Society

Does a viral clip authentically document a scene showing a Black FBI agent being stopped by a police officer while driving a car? No, that's not true: The footage originated from a site that publishes reenactments, according to its own disclaimer. That page, weeks old as of April 10, 2025, is not a government website. The claim appeared in a…

Did Children's Health Defense podcast guest Pierre Kory prove that Texas' confirmation of a 2nd measles death of an unvaccinated 8-year-old in Lubbock was "100 Percent False"? No, that's not true: Kory, who in 2024 was stripped of his internal medicine credential, never examined the patient and said he based his claim on a partial copy of her medical file,…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump publicly declare that he would implement martial law in the United States on April 20, 2025? No, that's not true: As of April 9, Trump had not publicly given any such order, or made any such declaration. Rumors that Trump would announce or implement martial law on April 20 stemmed from an executive order relating…

Did Joe Rogan podcast guest Dr. Suzanne Humphries accurately describe problems with the polio vaccine and with organized medicine's responses to polio? No, that's not true: A Brown University Medical School professor said Humphries made several errors of fact. She erred in claiming DDT pesticide caused polio and that symptoms of arsenic poisoning match those of polio, leading to misdiagnosis.…

Is the pyramidal peak in Antarctica's Ellsworth Mountains the topic of an expert debate over whether it is a masonry pyramid constructed during Antarctica's last warm period, millions of years ago? No, that's not true: There is no credentialled scholar or explorer with on-the-ground knowledge making that case. The nameless mountain in Antarctica's Ellsworth Range sits in a well-studied range…

Did Senator Rand Paul call U.S. President Donald Trump "a tyrant" while speaking in Congress on April 2, 2025? No, that's not true: As the full recording of the speech shows, Paul did not even use the word "tyrant" on that occasion. His single reference to tyranny concerned a broad historical context that predated Trump's birth by centuries. The claim…

Are there credible reports about evacuation from 17 U.S. cities due to an imminent "mass event" approaching in April 2025? No, that's not true: As of April 7, 2025, neither federal nor local authorities issued evacuation orders for the metropolitan areas named on social media. The image from a viral post that listed 17 U.S. cities was published online for…

Did Austin Metcalf, a Texas teenager stabbed to death in April 2025, earlier post on social media a photograph of guns along with a racist message? No, that's not true: Internet users copied a photo from a 2020 Reddit post, and used digital editing to create a non-existent Instagram handle. Police in Frisco, Texas have charged Karmelo Anthony, who is…

Did viral posts spread an authentic warning about two suspects at large in connection with "the death of 10-month-old baby girl Diana Tyler" in March 2025? No, that's not true: Those posts were an example of the bait-and-switch scam. Their contents were later replaced with unrelated text trying to trick people into following a link and sharing their personal information.…

Did a series of Facebook posts in late March and early April 2025 offer genuine concern over an unidentified woman supposedly found "heavily stabbed" in a black Audi A7, in various locations in the United States? No, that's not true: Such posts were examples of a known "bait-and-switch" scam, which garnered well-meaning shares of the original post before flipping its…

Do posts about a "young boy, around 3 years old," found in The Bronx express authentic concern about the child said to have been found unattended "an hour ago"? No, that's not true: The content of these posts was later replaced with real estate images and obscure links. This is a common tactic to trick people into disclosing sensitive personal…

Does a viral video show singer R. Kelly walking out of prison after being pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump in 2025? No, that's not true: The scene predated the singer's conviction in the 2022 criminal trial. As of this writing, R. Kelly is still on the list of currently incarcerated people on the Federal Bureau of Prisons website. The…

Did a series of Facebook posts in late March and early April 2025 offer genuine concern over Katie Cunningham, a police officer supposedly missing from various locations in the United States? No, that's not true: Such posts were examples of a known "bait-and-switch" scam, which garnered well-meaning shares of the original post before flipping its content to boost dubious real…

Does a viral clip show authentic archival footage of U.S. President Ronald Reagan telling a story about his conversation with a child who wanted to solve homelessness? No, that's not true: Two AI detectors found that the clip utilized AI generated sound. The video recycled the recording of Reagan's last presidential address from the Oval Office, but in reality, he…

Did President Donald Trump cancel 20 truckloads of food en route to Ohio food banks and throw it away rather than give it to needy people? No, that's not true: While the U.S. Department of Agriculture in March of 2025 cut federal funding for local food purchased for food banks and schools, there is no evidence this required fresh food…

Does video of a syringe with a retracting needle prove that "the elites" faked receiving vaccinations? No, that's not true: It is generic footage demonstrating the use of a prop syringe for use on stage or during filming. It did not document any high-profile individual using the dummy syringe to avoid vaccination. Entries on social media sharing the video in…

Did wrestler Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock, threaten to "punch" Elon Musk on X in March 2025, if the tech billionaire "doesn't leave America alone"? No, that's not true: A review of Johnson's posts doesn't confirm he ever published what was attributed to him. The claim originated from an obscure clickbait website whose disclaimer said that it "assumes…

Did a series of Facebook posts in late March 2025 offer genuine concern over Blasia Lackey, a teenager supposedly missing from various locations in the United States? No, that's not true: Such posts were examples of a known "bait-and-switch" scam, which garnered well-meaning shares of the original post before flipping its content to boost dubious real estate and marketing promotions.…

Did commentator Ben Shapiro criticize the work of American painter Georgia O'Keeffe for "not looking like anything"? No, that's not true: quotations attributed to Shapiro actually originated in a 2021 article by the self-described satire website The Hard Times, and were re-shared again in March 2025. Similarly, Shapiro never posted a video to YouTube with the title "Ben Shapiro DESTROYS…

Did United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer post on social media about the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, on March 30, 2025, but fail to post about Mother's Day on the same day? No, that's not true: Starmer posted about Mother's Day on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. He also wished Muslims a blessed Eid-al-Fitr, the festival which marks the end…