Refugees

Can "illegal immigrants" be police officers in California? No, that's not true: Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law that allowed non-citizens who are legally authorized to work in the U.S. to become police officers. There are no citizenship requirements to become a police officer in the state. And federal law prohibits employers from hiring immigrants who are not authorized to…

Did a British government department ask families hosting Ukrainian refugees to report adult males to the Ukrainian embassy in January 2023? No, that's not true. A spokesperson for the UK Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities told Lead Stories on February 6, 2023, that a letter shared online was a hoax. In early February 2023, social media users posted…

Did Leonel Messi, an Argentinian football star who led his national team to the 2022 World Cup, swear at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Instagram, demanding that the Ukrainian leader "take [his] people and get out of Europe" and displaying a sign with profanity directed at Zelenskyy? No, that's not true. The image was digitally altered, and Messi did not…

Did graffiti showing Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy eating money appear in the capital of France during November 2022? No, that's not true: Neither local authorities nor the personnel of a store located near the supposed graffiti's site saw it. Journalists sent on location did not find any signs of the graffiti. The absence of other images of the scene suggests…

Do photos circulating on social media show a recently captured Ukrainian POW with a swastika tattoo on his back? No, that's not true: These are seven-year-old images, taken during fighting in 2015 with armed, Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. A 2015 video interview with an individual who closely resembles the man in these photos established that he is…

Did Poland "take the first step towards turning Ukraine into a Polish colony"? No, that's not true: Even a Facebook video that made such a claim admits there are no credible media reports or official statements backing this up. Lead Stories previously debunked similar claims that were initially published on the website of Russia's foreign intelligence service, the SVR. On…

Are these posts proof that British elementary school students and kindergarteners are being taught to tolerate sexual abuse? No, that's not true: There's no evidence to authenticate pictures of a brochure about strangers who approach, with the brochure saying, "do not call him a pedophile." Posts about the brochure first appeared on a Russian social media platform, citing an un-named…

Did actor Sam Elliott say that he won't support a political party "that supports abortion over life"? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the Academy Award-nominated actor ever made that remark, part of a longer purported quote that references other hot-button isues. He instead said in a 2015 interview that he was "very much pro-choice." The claim…

Did Europeans crowd onto a pier and try to flee to North Africa during World War II on the ship shown in this photo? No, that's not true: This image is miscaptioned. It shows the ship Vlora, which had left the port of Durrës, Albania, and crossed the Adriatic Sea in one day, arriving in Bari, Italy on August 8,…

Did French President Emmanuel Macron make a campaign promise that "Europe must be ready to accept up to 60 million refugees over the next 20 years from Africa and the Middle East"? No, that's not true: This is a fake tweet that is designed to look like a BBC News report from April 11, 2022. The BBC has confirmed this…