Fact Check

Did Pfizer recently agree to pay $2.3 billion for medical fraud, the largest health care fraud settlement in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice and was this related to Covid-19 vaccination? No, that's not true: Pfizer did agree to pay such a settlement in 2009, but not in 2023. The settlement was for the misbranding of the anti-inflammatory…

Does a social-media video of a young woman knocking on a door in distress to seek shelter from a male stalker, who claims to be her husband, depict an actual event? No, that's not true: It's a staged skit. The video, which features actors, is part of a three-part horror story shot by a French content creator. The claim that…

Did an LED billboard at the corner of 42nd Street and 8th Avenue in Manhattan feature the words "Glory to Urine" against a waving blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag to welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to New York City for the United Nations General Assembly meeting on September 19, 2023? No, that's not true: This video is not current or authentic. Shots…

Have COVID-19 vaccines "killed 20 million people" since their rollout? No, that's not true: The article making this claim cited a 2022 study that estimated COVID vaccines had saved -- not killed -- nearly 20 million lives in the first year of the pandemic, the study's lead author told Lead Stories. Also, the calculations used to produce the 20 million…

Does a photo on social media prove that Ukraine's former minister of defense Oleksii Reznikov went to Europe to enjoy "successful earnings" right after leaving his job in September 2023? No, that's not true: Reznikov posted that image on his Facebook page in 2020. That was before he became the minister of defense, in November 2021. The claim originated from…

Is garlic a "fake food"? No, that's not true: A nutrition expert confirmed to Lead Stories that "Garlic is a real food." The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also recognizes garlic as a food that is safe for human consumption. The claim appeared in a video post on Facebook (archived here) on September 13, 2023. The caption under the video…

Does FEMA have a prison camp just outside Fairbanks, Alaska, that can hold up to 2 million people at a time? No, that's not true: "That is absolutely false," an official of the Federal Emergency Management Agency told Lead Stories. The agency said they "do not operate any prison camps in Alaska or elsewhere." There is no credible evidence that…

Did former South Carolina governor and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley shed her birth name? No, that's not true: Haley, whose birth name is Nimrata (also spelled "Nimarata") Nikki Randhawa, has explained that the middle name on her birth certificate is "Nikki". Like other married women, she changed her last name when she married her husband Michael Haley. The claim…

Does a video on TikTok capture the moment of the F-35B crash in South Carolina on September 17, 2023? No, that's not true: the clip does not accurately portray the location. It was originally published by an account specializing in sharing "realistic" fragments from flight simulator video games. Its author confirmed to Lead Stories that the video was artificially generated.…

Does this video show "Tornado Daniel" hitting Benghazi, Libya? No, that's not true: This video is a combination of a Floridian storm setting with visual effects added. The buildings and fallen tree are from a tornado tracker's YouTube channel where they followed Hurricane Matthew in Florida in October 2016. The cone tornado shape and lightning in the background are the…

Is there evidence that the next FEMA emergency test will not really be a test but a cover for the government to send high-frequency signals activating "nanoparticles including graphene oxide" into phones, TVs and radios, possibly causing DNA damage in people? No, that's not true: On August 3, 2023, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced there would be a…

Does this video show that political commentator Tucker Carlson "broke in tears" talking about Antarctica? No, that's not true: This video does not show Carlson crying while talking about Antarctica. The Facebook video merely shows clips of Carlson speaking, but does not allow the original audio from these moments to be heard. The claim appeared on Facebook on September 6,…

Did the U.S. Army arrest U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen for committing treason? No, that's not true: The website where this claim was made has a disclaimer that states it publishes satirical content. The U.S. military is currently not authorized by Congress to arrest civilians. The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on September…

Did Reuters publish 2024 presidential election polling numbers that heavily favored former president and current candidate Donald Trump? No, that's not true: Reuters has debunked the fake numbers and a map associated with the numbers. The map was created on a website that allows users to design their own "election forecast." The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published…

Does this video show a military medical specialist examining a living alien in a laboratory setting at Area 51 in southern Nevada, or elsewhere, perhaps in New Mexico? No, that's not true: This video clip is not evidence of alien life. It is a short clip from an adult film titled "Roswell UFO" produced in the Czech Republic for horrorporn.com.…

Did "undercover NYPD" officers "arrest two young people for sleeping on the concrete blocks a short distance from Times Square"? No, that's not true: the persons in question were not trying to sleep in a noisy, well-lit area on top of concrete blocks. A spokesperson for the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information at the New York City Police…

Does a social media post prove that a U.S. F-35 fighter jet landed safely "at the Chinese base in Cuba"? No, that's not true: The debris of an F-35 that vanished in September 2023 was found after a daylong search; its pilot had safely ejected before its crash. No official statements contradicted this version of events, and a national security…

Did President Joe Biden's family say he died and was replaced by an actor in 2019? No, that's not true: This article and accompanying video from The People's Voice is baseless. There is no member of the Biden family who has claimed that Joe Biden died in 2019 and was replaced with a body double. That claim arose from an…

Does California Senate Bill 553 make it illegal to confront or fight back against looters, burglars and shoplifters? No, that's not true: California SB 553 does not fine employees who confront shoplifters, the senator who sponsored the bill and legal experts told Lead Stories. It requires businesses to have a plan in place for employees to prevent workplace violence. The…

Did the World Economic Forum (WEF) call on governments to establish "COVID concentration camps" globally for individuals who do not comply with the "official narrative" related to COVID-19? No, that's not true: A WEF representative called it, "fake news." There is no credible information supporting these claims. The claim appeared in an article (archived here) published by The People's Voice…