Is a punch hole in a California ballot envelope proof of election rigging in the 2026 election? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that elections in California can be rigged based on just the existence of a punch hole on a ballot e
Here are the latest articles published by U.S. fact-checking sites:
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: FAKE Footage Showing ‘Junction Where Your Food And Air Pipes Split’ Is AI-Generated
Does real footage from an endoscopic camera show the junction between the esophagus and windpipe as food is swallowed? No, that's not true: The fake footage is designed to look like the view from a real medical camera in a person's throat
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Of Crying Flávio Bolsonaro PREDATES Election Results Announcement
Does the viral video actually show Flávio Bolsonaro crying after his defeat in Brazil's Oct. 25, 2026, presidential election? No, that's not true: Lead Stories established that the video had been posted hours before the official election
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Podcaster Ethan Klein Was NOT Found Dead In October 2026 — His H3 Podcast Crew Dropped Him
Was podcaster Ethan Klein found dead in October 2026? No, that's not true: There are no reports from established news outlets that Klein has died. However, the H3 Podcast is on indefinite hiatus after his wife and business partner, Hila K
FactCheck.org→ Lower Costs Now
Political leanings: Democratic 2024 total spending: N/A Lower Costs Now is a Democratic super PAC that was established in early September, according to a filing submitted to the Federal Election Commission. It is affiliated with FF PAC, form
FactCheck.org→ Safety & Affordability PAC Inc.
Political leanings: Republican 2024 total spending: N/A Safety and Affordability PAC Inc. is a super PAC that was established in early September. It is another Republican political action committee affiliated with President Donald Trump.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Man Did NOT Die While Taking Photo With Mechanical Dinosaur — Photo Of Alleged Victim Is Of Unrelated Texas Man
Did a man die while trying to take a photo with a mechanical dinosaur that trapped his head in its mouth? No, that's not true: A Facebook version of the video shows the same man extracting his head from the dinosaur's mouth without life-t
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Bolsonaro With Fewer Votes In Second Round Of 2026 Brazilian Presidential Election, Proving Fraud — Vote Count Was Incomplete
Does a video show Flávio Bolsonaro with fewer votes in the second round of the Brazilian presidential election in October 2026 than in the first, proving fraud? No, that's not true: The vote count was incomplete, with about 93% of the ba
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Greta Thunberg Was NOT Arrested In Rome For Throwing Confetti In Fountain At St. Peter’s Square — Photo Is From 2023 Sweden Arrest
Does a photo prove that climate activist Greta Thunberg was arrested in Rome for throwing confetti in a fountain at St. Peter's Square in October 2026? No, that's not true: That image of her had been online since 2023, and it showed her a
Full Fact→ Video shows police attending a protest not seizing ‘immodest’ mannequin over complaints from Pakistani community
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: JOKE CVE-2026-42069 ‘HTML2Shell’ Issue NOT A Real Internet Security Vulnerability — Programmer Humor
Is there a real CVE record "CVE-2026-42069" about a critical issue and an exploit called "HTML2Shell" that documents remote code execution in HyperText Markup Language (HTML)? No, that's not true: A viral joke image re-uses the CVE-2026-4
New York Times→ A Fact-Check on Trump’s Election Claims
The president has spread false claims about ranked-choice systems, voting machines, vote counting and past results to question the integrity of elections.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Edited Video Does NOT Prove Sweden’s King Refused To Shake Zelenskyy’s Hand
Does a video prove that Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf did not shake hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in Lviv in April 2026? No, that's not true: The video cuts off before the two leaders actually shake h
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: FAKE Video Of Man Who Rescues, Raises, Releases Injured Polar Bear Cub — It’s From An AI Content Maker
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: FAKE Video of Tesla Roadster Jumping Off Golden Gate Bridge Is AI-Generated — Digital Aerobatics
Does a video show a Tesla Roadster jumping off and back onto the Golden Gate Bridge? No, that's not true: An online tool concluded that the video was more than 99% likely to be AI-generated and that the audio was also AI-generated. There
FactCheck.org→ Alaska Ad Missing Context in Attacking Peltola’s Border Votes
An ad from the campaign of Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska features a mother whose 22-year-old son died from fentanyl and who claims Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola took contributions from “liberals [who] opened our borders to th
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Toronto Sun Did NOT Report That Zelenskyy Bought ‘$42M Underground Nuclear Bunker’ In Canada — Story Is From Impostor Site
Did the Toronto Sun publish an article reporting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy purchased a nuclear bunker in Canada in September 2026? No, that's not true: When contacted by Lead Stories, the outlet's deputy editor denied t
FactCheck.org→ Paxton Ad Takes Talarico Taxes Comments Out of Context
In late August, Democrat James Talarico said that he had told “every … wealthy person” that “if you are OK with getting taxed more, if you’re OK with me limiting your influence in politics, you are welcome to join this mo
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Anna Kelly Is NOT Officially Trump’s Next White House Press Secretary — No Successor Named
Is White House principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly officially President Donald Trump's next press secretary as of Oct. 23, 2026? No, that's not true: The White House has not announced who will replace Katie Zacharia, who held the
Full Fact→ False claim Henry Nowak’s killer has been attacked in prison circulates online again
False claims that Vickrum Digwa, who killed Henry Nowak, has been attacked in prison are being widely shared on social media again.
