&Quot;The People'S Voice&Quot;

Is President Joe Biden going to launch a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC) in December 2022? No, that's not true: Although Biden signed an executive order in March 2022 that required research into the future of money and payment systems in the country, the order did not mandate that the federal government establish a national CBDC. The claim appeared…

Did the World Economic Forum (WEF) announce the recruitment of "information warriors" to control the narrative on social media? No, that's not true: The WEF has recruited no such people. An article making the claim misrepresents a UN initiative called "Verified," which was launched in May 2020 in an effort to fight misinformation around COVID-19. The article (archived here) was…

Was a woman found dead in the Arkansas River linked to the "suspicious death" of former Clinton advisor Mark Middleton? No, that's not true: A report in radaronline.com quoted an anonymous source -- purportedly an associate of Middleton's -- to link Ashley Haynes and Middleton. The alleged link first appeared in a radaronline.com article, and nowhere else, on May 27,…

Does the World Economic Forum (WEF), founded by Klaus Schwab, plan to censor the internet using artificial intelligence? No, that's not true: The WEF does not have the ability to make such a decision or enforce it. An opinion column by one of many columnists on the WEF website was misrepresented by News Punch, a website that warns its audiences…

Were 1 in every 25 clients of Germany's largest health insurer, Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), treated for side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine in 2021? No, that's not true: Only one of the four diagnosis codes (ICD) for billing health insurers used to come up with the ratio was specific to COVID vaccination. Two of the other three codes could pertain…

Did a study find potentially disease-causing bacteria and fungi on face masks? Yes, that's true, but the study's authors only made one recommendation based on their findings and that was for immunocompromised people to avoid repeated use of masks to prevent infections. In an email to Lead Stories, study author Ah-Mee Park, an associate professor in the Department of Microbiology…

Did Michelle Obama register to vote as a man in 1994 in Illinois? No, that's not true: A public information officer at the Illinois State Board of Elections told Lead Stories that this claim is inaccurate. The document that is supposedly the former first lady's voter registration record did not come from the Board as an article falsely claims, and…

Will the World Economic Forum (WEF) "freeze" the "bank accounts of "meat eaters to 'educate them,'" and does the Doconomy credit card refuse to let a consumer buy items when they are "deemed to be a net polluter"? No, neither are true: The CEO of Doconomy told Lead Stories that this claim is "clearly a lie," as the carbon emissions…

Does an "official study" confirm that COVID-19 shots increase the risk of infection from the virus? No, that's not true: One of the authors of the study, Laith Jamal Abu-Raddad, said the article uses several numbers from the report out of context. "Our study confirms that vaccines protect," he told Lead Stories in a June 24, 2022, email. The claim…

Did the IRS just begin buying ammunition during President Joe Biden's time in office? No, that's not true: The IRS started buying ammunition, firearms and equipment for its law enforcement divisions more than 100 years ago. It's standard for federal agencies that have many federal law enforcement officers to buy ammunition, firearms and equipment. The claim appeared in an article…