Is the message some citizens received at one Los Angeles County voting center -- that a county computer indicated they had already voted -- evidence that Republican votes were stolen in California's gubernatorial recall election? No, that's not true: Election officials said iPads used by poll workers to check voter registrations held outdated information and had to be reset. Officials…

Does this photo accurately portray the appearance of Canadian Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam? No, that's not true: This photo, which originally appeared in the Toronto Star on April 23, 2020, has been digitally altered in several ways to change how she looks. Other public health officials, such as Dr. Barbara Ferrer, public health director of Los Angeles…

Can you change your voicemail on your landline or cellphone when the phone has no service, data or connection to Wi-Fi? No, that's not true: Both T-Mobile and AT&T said that that was not possible. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on April 14, 2020. It opens: EMERGENCY TIP!!!! If you ever find yourself in a dire…

Is the carbon footprint of mining the materials for electric car batteries greater than the carbon footprint of one year's U.S. air travel, are those batteries impossible to recycle and is this proof electric vehicles are worse for the planet than internal combustion vehicles? No, that's not true: The claims are made without providing credible sources of information. Plus, it…

Did the Treasury Department declare the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will monitor transactions of all U.S. bank accounts over $600? No, that's not true: The Department has made no such declaration. It has proposed a change to the current law on disclosure requirements, but its proposal would require financial institutions to report aggregate numbers, not individual transactions. The claim appeared…

Did the oldest working nurse in the U.S. recommend that seniors use a specific brand of humidifiers to ward off COVID-19 during the winter? No, that's not true: The video that made the claim used fictional quotes and unrelated footage of surgical nurse Florence "SeeSee" Rigney to advertise humidifiers. The claim appeared in a video posted (archived here) on Facebook…

Did Vice President Kamala Harris "admit" that COVID-19 vaccines don't work? No, that's not true: Her tweet that is the basis for the claim is a summary of public health recommendations that reflect reality: No vaccine is 100% effective and breakthrough infections of the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, however mild among vaccinated persons, have been documented and could result in…

Do President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden own 10% of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd (CATL), a leading lithium-ion battery development and manufacturing company based in China, a country with financial interests in Afghanistan lithium? No, that's not true: According to public financial documents, the elder Bidens are not financially linked to CATL. However, because of his equity…

Did the hurricane hunters of the Air Force Reserve "abandon their mission" because their aircraft suffered cracked windows while chasing Hurricane Ida in late August 2021? No, that's not true: An aircraft used by the hurricane hunters had a single "spider" crack in its windshield on August 28, 2021, a day before Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana. According to…

Have Meghan Markle and Prince Harry divorced, and was it "in bitterness"? No, that's not true: This claim has been circulated from an unverified "news" account that provides no substantive evidence that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have divorced as of this writing. The phrase "Meghan Markle and Prince Harry divorce" does not appear in any news coverage concerning…

Is this video correct in saying ivermectin is a successful treatment for COVID-19, and that is being covered up by the media and the FDA, CDC and WHO; and is natural immunity through infection better than a COVID-19 vaccine? No, none of those claims are true: There is no proof offered in a video about the three organizations "hiding" information…

Did 351,709 votes that had been cast to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom mysteriously vanish during a live CNN broadcast of the California election night results when about half of the votes had been counted? No, that's not true: There was a data entry error made by a staffer of Edison Research Polling, which falsely inflated the count of the…

Did Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spend thousands of dollars for her dress and her ticket to the Met Gala 2021, held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art? No, that's not true: according to her communications director, Ocasio-Cortez's dress, which displayed the slogan "Tax The Rich," was borrowed. And a spokesperson for the Met confirmed that Ocasio-Cortez attended the event as a…

Does a study find vaccinated patients are 27 times more likely to develop COVID symptoms than unvaccinated? No, that's not true: The study, based on medical records of the Maccabi Health Service HMO in Israel, found that vaccinated patients are 27 times more likely to develop COVID symptoms than people who were infected with and recovered from COVID-19. Though "unvaccinated,"…

Will all Australians who are not vaccinated by the end of the year be put into "isolation camps"? No, that's not true: A spokesperson at 7News Australia told Lead Stories that the account in which this claim was made is fake. Also, a representative of the Australian Government Department of Health told Lead Stories that this post is "false." The…

Does a 2019 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guideline for treatment of refugees "blow a hole" in the widely reported warnings against use of veterinary ivermectin to treat COVID-19? No, that's not true: The human formulation of the drug is specifically intended to kill worms and other harmful parasites, which is why the CDC in 2019 urged ivermectin…

Has the COVID-19 vaccine program killed more active-duty military than the virus? No, that's not true: There had not been any deaths from the vaccine as of September 14, 2021, and no fully vaccinated service members had died from COVID-19 , the Department of Defense told Lead Stories. There had been 43 deaths from COVID-19 among active military members as…

Do $100 bills contain tags in their blue 3-D security ribbons that are connected to devices used by law enforcement? No, that's not true: A representative from the U.S. Department of the Treasury confirmed that the claim is false. Additionally, the bills do not contain any tracking tags. The claim appeared in an Instagram post (archived here) published on September…

Are Walmart locations in Canada requiring shoppers to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination and a government-issued ID to shop in stores, effective November 1, 2021? No, that's not true: a Walmart Canada spokesperson confirmed that the claim is false. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published on September 13, 2021. It used a Walmart Canada Corporation logo…

Do these photos depict Christians who refused to deny their faith being suffocated in Afghanistan? No, that's not true: These are video stills taken at a protest performance 8,800 miles from Afghanistan in Medellín, Colombia, on May 26, 2021. The performance happened during the National Strike in Colombia and this performance was intended to be a symbolic tribute to people…