Lead Stories

Unknown IDs Does a real video show a bus driver named Linda Thompson or Derek Harris being hit by a rock thrown by children? No, that's not true: The names were inserted into template-based stories where the details are essentially the same except for the bus driver's name. There is no evidence that people by those names were involved in such incidents, and the images used in the videos are from a variety of unrelated cases.

AI-Generated Is a video that shows gymnasts forming a human pyramid in 10 seconds real? No, that's not true: The video carries an "AI content" label in certain areas of the world due to automated labeling rules and transparency displays. While the human pyramid in the video takes 10 seconds to build, the Guinness World Record for the tallest human pyramid took over three minutes. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) by the @TheHumanPyramid account on Facebook on Oct. 4, 2026.

Made With AI Does a real video show an officer helping to free a baby bear stuck in a concrete highway median when the mother bear failed? No, that's not true: The video is AI-generated. The OpenAI Verify tool found a SynthID watermark indicating that the video was made with OpenAI tools. The video appeared in a post (archived here) by the @0ivankaTrump1 account on X on Sept. 30, 2026. It read: A mother bear couldn't free her cub from the highway barrier...

Misattributed Did E! News publish a report saying that Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy bought a residence from Norwegian royalty? No, that's not true: Such a story did not appear on that website. The viral rumor originated from a different website that was registered only two days before publishing the story. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X by @MonitorX99800 on Sept. 29, 2026.

Other's Quote Does a video show Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama saying she thinks "America deserved 9/11"? No, that's not true: She was quoting Hasan Piker, a political commentator and Twitch streamer who campaigned with a Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan. Her quote, at a political rally in Mobile, Alabama, on Oct. 2, 2026, attended by President Donald Trump, was meant to show that Democrats don't love the United States.

Edited Does a viral image show Trump's aide Natalie Harp sitting next to the president in a car while wearing blue surgical gloves? No, that's not true: The real photo was digitally altered to add two hands wearing blue surgical gloves that do not appear in the original. The account that first posted the edited image said it was not meant to be taken seriously. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook where it was published by @DailyBoulder on Oct. 2, 2026.

AI-Generated Is a video that shows Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese collapsing and falling face first into the ground real? No, that's not true: Video published by an international news outlet did not show Albanese falling when he arrived in Fiji on Oct. 5, 2026. An AI detection tool determined the video was 98.8% likely to have been created with AI. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) by @aliecxg account on X on Oct. 5, 2026.

Fake Receipts Are receipts from Sam's Club in 1983 and 2026 that show a huge price increase over the years real? No, that's not true: There are several signs that the receipts are fake, including nonexistent addresses, an incorrect logo from 1983 and wrong price totals on the receipts. An online detection tool rated the image as 88% likely to be AI generated. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) by the @teeelatricee account on X on Oct. 4, 2026.

Old Photo Does a photo circulating online show a signal jammer installed by police in Dover to block the livestreaming of anti-immigration protests? No, that's not true: The photo predates recent immigration protests by several years. Additionally, there is no evidence that signal jammers were installed at Dover before or during the early October 2026 protests. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) made by the account @HJB_News__ on Oct. 4, 2026.

Confused IDs Are the screenshots showing President Donald Trump confusing election results from Brazil and India in a post real? Yes, that's true: The president first shared a post noting the first round of India's presidential election, which he said took place on Oct. 4, 2026, but no such election took place on that date. Trump later corrected the post to mention Brazil's first round of presidential elections, which was held on Oct. 4, 2026.