Technology

Does a video that looks like Ring doorbell footage authentically show a dog bringing a bear home onto the porch of a home? Unfortunately, no: Much to the disappointment and surprise of some viewers of the cute video, the footage is clearly AI generated. The VEO watermark logo on the lower right corner indicated it was made with Google's artificial…

Does a video authentically capture Donald Trump saying planned Super Bowl 2026 half-time performer Bad Bunny is from "the Mexican City of Puerto Rico" ? No, that's not true: The audio was lifted from a Trump impressionist's YouTube video and plays while the person in the TikTok video reacts to what is said. There is no publicly available report that…

Does a video show a self-driving Waymo car erratically driving on a golf course? Yes, but that is missing context: The Waymo car, equipped with self-driving technology, was nonetheless being operated by a human driver according to a statement Waymo released about the footage. They said the human-driven car was preparing for an event at the golf course. The claim…

Was a Trump 2020 graphic digitally added to a family photo of Michigan LDS church shooting suspect Thomas J. Sanford? No, that's not true: The picture with the Trump 2020 graphic is the original, posted publicly on Facebook in 2019 and unchanged. Social media commenters later posted an edited version that removed the Trump logo. The original photo is still…

Did Nicole Sirotek get a 4 a.m. call from the husband of a pregnant woman dying of liver failure after she took a large dose of Tylenol to disprove President Donald Trump's declaration that acetaminophen causes autism? Here's what we know: Sirotek, who Lead Stories has previously fact-checked for COVID misinformation, posted the anecdote on social media September 24, 2025,…

Did Meta, the owner of the Threads social media platform, announce it had begun labeling some accounts with a warning that "This user is suspected of being part of a terrorist organization called Antifa. Please report any suspicious behavior."? No, that's not true: Users add the italicized phrase themselves at the bottom of their own posts. Neither Meta nor Threads…

Did Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika, go on social media to announce that she and her husband's organization, Turning Point USA, started a new dating app and that she joined it even before the memorial service for her husband? No, none of that is true: The image used to prove the existence of such a post originated from a subreddit, not…

Would Dr. Mehmet Oz, a former diet supplement company advisor and investor, profit from the Trump Administration's plan to recommend folinic acid for those on the autism spectrum? No, that's not true: As a condition of taking the job of Administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Oz pledged in writing to close out by July 3, 2025…

Did the servers for gay dating app Grindr in Phoenix or Glendale have problems handling increased traffic related to Charlie Kirk's memorial service in Arizona on September 21, 2025? No, that's not true: A website named Downdetector did show an increase in outage reports around that time but according to their methodology the graphs on the service are at least…

Did UK police attempt to seize a child's phone for viewing a social media post? No, that's not true: In the recording shared as "proof" of the claim, police were heard saying the reason for their visit was different. In a statement released in response to social media posts, police said that their visit to the home of a suspect,…

Was "The Shooting Of Charlie Kirk" book published by "Anastasia J. Casey" the day before Kirk was shot and killed in Utah? No, that's not true: An Amazon spokesperson told Lead Stories the title was published in the late afternoon on September 10, 2025, and the date of September 9, 2025, that appeared on the website for the book was…

Was the FBI the source for crisp, clear video a social media post distributed, saying it showed a person sought by the FBI in its investigation of the killing of political activist Charlie Kirk? No, that's not true: The real images released by the FBI were grainy pictures from security camera footage. The person who posted the high-resolution video has…

Did the UK government begin enforcing a daily bank withdrawal limit of £3,000 on individual accounts on September 1, 2025? No, that's not true: No such policy has been announced by either of the UK's banking and banker regulatory authorities. No such law, let alone regulation, has been adopted by Parliament and no credible news organization has reported such a…

Is a video of an African lion meeting a robot with either one of them being scared authentic? No, that's not true: The original version of the viral video includes a Veo3 watermark in the lower right corner, indicating it was made with Google's artificial intelligence tool. The caption on the video claims the lion was "scared" of the robot.…

Did Bill Gates use his turn speaking at a White House dinner to apologize for things such as: Windows, viruses, vaccines, sterilizing people, and trying to block out the sun -- finishing by asking for a pardon over "all the Epstein shit"? No, that's not true: This video was published by a parody account and bears their watermark in the…

Did Elon Musk sign a $13.5 million deal with Netflix for a 7-episode series about his "turbulent journey" as of September 3, 2025? No, that's not true: There is no evidence Musk signed a Netflix deal. The only source making the claim is a website that publishes hundreds of fake stories each day, including debunked claims that Stephen Colbert and…

Is a viral video of a girl crying in front of the camera because she didn't realize Apple Pay used "real American Dollars from your credit card" and not "Apple Dollars" real? No, that's not true: The video was a skit by comedian Tina Vlamis. Her TikTok channel features several other, similar comedy videos. The video (archived here) was published…

Did the UK enact mandatory ID checks at supermarket entrances before people can shop for "basic essentials like bread or milk", starting September 12, 2025? No, that's not true: A UK government spokesperson told Lead Stories that the rumor is "completely false". No credible media organizations reported what social media posts labeled "breaking news". The claim appeared in a video…

Did Dolly Parton, George Strait, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, Alan Jackson and Blake Shelton announce a joint tour in 2026 called "One Last Ride" as several social media posts declared? No, that's not true: There is no mention of such a joint tour on any of the six country stars' social media pages. No credible news outlet has reported what…

Does a blue pulse moving from east to west on a Doppler radar map show some sort of "storm pumping" weather modification or HAARP activity? No, that's not true: The radar reflectivity time lapse animation shows that radar signals have picked up the presence of millions of birds in flight who began their southward migration after the sun set. As…