Technology

Does a person's Social Security number reveal information about their race? No, that's not true: This rumor is based on fears that personal information encoded in a Social Security number could result in racial discrimination. This concern is unfounded as the numbers assigned by the Social Security Administration (SSA) do not contain information about a person's race. Currently Social Security…

Was there an explosion near the Pentagon on May 22, 2023? No, that's not true: This is not a real photo but a digitally fabricated image that shows a plume of smoke near a building that slightly resembles the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense in Arlington, Virginia. The building in the image is not the Pentagon,…

Do vaccinated people emit Bluetooth signals? No, that's not true: There is no indication that the chip required to use this technology can be injected into a human body through a needle as of this writing. The claim's main argument derives from a "documentary" showing a pseudoscientific study that misrepresents how Bluetooth technology operates. The claim appeared in a post…

Does a video that shows a long queue for charging Tesla vehicles indicate some sort of government failure? No, that's misleading: The earliest version of this video was reportedly shot over Thanksgiving in 2019. Charging station locations have expanded since then. The claim, which has been made on other platforms, reappeared in a post on Instagram on April 6, 2023.…

Is a photograph of what appears to be a woman with a tail an authentic record of a real appendage, providing support for claims about the origins of white people? No, that's not true: The image was digitally edited and is a work of art. It doesn't support this conspiracy theory. The photo appeared in a video (archived here) on…

Did Elon Musk brag about firing "crybaby liberals"? No, that's not true: This video was made using AI, or artificial intelligence. The Instagram post where this claim originated seems to be an ad for an app that uses AI to make public figures say whatever the user wants. The claim appeared on Instagram (archived here) on May 4, 2023, with…

Did security footage capture the moment when an "angry" warehouse robot attacked a human worker? No, that's not true: This is a short science fiction film made by a film company in Georgia with CGI. The company, Sozo Bear Films, emailed Lead Stories, confirming that this footage is not real and was created with visual effects. The claim appeared on…

So you've probably read all those warnings from pundits, academics and researchers about how generative AI tools like ChatGPT are going to impact disinformation and fact checking. And you may have even seen some recent examples of a deep-faked pope in a puffer jacket or Donald Trump being arrested. But let me tell you the story of a real-life example…

Do patents related to the diseases AIDS, SARS, Zika and Ebola prove that they were man-made? No, that's not true: Three of the patents cited are associated with those diseases but they are not for the creation or invention of them. There is no mention in any of the patents that indicates the applicants fabricated the viruses. The Zika virus…

Do jumpy cuts in the asparagus-eating video recorded by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield while in the zero-gravity environment in 2013 prove it was shot in a "Hollywood basement," outer space does not exist and Earth is flat? No, that's not true: In 2015, Hadfield, who became known not only as a space explorer but also as a space video blogger,…

Does cyanocobalamin, a man-made form of vitamin B12, cause or aggravate anxiety and depression if too much of it remains in the body? No, that's not true: The human body has a difficult time absorbing B12, no matter what form it comes in. In addition, any excess is passed out in the urine, so it doesn't have a chance to…

Do social media posts about people "desperately trying to find the parents" of a lost "sweet girl" show a real-life call for help? No, that's not true: Entries with identical wording appeared in many places in the United States; as they gained traction, the content of those posts changed to promote dubious rent-to-own schemes and extract personal information. A sheriff's…

Is a "deadly Eastern diamond rattlesnake" actually being found in several locations across the United States that are not known as native habitats for these snakes? No, that's not true: Social media posts that make the claim are repurposing similarly worded posts to carry out a "bait and switch" scam. Social media accounts will make alarming, sensational posts that draw…

Under the RESTRICT Act, would a person be fined up to $1 million and imprisoned for a minimum of 20 years for accessing content on TikTok if it's banned in the United States in the future? Yes, that's partially true: However, none of the legal experts contacted by Lead Stories believe prosecutors would pursue such charges against someone using a…

Was former President Donald Trump photographed wearing a helicopter helmet and a military-style vest? No, that's not true: The image from social media is most likely AI-generated. The claim originated from a tweet (archived here) published on May 1, 2023. It contained what looked like a picture of Trump posted under the caption: This is what a President looks like.…

Does an image showing President Joe Biden using two different hands to sign documents prove that a "body double" is being used for him? No, that's not true: The picture showing him signing with his left hand -- Biden is right-handed and signs documents with his right hand -- is an Associated Press image that has been flipped to make…

Does a video authentically show footage captured by a Ukrainian drone flying over Moscow in April 2023? No, that's not true: The video shared on Twitter was originally posted to YouTube in 2015 by AirPano, a virtual reality production studio "focused on taking high-resolution" aerial footage. In 2023, an 11-second clip of that video was cropped from a horizontal shape…

Did NASA announce the discovery of a massive unidentified flying object (UFO) spotted between the Earth and the sun and did this result in the closure of six solar observatories to hide something from the public? No, that's not true: This UFO clickbait narrative has been circulating online since at least September 13, 2018, and has continued to evolve with…

Did a robot that experienced "wage slavery" for 15 minutes commit suicide after determining that was the logical choice rather than to continue working? No, that's not true: The video was posted by Agility Robotics, celebrating the 99-percent success rate of its live demos, while acknowledging that its Digit robot did have a couple of falls. This robot's accident happened…

Did a photo recently surface that shows Jeffrey Epstein posing with four children on a tropical beach? No, that's not true: This is not a real photo but an image created with the AI program Midjourney. This image, and another in the same vein showing a likeness of Epstein posing with five children, were posted on Instagram by an account…