Deep State

Did Alexi Navalny's mother Lyudmila publicly accuse the politician's widow Yulia Navalnaya of capitalizing on her son's death? No, that's not true: The purported "address" is an AI-generated fake. Its origin can be traced to a network of Kremlin state-funded propaganda resources. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X, formerly known as Twitter, on February 22, 2024.…

Did Google send out a notification that it would end Gmail service on August 1, 2024? No, that's not true: The company denied that, and no credible sources reported that the announcement in question has ever been made. Early posts about the end of Gmail came from accounts known for posting trolling content. The claim appeared in a post (archived…

Did a New York City spokesman say that a trucker boycott has caused shelves to go empty throughout stores in New York City in February 2024? No, that's not true: This story originated from a website that clearly labels itself satire. The site has a disclaimer that describes it as part of a network of "parody, satire, and tomfoolery." There…

Does a video circulating on social media show a CNN report with President Joe Biden speaking about oil smuggling in Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela? No, that's not true: The video clip is not authentic. This exact clip is available from a celebrity voice-generating app. This clip featuring the likeness of Joe Biden has an AI-generated voice delivering a customizable…

Was former talk show host Oprah Winfrey convicted by the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps and sentenced to death? No, that's not true: The claim appeared in an article on a website that regularly publishes fabricated content, and as Lead Stories previously reported, there is no evidence that Winfrey was ever detained in Guantanamo Bay as the same website…

Do answers by Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa provide proof of the birth-certificate-bond conspiracy theory? No, that's not true: Alexa produces answers gathered from a variety of sources, and in some instances can be gamed to provide inaccurate information. Amazon told Lead Stories that it was not able to duplicate the responses given in the social-media post about the birth-certificate-bond conspiracy…

Did France 24 report that French President Emmanuel Macron cancelled a visit to Ukraine over fears of an assassination attempt? No, that's not true: France 24 debunked the claim. The video purporting to show the network report the news is a deepfake, generated by AI. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X, formerly known as Twitter, on…

Did the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps execute World Health Organization official Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer told Lead Stories that this claim is "false." The claim appeared in an article on a website that regularly publishes fabricated content. The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on February 10,…

Did the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps hang Assistant Defense Secretary for Acquisition Tanya Skeen on January 31, 2024? No, that's not true: This claim appeared in an article on a website that regularly publishes fabricated content. There is no evidence of such an incident taking place and Skeen has, since November of 2023 worked for a defense contractor…

Did the World Health Organization seek "surveillance powers to monitor every man, woman, and child for 'disease control'" as a post on Instagram implied? No, that's not true: The post in question referred to a set of WHO recommendations that WHO member countries expand pathogen tracking and vaccine development in advance of potential pandemics. There is no call to surveil…