Must public health agencies discontinue COVID-19 vaccinations for people under age 30 because federal authorities "acknowledge" heart risks to young people? No, that's not true. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has noted that among the 165 million people who, by late May, received at least one dose, a few dozen reported non-fatal heart inflammation. CDC investigators have…

Did billionaire philanthropist George Soros die on June 10, 2021? No, that's not true: according to the Open Society Foundations, Soros' charitable arm, the 90-year-old is alive at the time of writing. Additionally, Lead Stories could not find any evidence of Soros' alleged death in obituaries, press releases or social media statements. The claim originally appeared on the online bulletin…

Does official data show that more people have died from the vaccines than from COVID-19? No, that's not true: The claim misconstrues what the statistics show. It discounts the deaths of people with COVID-19 and pre-existing conditions and assumes that everyone who dies after getting the shot did so because of the vaccine. As Lead Stories has reported previously, it's…

Did a woman from Pretoria, South Africa, give birth to 10 babies -- seven boys and three girls -- on June 7, 2021? If this is true, this would be a world record, but as of June 14, 2021, there has been no confirmation that 10 babies were born to one woman. They have not been seen in public and…

Did Qantas Airlines CEO Alan Joyce get a pie smashed into his face for trying to force COVID-19 vaccinations onto potential passengers? No, that's not true: This video was published four years before the release of the COVID-19 vaccine, and Tony Overheu committed this act in protest of Joyce's views on same-sex marriage. This claim appeared in a BitChute video…

Were President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both out of the country at the same time in June 2021? No, that's not true: although there appears to be no law stating that at least one has to remain in the country while the other is abroad, Biden and Harris have not been out of the country at the…

Did Romana Didulo become commander in chief of Canada? No, that's not true: according to a spokesperson from the Canadian government, the head of state of Canada is still Queen Elizabeth II and the head of government is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Didulo is simply the leader of Canada1st, a group that is not "part of or beholden to the…

Did Israel get rid of its version of a vaccine passport because not enough citizens want to get the vaccine? No, that's not true: Israel got rid of Green and Purple Badges program because the number of COVID-19 infections decreased in their country. The story originated from a Facebook post (archived here) where it was published on June 9, 2021,…

Does the government's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) provide data or reports that prove the COVID-19 vaccine or other vaccines have caused injuries or deaths? No, that's not true: As the VAERS webpage itself repeatedly explains, its purpose is to collect a wide-open, likely repetitive, messy and incomplete list of anyone's anecdotal, amateur, professional and even malicious reports of…

Did someone install a billboard along a highway featuring an image of Elon Musk and "Defend billionaires. We're just like you" emblazoned on it? No, that's not true: This image of the co-founder and CEO of Tesla on a billboard was originally posted by the artist Martin Sprouse to his Facebook and Instagram accounts. Sprouse frequently posts photoshopped images of…

Did One America News Network (OANN) report 254,000 "bad ballots" in Maricopa County, Arizona? No, that's not true: The claim, made by Sidney Powell, did not include any sourcing. Shortly after she made the claim, she walked it back. An election audit, commissioned by Republicans in the state Senate, was ongoing at the time this was written. The claim appeared…

Does a video of a 2018 lecture by an American professor show him scheming on how to make money from a pandemic? No, that's not true: An 89-second clip included in an article making the claim is edited to exclude the context of statements that people historically have found ways to profit during pandemics by marketing fake cure, spreading misinformation,…

Is there a child sex trafficking facility in Tucson, Arizona? No, that's not true: It's a new migrant facility, built to house people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border while federal agencies review their cases. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published on June 8, 2021. The post includes a photo and reads: this is a child sex trafficking…

Did makers of the COVID-19 vaccine "intentionally" add a component in order to force mRNA into body parts -- a process called magnetofection -- which made vaccinated people magnetized? No, that's not true: While magnetofection is a real thing, this developing nanotechnology was not used in the production of the vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. There is nothing in the…

Did Coca-Cola produce and disseminate soda cans with the slogan "Try to be less white" featured on the side? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the beverage company told Lead Stories that such cans were never made. The claim follows controversy from February 2021 over diversity training material available to Coca-Cola employees that included content encouraging them to be…

Did a cat watch a video of its deceased owner and then show grief? No, that's not true: This video has been digitally altered. It was initially recorded and posted by the cat's owner, Sevilay Deryal, who was very much alive when she shot the video. The cat is watching a video of other animals while listening to upbeat music…

Is Walmart banning plastic and other bags at all its locations on July 1, 2021? No, there's no plan for a corporation-wide move to go "bagless," according to a Walmart spokesperson. However, single-use plastic bags are banned in some states, and all retail stores including Walmart are required to follow those bans. Maine is banning the use of single-use plastic…

Can you tell the difference between a venomous snake and a nonvenomous one by the way they swim? No, that's not always true: Some venomous snakes do swim on top of the water, but some swim submerged and the same is true for nonvenomous snakes. The claim is that if a snake is swimming on top of the water it…

Did Dr. Anthony Fauci throw his 2020 opening day pitch six feet from home plate? No, that's not true: He was standing near the edge of the pitcher's mound, which is over 48 feet from the front of home plate. The claim appeared in an Instagram post (archived here) by the account "hodgetwins" on June 10, 2021. The post includes…

Does a doctor prove he has cured thousands of COVID-19 patients with chlorine dioxide? No, that's not true. A doctor who made the claim offers no evidence or details about the people he says he has saved from the disease with the toxic chemical. Chlorine dioxide is a disinfectant and is not a "cure or treatment for medical ailments." The…