Technology

Does a viral video show some kind of giant missile being transported, and is it related to the current conflict between Iran and Israel? No, that's not true: The video, captioned in one social media post as "the weapon that Israel fear the most" is several years old. It appears to show the transport of some heavy equipment to a…

Does a viral image of a town's nighttime skyline under air attack show Iran's attacks on Tel Aviv during hostilities between the two countries? No, that's not true: Authentic coverage of the battle showed defensive weapons streaking upward and far fewer falling projectiles. Also, Tel Aviv's skyline is defined by more than 50 tall towers, while the image shows a…

Did The Economic Times article that declared Kamala Harris won the 2024 election cite reports that concluded voting systems were rigged for Donald Trump? No, that's not true: The reports referred to by The Economic Times all stop short of declaring the election was stolen. Instead, those writers whom The Economic Times cited said there are questions about software and…

Did California Governor Gavin Newsom post fake photos of National Guard troops sleeping on a hard floor during their deployment to the Los Angeles riot zone in June of 2025, as a social media post claimed? No, that's not true: The post provides no evidence the images were AI-generated, other than a set of red arrows overlaid without explanation and…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump write on Truth Social that Elon Musk left the White House administration after "a very tense meeting about travel to Mars" during which the tech billionaire brought up an "implication" of bringing women to spaceships? No, that's not true: Neither Trump's posts on Truth Social nor an archive of his entries confirm he ever published…

Was U.S. President Donald Trump's account on X blocked again in the aftermath of the public feud with the platform's owner Elon Musk on June 5, 2025? No, that's not true: The account was still active, as of this writing. The screenshot that resurfaced on social media showed what Trump's account looked like in 2021 - after he had been…

Did Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff turn down a $270-million contract offer from Elon Musk in May 2025? No, that's not true: Even though posts promoting the rumor claimed that Goff rebuffed Musk at a high-profile, public charity event, we found no record of any such incident. Nor was there any evidence that Goff said to Musk "Keep it and…

Did clips shared widely in May 2025 authentically show Elon Musk and former CNN anchor Don Lemon arguing during an interview? No, that's note true: The video included audio that was fake, and most likely AI-generated. The clips added the fake audio and lip movements to authentic footage of a real discussion between Musk and Lemon that was published in…

Does a viral image authentically show a "1930 Russian/Soviet 'Tarantaika'"? No, that's not true: The picture was likely AI generated. The same picture was previously falsely claimed to have been a "restored 1875 chuckwagon" and Nicola Tesla's invention. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on Facebook on May 26, 2025. It opened: 1930 Russian/Soviet 'Tarantaika' (Boneshaker). The…

Did California's first female architect Julia Morgan design a reinforced concrete tower in 1904 that survived a 1906 San Francisco earthquake? Yes, that's true: The "El Campanil" bell tower on the Mills College campus in Oakland was undamaged by the magnitude 7.9 quake that devastated the area. The success of Morgan's pioneering use of concrete reinforced by steel was key…

Did a widely-shared video authentically show an "emotional support kangaroo" denied entry to a plane, as the animal's owner argues with gate staff? No, that's not true: The clip originated on an Instagram account that produces AI-generated content. The text on the kangaroo's boarding pass, and the non-existent language spoken by the humans in the video, were clues that the…

Several users are currently reporting Community Notes on X have disappeared from their timelines. This is not by itself unusual, sometimes notes that are voted "helpful" by Community Notes users later get downvoted into "not helpful" status. But right now it appears even notes that have reached "helpful" status in the Community Notes user interface are not being displayed on…

Does a viral video authentically show a "Polish Pilot" landing a Boeing 737 on just one wheel? No, that's not true: The footage of the plane, which also featured a "Mentzen 2025" campaign ad and a "Polski Pilot" logo, was created in a video game. The TikTok channel that originally published it said it was created in the "X Plane…

Did the Pentagon in May of 2025 approve acquisition of a "Qatari-built jet" to be the next Air Force One? No, that's not true: There is no aircraft manufacturing industry in Qatar that could make a jet of that size. The Pentagon on May 21, 2025 announced it had approved President Trump's plan to accept a Boeing 747 as a…

Does this video authentically document the Israeli military bombing Gaza, as a social media post claimed? No, that's not true: The video originated on a TikTok account named "@everythingai97" with a bio that says: "DISCLAIMER: ALL VIDEOS I POST ARE AI GENERATED." Several elements of the video reveal digital artifacts of the kind often found in videos that are made…

Did Florida statistics show that the Pfizer COVID vaccine "likely KILLED over 470,000 Americans" and "increased your risk of death by at least 36%"? No, that's not true: A draft research paper found only that those who got the Pfizer vaccine had a higher rate of death from all causes than did those who received the Moderna vaccine but it…

Does a viral image prove that a facility in Northern Pakistan experienced a radiation leak shortly after midnight on May 11, 2025? No, that's not true: What was described as an official government confirmation in posts on social media contained multiple inconsistencies and spelling mistakes, strongly pointing to forgery. The website of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which the "memo"…

Did a viral post on X.com authentically show a wave crashing over the rear deck of a yacht and washing "Eliteists" overboard at sea? No, that's not true: The video originates from a YouTube account that labels its material as having been made by generative AI. Clear evidence of the video's artificiality is visible, such as when humans suddenly appear…

ROME - That puff of white from atop the Sistine Chapel has long been a starting gun for conspiracists. With a new character in the story, they proclaim they alone tell the truth about dark forces playing pontifical puppeteers. These stories humans tell to make simple sense of complex events move ever faster, now that there's money to be made…

Do viral posts prove that the tech billionaire decided to celebrate American ice skater Alysa Liu's gold medal at the 2025 women's championship by giving her a Tesla? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no credible reports confirming it. Musk's and Liu's accounts on social media don't offer any support for the claim, either. The claim appeared in a…