Did the Walt Disney Company lose 23 million subscribers after "trying to cancel Elon Musk"? No, that's not true: This claim appeared in an article on a satirical website known for publishing fabricated content. The website has a disclaimer that reads, "Everything on this website is fiction." The claim appeared in an article published by The Dunning-Kruger Times on November…

Can "Americans in need" get $5,000 in cash for free through the American Emergency Fund "just in a few minutes"? No, that's not true: The website named in this offer gathers sensitive personal data from applicants for a supposed personal loan and then shares it with a broad range of unidentified entities. This practice may expose people to identity theft.…

Does a New York Post headline claim that James Gordon Meek, a former investigative journalist for ABC who pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in September 2023, also "debunked" the "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory? No, that's not true: Such a headline never appeared in the New York Post. Additionally, there's no evidence that Meek ever wrote a story about Pizzagate. The…

Does the listing of "Pneumonia mycoplasma" in Pfizer's guidance on adverse event reports associated with its COVID-19 vaccine prove that the shot caused a respiratory outbreak in China? No, that's not true: It's a fundamental misreading of standard vaccine documents, which direct doctors to rapidly report any problems from a long list as a precaution. The Centers for Disease Control…

Was Taylor Swift photographed wearing a hat made of pieced-together preserved faces skinned from real human beings? No, that's not true on two points: The model in the photo is not pop star Swift but the special effects artist who partnered in making the hat, Kayla Arena. And the hat is made from latex, silicone, crepe hair and synthetic eyelashes…

Did the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps place talk show host Stephen Colbert under arrest for committing treason and defrauding the country as of November 25, 2023? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer told Lead Stories that this claim is false. The website where this claim was made publishes fabricated content. The claim appeared in an article…

Were reports that talk about a supposed imminent "EMP Threat" or "Blackout Warfare" against the U.S. "leaked" from the Department of Homeland Security, and were these documents "classified" in any way? No, that's not true: The reports that are sometimes used on social media to promote a documentary by Teddy Daniels are publicly available and easily accessible on the internet.…

Could a call to a hotline number expedite receiving a "stimulus deposit" in November 2023? No, that's not true: The federal government was not distributing such payments as of this writing. The toll-free number shared on social media was a sex hotline, not a contact of a federal agency. The claim reappeared in a post on Facebook on November 29,…

Was a lone train car labeled "Molten Sulfur" abandoned with molten sulfur inside in Marietta, Oklahoma? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the railway on which the car was sitting said that the train car was empty and was being repaired to stop it from potentially derailing. At the time of writing, the train car was not sitting on…

Did Joe Rogan discuss a "scathing documentary" about an impending attack on the United States during an episode of Rogan's podcast partly shown in a video posted on Facebook? No, that's not true: A transcript of the full episode featuring Russell Brand never mentions Teddy Daniels or his documentary about an attack that supposedly would wipe out 90 percent of…