Iran

Does a video show an "Iranian whistleblower" revealing how they hacked a federal voter registration database during the U.S. 2020 election and created fraudulent overseas ballots? No, that's not true: The footage -- shown at an election integrity event in October -- includes a screen recording that the U.S. Justice Department already determined is intended to mislead people. It does…

Is soursop fruit 10,000 times stronger than chemotherapy? No, that's not true: Soursop has not been proven in any clinical trials to be stronger than chemotherapy to any degree. According to a cancer professor at Harvard, this is "not a plausible statement and there's nothing to back it up." The claim appeared in an Instagram post on October 29, 2022.…

Is this a recent photo from Kyiv, Ukraine, of a man shooting at Iranian drones from his balcony window? No, that's not true: This photo is from a Twitter account that acknowledges this tweet is an old picture and a meme. The claim appeared in a tweet on October 17, 2022 (archived here), that opened: Casual morning in Kyiv: Coffee,…

Do aluminum-based antiperspirants cause or exacerbate breast cancers? No, that's not true: No connection has been established between these types of antiperspirants and breast cancer. According to the Cleveland Clinic, "No scientific evidence has been discovered that links the use of these deodorants and antiperspirants to the development of breast cancer." The claim appeared in an Instagram post and video…

Was the father of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in Iran after being arrested for allegedly violating strict hijab laws, seen dancing on her grave? No, that's not true. A video alleged to show Amini's father dancing is an excerpt from a fictional TV series in Azerbaijan, Iran's northwestern neighbor. The claim appeared in an October 1, 2022,…

Does a reflection in an astronaut's helmet visor from the Apollo 17 moon landing prove that it was a hoax? No, that's not true: The reflection seen in astronaut Gene Cernan's helmet visor shows astronaut Harrison Schmidt standing in front of him on the surface of the moon in 1972. "The view is a little distorted due to the curvature…

Does a Facebook video show the Ukrainian navy destroying "13 Russian warships in the Black Sea"? No, that's not true: The clip recycles old unrelated footage of Russian -- not Ukrainian -- ships in action. More importantly, the video never discusses the 13 "destroyed" ships mentioned in the caption -- the narrator only says that those are "on high alert."…

Does a video show "Rep. John Haller" of Pennsylvania reading through the "HR 8791 -- the Homeland Terrorism Preparedness Bill" and interrupting his reading by repeatedly saying material is "classified"? No, that's not true: There was no Rep. John Haller representing Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District in 2007 when the video originally appeared. And there was no HR 8791 during that…

Did former President Barack Obama take 30 million pages of documents, including some secret nuclear papers, from the White House to Chicago when he left the presidency and then refuse to return them? No, that's not true: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) did ship 30 million pages of documents to a secure NARA facility in Chicago, but they…

Is Russian President Vladimir Putin preparing to "flee Russia should he be defeated in Ukraine"? As of August 2, 2022, there is no publicly available evidence that such plans are in place. The post making that claim cites a Telegram channel that says it has access to Kremlin insiders, but provides no proof that is the case. The story appeared…