFO in the "remote desert of Egypt"? No, that's not true: Hive Moderation, an online tool used to detect AI-generated images, confirmed that it was 99.6 percent likely the images were created using AI. They were first published to a Reddit thread about content generated using the AI…

Did a Jewish family hire Thomas Matthew Crooks to shoot former President Donald Trump? Or was Crooks trained to shoot by the CEO of BlackRock Security or by a rabbi? Has footage been leaked showing Crooks and the BlackRock CEO together carrying a gun? No, none of these claims are true: Using an AI-detection tool, Lead Stories found that the…

Did Tesla CEO Elon Musk announce on social media that he would "stop all donations" towards the Olympic Games because it's "a woke event now"? No, that's not true: There are no posts on Musk's social media making or confirming such an announcement. The original article reporting that was written using artificial intelligence according to an online tool that detects…

Is an online video a real campaign ad using Kamala Harris' voice? No, that's not true: The audio used in the deepfake video is AI-generated, and the video's creator labeled it as a parody from the very start when he posted it on his social media account in July 2024. Despite being clearly labeled as a parody, many, including X…

Did short selling for Trump Media "more than double" between July 1 and July 12, 2024, making the stock "plummet one day before the assassination attempt" against the company's co-founder, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump? No, that's not true: The company, which owns the Truth Social platform, saw an upward trend that started on July 10, 2024 -- three days…

Did the Sphere in Las Vegas show a "blue screen of death" or "BSoD" on July 19, 2024, during the global Windows outages caused by a CrowdStrike software defect? No, that's not true: The image on social media that makes this claim is doctored and has been circulating on the internet since at least 2023. The post also erroneously said…

Does satellite imagery show the moments when Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was surrounded by three circling UFOs before suddenly vanishing in a bright flash of light? No, that's not true: This video does not show satellite imagery or the actual disappearance of Flight 370. The images of the clouds came from a website that supplies background images for 3D artists.…

Does a viral video show authentic footage of Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and France's Emmanuel Macron dancing before becoming president? No, that's not true: Heavily edited, it contained a substantial amount of deepfake shots. Other people's faces were digitally replaced with those of Zelenskyy and Macron. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on Instagram on June 29, 2024, under…

Does a video that shows what is said to be a magnet sticking to packaged supermarket chicken prove that such products contain nanotechnology and heavy metals? No, that's not true: The U.S. Department of Agriculture ensures that poultry products are safe and unadulterated, an agency spokesperson told Lead Stories. Magnets, they added, may stick to meat and poultry products due…

Does footage showing what appears to be a shadowy profile of a man moving behind what looks to be a small model space shuttle prove that this footage and the entire 1983 Challenger mission was faked? No, that's not true: The astronaut was filming from inside Challenger's flight deck looking out over the payload bay through a window. His reflection…

Did NASA secretly drop a manned space capsule out of a plane in order to stage a hoax return of astronauts from outer space? No, that's not true: The footage that shows a space capsule sliding out of the back of a C-130 cargo plane was not part of a staged hoax. This was one of several drop tests conducted…

Did Apple announce plans in June 2024 to start charging a fee for using its FaceTime feature, as a post on social media claims? No, that's not true: Apple hasn't announced any plans to charge for FaceTime. It remains a free feature for all users on compatible Apple mobile devices, including versions of the iPhone, iPad Pro, iPad, iPad mini…

Does YouTube restart ads if the viewer looks away, as of June 2024? No, that's not true: It is the self-described satirical, absurd work of designer Soren Iverson. YouTube has not implemented this feature. Iverson is known for creating satirical content involving new features for various products. The claim originated in a Threads post (archived here) on June 13, 2024.…

Did a video on Facebook genuinely show TV personality Tucker Carlson endorsing an anti-parasite pill promoted by alternative naturopath Barbara O'Neill? No, that's not true: The video is dubbed with fake audio; an AI detection tool found it was 70.6 percent likely it was created using AI. Lead Stories traced the original clip of Carlson: He was discussing the Foreign…