Society

Do posts about suspects "Kelvin Buckland" and "Malena Renae Mason" being on the run offer a genuine warning for the members of various local communities? No, that's not true: Such posts were later flipped to promote rental deals. If people click the links promoted in the new versions of the posts, a series of web pages aim to trick social…

Does a viral image prove that the newly elected U.S.-born Pope Leo XIV is a "registered Republican" from Will County, Illinois? That omits some context: According to the Will County Clerk's Office file, the new Pope did vote in Republican primaries in the past, but that doesn't make him a "registered Republican" because Illinois does not require eligible voters to…

Cardinal Robert Prevost, a Chicago native, was chosen as successor to Pope Francis. Prevost, who becomes the first American to lead the Roman Catholic Church, has chosen the name Leo XIV. (Source: Lead Stories' screenshot of Vatican TV) Prevost's earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Villanova University in 1977, and a Master of Divinity from Catholic Theological Union…

Did the U.S. Supreme Court refuse to hear a case about "sexual orientation discrimination" involving Rachel Levine, the Biden Administration's assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)? No, that's not true: The Supreme Court website did not show any record of such a decision. The story originated from an account on Facebook linked…

Did a video shared widely in April 2025 show a real argument between a man attempting to deliver a pizza and a woman trying to block him from entering her "prestigious" apartment complex with it? No, that's not true: The man and woman were actors, and the video was a sketch. The account that originally posted it, Reaction World, regularly…

Does a viral clip show Canada's PM Mark Carney announcing phasing out "all vehicles manufactured before 2000 due to safety and emission standards"? No, that's not true: The video reused the footage of his tariff-related speech while replacing the authentic sound. The audio track was likely to have been generated by AI. The claim appeared in a post (archived here)…

Did a video shared on social media authentically capture a real-life scene showing a police officer "losing his mind" over a parking ticket? No, that's not true: The video originated from a channel that publishes re-enactments. Its website additionally emphasized that those videos are not authentic footage from body-worn law enforcement cameras and claimed copyright protection for its productions, something…

Does a viral post of a man in a Nazi SS uniform document the young life of financier George Soros? No, that's not true: It's not Soros. Further, the meme and other similar posts about Soros provide no documentary evidence for the extraordinary claim that Soros, who was 14 at the time of the Nazi occupation of his home country,…

Was the service history of Colonel Ruby Bradley, an American nurse captured in the Philippines during World War II, removed from official military websites on orders of U.S. President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth or DOGE? As of this writing, some pages describing her life were still available on government online resources. Yet, in at least two instances, those…

Did White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt make a request on X for opinions about whether the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) should investigate "a mysterious shell company" tied to "three Democratic senators" that received $622 million, or $500 million, in Ukraine war contracts? No, that's not true: The poll was posted by a self-described satire account. Lead Stories…

Does a video watermarked "ZXHK EDITX" authentically show a fight involving multiple adolescents? No, that's not true: A 2025 post recycled old footage. It was originally published by an account of a French stunt school. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X where it was published on May 1, 2025. It opened: They didn't expect this. The…

Does a video on social media show Britain's Princess Anne's authentic public statement that she rejects the idea of bowing to Queen Camila? No, that's not true: In that clip, the sound was added over a series of shots, but the video never showed Princess Anne actually saying what was attributed to her. No credible media organization reported such a…

Did Indians or Pakistanis set fire to a church in Wales in April 2025? No, that's not true: In response to widely-shared social media rumors, South Wales Police told Lead Stories there was "no link to India or Pakistan at all" in their investigation into a fire at the Bethany English Calvinistic Methodist Chapel in Port Talbot. Two local teenage…

Is owning a child sex slave legal in California, as a social media influencer wrote? No, that's not true: It is at least a misdemeanor in California to solicit prostitution from teens. In April of 2025, Democratic lawmakers blocked passage of a proposed amendment that would have made soliciting prostitution with trafficked minors a felony, but that did not remove…

Does a viral video on social media authentically document a passenger who threw a tantrum over not getting a seat in first class, wouldn't get off and had to be dragged from the plane? No, that's not true: The "passenger" is an actor who has appeared in multiple social media videos, playing a flight attendant, a passenger, a store clerk…

Do viral videos prove the existence of a creature named "Sleeping Rose Mantis" that transforms itself into a flower? No, that's not true: No databases of scientific literature reviewed by Lead Stories showed any mentions of such an insect. The videos were initially published by an account that mentioned generative AI tools in their descriptions. The claim appeared in a…

Did an April 2025 video show former First Lady Michelle Obama referring to herself "as a Black man"? No, that's not true: Obama was addressing Marlon Wayans, a Black man, and introduced her question to him with that preface. Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, interviewed Damon and Marlon Wayans on their podcast "IMO." The claim appeared in an April…

Did a man get decapitated on Space Mountain at Walt Disney World in April 2025? No, that's not true: A widely-shared video which recounted the story came from an account that describes itself as "the world's best satire and parody site." Mouse Trap News is a frequent source of fake, Disney-themed content. The story appeared in an April 28, 2025,…

Did Senator Lindey Graham post on X about President Trump being open to the possibility of becoming Pope? Yes, that's true: Even though there was doubt screenshots showing such a post were real, Graham did post it. The message included the slogan "Trump MMXXVIII" which stands for "Trump 2028" in Roman numerals. Graham's post on X (archived here, here and…

Did "The Simpsons" predict that April 29, 2025 will become "the day everything stops"? No, that's not true: The internet rumor originated from an account that posts "fictional stories". The video never used a direct video citation from the series. Lead Stories analysis of the visual sequence suggested it was created with generative AI. The claim appeared in a post…