Oprah

Does the walking boot President-elect Joe Biden started wearing the week after Thanksgiving 2020 mean that he is wearing an ankle monitor? No, that's not true: According to a statement from Biden's doctor, he started to wear the boot due to hairline fractures in his foot, and could be in it for several weeks. This type of ankle-monitor claim has…

Is this a real photo of Barack Obama kissing the former prime minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron? No, that's not true: It is a doctored photo created by pasting together two separate photos of Cameron and Obama kissing their wives. The claim appeared in a Facebook meme (archived here) where it was published on April 1, 2013 with…

Abbie Richards, a climate science student in the Netherlands, was looking with bewilderment at the state of her home country of the United States. So many conspiracy theories echoing, particularly ahead of the election. Struggling to wrangle all of them for a paper, she made a chart naming some 100 conspiracies dominating the social media world to, she hoped, make…

Did Facebook ban over 700 pages dedicated to exposing pedophilia? No, that's not true: The groups, pages and ads that were removed were tied to QAnon, a conspiracy theory that uses the issue of child trafficking as a recruitment tool. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on August 21, 2020. It read: FB banned over 700 pages…

Did Oprah Winfrey say when done "right" child molestation should feel "good" to children? No, that's not true. An article making that claim about Winfrey is false. The talk show host has spoken out on camera about child abuse for many years -- the article pulled out of context two examples of her explaining the way abusers operate, confusing their…

Does a "leaked" Jeffrey Esptein flight log show a list of celebrities, including Beyonce, Chrissy Teigen and Barack Obama, having flown on his plane nicknamed "Lolita Express?" No, that's not true. A list of 125 people circulating on social media claims A-list celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Charlie Sheen, Steven Spielberg, Madonna and politicians were on Epstein's flight logs and went…

Did a row of trees get chopped down in Europe to clear the way for 5G signals to reach further? No, that's not true: Trees do not need to be felled for the fifth-generation wireless technology to be transmitted. The tree removal in Marseille, France, had nothing to do with 5G, and the technology is not even available in France…

Did a fire that broke out in La Spezia, Italy, destroy 5G wireless towers? No, that's not true: Local media reports say the fifth-generation cellular network is not available in the city. "5G has nothing to do with it," a newspaper headline reads in Italian. The claim first appeared in a post (archived here) published in Italian on YouTube by…

Is 5G a governmental cover-up linked to the death of birds as well as public health? No, that's not true: Lead Stories has debunked many of these claims before. There is no evidence to suggest the fifth-generation cellular network is dangerous, but that hasn't stopped the conspiracy theories from festering online. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published…

Did a protest break out in Hong Kong over 5G cellular installation? No, that's not true: A viral video suggests that video of protests was related to the fifth-generation wireless technology, but it was recycled footage from the Hong Kong anti-government protests in 2019. The claim appeared in a post published on YouTube by Truth Isonn on April 4, 2020,…