Business

Does a viral video genuinely show a Tesla Cybertruck being crushed by a digger or excavator? No, that's not true: According to a detection tool, the video was generated using AI. The account that originally posted it has published several similar videos of cars being crushed or destroyed and offers links to a course about AI video creation and a…

Did Warren Buffett say President Trump is making the best financial decisions in 50 years? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Buffet praised Trump saying he was making stellar financial decisions in March 2025. Buffet's company Berkshire Hathaway put out a statement saying any reports on social media about comments he made are "false". Buffett did blast…

Did Elon Musk announce that he had acquired MSNBC for $900 million to "put an end to toxic programming?" No, that's not true: A search of Musk's X account did not show this announcement from him on the days leading up to publication of the claim. As of March 14, 2025, no reliable news outlets were reporting what would have…

Is a warning about a woman "going around neighborhoods" and "stealing packages" legitimate and does sharing a viral message on Facebook help expose and hold her accountable? No, that's not true: The recent viral warnings use images that appear to be several years old. The posts are part of a common social media scam that tricks people into liking or…

Did President Donald Trump make a post on Truth Social on March 11, 2025, calling people "BROKIES" and saying "I don't care about the stock market"? No, that's not true: A viral screenshot of what looked like a Truth Social post had been digitally manipulated. There is no record of this post on Donald Trump's Truth Social account or on…

Did President Donald Trump publish a post on X offering his "referral link" for a discount on a Tesla purchase? No, that's not true: The image purporting to show the Trump post was made-up. Searches across Trump's account on X and across news reports did not show any evidence he published the supposed offer in question. The claim appeared in…

Does a video clip capture what was happening inside an Air India plane that was forced to return to Chicago on March 5, 2025, due to out-of-order toilets? No, that's not true: The video predates the incident by two months. It started circulating on social media in early January 2025. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on…

Did "Democrat NGOs" set fire to Tesla Cybertrucks in Seattle on March 9, 2025? No, that's not true: The Seattle Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives told Lead Stories they are still investigating the overnight fires as of March 10, 2025. There is no evidence provided in a social media post that the fires on…

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy buy the French bank Milleis in February 2025 using the offshore company Maltex? No, that's not true: No credible media organization reported this story, as of March 6, 2025. A viral video purporting to be a TV news report about it displayed a non-existent TV channel logo. And the video contained inauthentic, AI-generated audio, according…

Did President Donald Trump post he would impose capital controls because "TERRIBLE things" were happening to "our BEAUTIFUL AND GREAT STOCK MARKET" and that he would put a tariff on "foreign selling"? No, that's not true: A viral screenshot of what looked like a Truth Social post has been digitally manipulated. Trump's actual account did not show such a message…

Does a viral video show Mexico closing the U.S. border in response to President Trump's announcement about imposing tariffs on March 3, 2025? No, that's not true: The video predated the announcement by several days. The gate closure seen in the video happened during a protest against security-related delays on the Mexican side of the crossing. At the time of…

Did Donald Trump post a tweet on November 6, 2012, that read, "If the Dow drops 1,000 points in two days the President should be impeached immediately!"? No, that's not true: This is a fake tweet that was manufactured in 2018, years after it was purportedly first posted. There is no record of the original tweet on Donald Trump's Twitter…

Does Canada bar American banks from operating in the country? No, that's not true: As of this writing, 16 U.S.-based bank subsidiaries and branches were operating in Canada, according to the Canadian Bank Association. These banks hold around 113 billion Canadian dollars in assets and "make up half of all foreign bank assets in Canada," the association added. Canada's Department…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump ask people to forward the "Congressional Reform Act of 2017," also described as "the TRUMP Rules," to "a minimum of 20 people" in early 2025? No, that's not true: His social media posts did not mention the purported proposal in 2025. The text of the so-called "Congressional Reform Act" has been circulating on the internet…

Have authorities in various towns and counties in the U.S. issued a warning of a 29-year-old man named "Andre Cortez Harris" who was "on the run" after stabbing "neighbors to death," as a post on Facebook claimed? No, that's not true: This post, and others like it, are part of a known deception to trick people into sharing content. In…

Did White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announce on Fox News that tech billionaire Elon Musk left the U.S. after revealing "a secret at-home method that can reverse diabetes for good"? No, none of that is true: Paid ads circulating on Facebook used voice-cloning technology to mimic the speech of public persons. No credible sources reported the purported "news," and…

Did President Donald Trump publish a Truth Social post that said "Cardano is the future of America", promoting a cryptocurrency by that name? No, that's not true: A screenshot showing such a post was later described by the original uploader as "a meme." No such post appeared on Trump's account or was indexed by Google. The meme appeared in an…

Is a viral Facebook post from Norwegian fuel company Haltbakk Bunkers announcing they will no longer deliver fuel to American military ships real? Here's what we know: Several screenshots of the post calling Friday's Trump - Zelenskyy meeting "the biggest shitshow ever presented" went viral, but the post itself currently does not appear on Haltbakk's Facebook page, which appears to…

Did the New York Post report that USAID paid TIME Magazine $4 million to make Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy the 2022 Person of the Year, as a post and video on X.com claimed? No, that's not true: As of this writing, the newspaper's website did not show such a story. A search across a government spending database did not produce…

Is Joe Rogan correct that Girl Scout cookies are "toxic as fuck"? Here is what we know about the situation: Podcast host Rogan said on his program that a study of Girl Scout cookies shows they have high levels of glyphosate and heavy metals. The Girl Scouts organization published a statement declaring their cookies are safe to consume, and heavy…