Did the Financial Times report that a man was "arrested after he spent 17 years traveling the country with a hacked debit card that gave him the exact amount of money needed for any purchase"? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the Financial Times confirmed to Lead Stories that the outlet did not publish this story, and a search…
Did the Department of Justice under President Joe Biden decide that "international sex trafficking of minors" was no longer an area of concern for prosecution? No, that's not true: A Department of Justice (DOJ) spokesperson told Lead Stories that the suggestion that international child sex trafficking was not a priority for the administration is "false." The DOJ website no longer…
Did Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte try to "seize over 3000 farms" to "free land for immigrants" during the unsuccessful negotiations over immigration shortly before the government's collapse in July 2023? No, that's not true: The claim was first made on Tucker Carlson's show on Fox News a year before Rutte conceded that the members of his coalition couldn't reach…
Does a viral video portray an intense exchange between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of the 2024 Republican presidential candidates, and an audience member who swore at him during a campaign event? No, that's not true: The authentic video material was paired with an audio track containing words that were never said in public during that town hall. The story…
Does a photo circulating on social media show pop star Lady Gaga endorsing Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign on his social media application Truth Social? No, that's not true: The image has been digitally altered. The original photo does not come from a real post on Truth Social and was taken by a Getty Images photographer. The photo actually displays…
Did former first lady, Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton go on MSNBC to express her support for Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis? No, that's not true: The video uses a combination of authentic footage and a deepfake audio track. As of July 7, 2023, no evidence shows that Clinton endorsed DeSantis elsewhere.…
Was the death of Donald Trump predicted to occur on March 13, 2023, in an episode of "The Simpsons"? No, that's not true: This is not a real episode of "The Simpsons" but an edited hoax. Additional material was spliced into a section of the real episode 18 of Season 26, titled "Peeping Mom." This "Simpsons" episode did not feature…
Does a video show "armed military escorting" former President Donald Trump during a June 10, 2023, visit to a Waffle House in Columbus, Georgia, and does this escort prove that Trump is still the president of the United States? No, that's not true: By law, the U.S. Secret Service, not the military, protects former presidents. A spokesperson for Fort Moore,…
Did President Joe Biden confess in public that he "sold a lot of state secrets and a lot of very important things"? No, that's not true: He was kidding members of the White House press corps, and he said that in his own words, as confirmed by the White House transcript of the speech. The claim appeared in a post…
Does a photograph authentically show Tom Cruise with his two "stunt doubles"? No, that's not true: An image shared widely on social media in June 2023 was generated using the artificial intelligence program Midjourney, the image creator confirmed to Lead Stories. A version of the claim originated in an image shared to Twitter on June 7, 2023, (archived here) that…
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inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
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