Full Fact→ Viral image of French woman with ‘refugees welcome here’ sign has been edited
A photo of a woman who tried to stop looters at a Paris supermarket has been superimposed onto an old image of protesters holding a ‘refugees welcome here’ sign.
Full Fact→ Viral imagery of Pink Panther protester in France is AI-generated
Several widely shared images and videos contain an invisible SynthID watermark and other clues they were generated with AI, including garbled text and reusing old protest photos.
Lead Stories→ Prebunk: Houses on Stilts Lift You Above Reality — Flood of AI-Generated Hydraulic Escape Systems
Have you seen viral videos showing houses being lifted up on hydraulic stilts to avoid floodwater? Lead Stories has spotted a number of such videos and found that many of them were created using artificial intelligence. While there are so
Lead Stories→ What We Know About Claims That Early Voters’ Ballots Were Switched in States Including Florida, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas
Are the ballots of early voters in Florida, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and other states being switched after they vote? Here's what we know so far: Some social media posts leading up to the November 2026 midterm elections incl
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: FAKE Images Showing ‘Satanic Rituals On Epstein Island’ With Epstein, The Clintons, Bill Gates, And Stephen Hawking — Made Or Edited With Google AI
Do real leaked images show satanic rituals taking place on Epstein Island with Jeffrey Epstein, Bill Gates, the Clintons, and Stephen Hawking? No, that's not true: Google's SynthID detection tool found a watermark indicating each of the f
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Touchscreen Voting Machine Selecting Wrong Candidate From The 2026 Election — Clips Are From 2014 And 2019
Does a video show touchscreen voting machines selecting the wrong candidates for the Nov. 3, 2026, midterm elections? No, that's not true: The video combines two clips from earlier elections, one from 2019 and the other from 2014. Neither
Full Fact→ France protests: fact checked
We’ve spotted several AI images and videos being shared online with claims they show protests and violent incidents in France, as well as old footage dating back to 2023.
Full Fact→ Has the government legislated to ‘adjust’ the state pension triple lock?
Full Fact looks at Andy Burnham’s pledge to legislate this Parliament to change the triple lock mechanism.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: FAKE AI-Generated Charlie Hebdo Cover On French Protests Does NOT Show Oct. 21, 2026, Issue — Or Any Other Issue
Does a viral picture show a real Charlie Hebdo cover featuring protesters chanting 'free Palestine' alongside 'free iPhone' and 'free Balenciaga'? No, that's not true: The magazine's website did not show such a cover published in October
Full Fact→ Viral clip shows Bangladesh coast not ships stuck in Strait of Hormuz
A viral video claims to show hundreds of ships stuck in the Strait of Hormuz. But the shoreline doesn’t match—it was actually filmed over Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Prove Trump Waved To Nobody Before Boarding Marine One — People Are Outside Camera View
Does a video prove President Donald Trump waved to nobody outside the White House before boarding Marine One for Kansas on Oct. 19, 2026? No, that's not true: The clip is missing important context. In longer versions of the video and in v
FactCheck.org→ Controversial Ohio Ad Calls Acton a ‘Liar,’ But Records Back Her Account of Childhood
The campaign of Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican running for governor in Ohio, sparked controversy this week with an ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Dr. Amy Acton. In the ad, Acton’s mother calls her a “liar” who is
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: FAKE Images, Videos Show Pink Panther at Paris Protests
Do viral images and videos of a person dressed as the cartoon character Pink Panther actually show October 2026 protests in France? No, that's not true: Results from three online tools showed that this content was produced by AI. Manual r
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Shows Madrid Street Vendors NOT Paris Looters — Footage Predates Recent French Rioting
Does a video show street vendors in Paris selling merchandise that came from looted Paris shops? No, that's not true: The video shows street vendors in Madrid, Spain, and was published on X on Oct. 11, 2026, with a caption critical of the
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: FAKE Video Shows Man Claiming to Be Ex-Student of Democratic Senate Nominee James Talarico — Real Zyon Lewis Says It Is Not Him
Does a real video show a man claiming to be a former student of Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico? No, that's not true: Zyon Lewis, the man supposedly depicted in the video, told Lead Stories in a phone interview that it was not hi
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: FAKE Video Shows Tesla Roadster Flying Off Building Roof In The Middle Of A City — It Is AI-Generated
Is a video that shows a Tesla Roadster flying off the roof of a building in the middle of a city real? No, that's not true: An online tool determined the video was AI-generated. The footage does not match the video released of the Tesla R
Full Fact→ Google updates AI detector after Full Fact investigation finds it flagging apparently real images
Our investigation found the tool claimed five images shared by politicians were “made or edited” with AI, when those who’d posted them said they weren’t.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Image Of Woman With ‘Refugees Welcome Here’ Sign Does NOT Show October 2026 French Protests — It Is AI-Altered Photo From London 2016
Does a viral composite image show a woman holding a 'Refugees welcome here' sign in front of a looted store during the October 2026 Paris protests? No, that's not true: The side of the composite image that allegedly show the woman with an
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Numbers, October 2026 Update
Summary So far, under President Donald Trump’s second term: Job growth became sluggish, with only 776,000 jobs created. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.2%, still historically low. Inflation worsened. Consumer prices are up 5.4%.
Full Fact→ How much of the fall in pensioner poverty is ‘thanks’ to the Conservatives?
Conservative shadow minister Helen Whately claimed that the halving of pensioner poverty was “in no small part” thanks to her party. But most of that fall happened when Labour was in power.