Society

Can black seed oil and one of its main compounds, thymoquinone, cure major diseases, including cancer and diabetes? No, that's not true: While some research suggests that black seed may be useful for certain conditions, there isn't sufficient evidence to conclude that any form of black seed is a cure-all. The claim appeared in a reel posted on Facebook on…

Will a new mRNA universal flu vaccine only be tested on 50 volunteers to "assess the safety" of the experimental shot? No, that's not true: New drugs and medicines in the United States go through rigorous testing and three phases of clinical trials involving thousands of people with different health statuses before the products can potentially be authorized for widespread…

Does a video show a real situation where a person has an implanted microchip in her arm that allows her to buy goods and open her home door lock, then the implant stops working and she is stuck without money or access to her apartment? No, that's not true: Two videos of science fiction content have been combined into one…

Is American singer-songwriter Miranda Lambert selling weight loss materials, specifically a special mineral used for weight loss? No, that's not true: Lambert's public relations team told Lead Stories she is not affiliated with this product. The website where the weight loss materials can be bought mimics the USA Today website. This is false advertising and follows a formula of using…

Does the state of Michigan ban most stores from selling seeds, and is the purpose of this ban to force people to only buy fruit from big corporations? No, that's not true: Michigan does not ban seed sales. There was a short period during the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic when seeds were off limits to customers shopping in…

Did Elon Musk write that "the world is flat" on Twitter in April 2022? No, that's not true: The viral image of the supposed entry appears to have been digitally altered. Archived versions of Musk's account do not contain such a tweet. The claim appeared in a post published on Instagram on May 23, 2023. The caption said: This is…

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…

Do people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 shorten their average lifespan by a quarter century? No, that's not true: There is no scientific evidence or credible research to support the idea that being fully vaccinated for COVID-19 shortens a person's life expectancy. Vaccinations, including COVID-19 vaccines, go through rigorous testing and evaluation processes to ensure their safety and efficacy.…

Did singer-songwriter Kid Rock tell The Dunning-Kruger Times that he wants to send a message to Target Corporation, like he did with Bud Light? No, that's not true: The Dunning-Kruger Times is a satirical website. There is no evidence that Kid Rock said this. The claim appeared in an article published by The Dunning-Kruger Times on May 21, 2023 titled…

Does a declassified "CIA document" prove that the intelligence agency knows "how the world is going to end"? No, that's not true: The "document" is an excerpt from a book, "The Adam and Eve Story: The History of Cataclysms." It was not written by the CIA, but by the writer Chan Thomas. An online book database shows that it has…

Were homeless veterans forced to move out from a hotel in Upstate New York so it could accommodate a "bus load of migrants" transported from New York City? No, that's not true: The supposed victims of the circumstances were not veterans -- according to their own words, they were homeless people from a local shelter recruited to act as if…

Did the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) strip former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas of her NCAA National Championship record and refer her case to the Indiana state attorney for "possible fraud charges"? No, neither of those claims are true: This claim is from a satirical website, The Dunning-Kruger Times. There is no evidence Thomas is being stripped of…

Were three high-profile Democrats, including President Joe Biden, arrested on or before May 10, 2023? No, that's not true: The claim came from a 2021 video that theorized about that happening in the future, but two years later, as of this writing, none of it materialized. The story appeared in a post published on Facebook on May 10, 2023. It…

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…

Did a red banner resembling a Soviet flag fly in Berlin over the Reichstag building, the seat of the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, on May 8, 2023 to commemorate the 1945 liberation of Europe from Nazi control? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that this happened -- the photos and videos are manipulated. The small collection of…

Did renowned actress and film producer Jada Pinkett Smith say that "she blames 'white supremacists' for the flop of her new Netflix docudrama series, Queen Cleopatra"? No, that's not true: No credible evidence exists that Pinkett Smith has made any such statement. The website where this claim appeared also has a reputation for publishing fabricated and inaccurate content. The claim…

Did mechanical ventilators kill "nearly all COVID patients" during the early stages of the pandemic? No, that's not true: The headline making the claim misrepresented the results of a study that reached a different conclusion: that secondary infections preyed on COVID patients connected to a ventilator to up their oxygen intake. The claim appeared in an article (archived here) published…

Did actor Tim Allen agree to film new episodes of Roseanne Barr's new show? No, that's not true: This claim was published on a self-described satirical website aimed at trolling conservatives. Lead Stories could find no credible news reports or public statements confirming that Barr has a new show titled, "Raising the Barr," nor that Allen committed to film seven…

Is Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the son of Mother Teresa, Catholic nun and Nobel Peace Prize winner? No, that's not true: Fauci was born to Italian-American parents in Brooklyn, New York, in 1940, when Mother Teresa lived in Calcutta, India, having moved there from her native Macedonia. The claim…