Is the Federal Reserve's FedNow service now the primary form of currency in the United States? No, that's not true: FedNow is just an instant payment system and will not change the currency infrastructure in the United States. Rather, the
Publication: Technology
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Mount Meru Is NOT A Real Place Nor Does It Appear On Urbano Monti’s Planisphere Map Of 1587
Is Mount Meru, a magnetic mountain, located at or under the North Pole at the center of a flat Earth -- and is this mountain the reason why all compasses point to the magnetic north? No, that's not true: In Hindu and Buddhist mythology, M
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Scotiabank Is NOT Transitioning To Digital Bank Accounts As Of March 29, 2023
Did Scotiabank, one of the largest banking corporations in Canada, announce in an online article and on a store sign that it is currently closed so that it can convert "all banking accounts to digital bank accounts" by April 1, 2023? No,
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Astronaut Karen Nyberg Faking Visit To International Space Station — It’s Someone Else
Does a video on social media show former NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg faking a visit to the International Space Station (ISS) in front of a green screen? No, that's not true: In the original version of the clip, the narrator never identifi
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Images Of ‘Arrested’ Putin Are NOT Authentic
Do viral images of Russian President Vladimir Putin actually show him being arrested? No, that's not true: The "photos" were created by AI-based software, and, as of this writing, Putin is not under arrest, despite a warrant issued by the
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ‘Pope Drip’ Image Is NOT Real — Photo of Pope Francis In White Puffer Coat Is An AI Creation
Did Pope Francis appear walking on the street wearing a high-fashion white puffer coat? No, that's not true: This image is one of a series of four AI-generated images which were posted on the subreddit forum r/midjourney, "an official sub
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Pictures of Fauci Arrest Are NOT Real Photos But AI-Generated Images
Do images circulating on social media show press photos of Anthony Fauci under arrest and in police custody? No, that's not true: Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has not been arrest
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Unsterile Human Remains Are NOT Drained Into Local Water Supplies During ‘Aquamation’
Are unsterile human remains processed by aquamation and being pulverized into a powder that is drained into local water supplies? No, that's not true: Bones are made into sterile ash, similar to that resulting from traditional flame crema
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Images Of Trump Arrest Are NOT Real Photos But AI-Generated Images — There Had Been No Arrest When Photos Appeared
Do these photos show former President Donald Trump being arrested by a group of New York City law enforcement officers? No, that's not true: At the time these images appeared online, on March 20, 2023, and March 21, 2023, Trump had not be
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Photo Of Bigfoot Airlift Is NOT Real — Edited Image Using Old Hoax
Does a photo of a helicopter airlifting a large creature show evidence that Bigfoot is real? No, that's not true: This image has been edited. The silhouette of the Bigfoot that appears below the helicopter was pulled from a popular 2006 e
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: False Promotions Use Famous Brand Names — Tricking People To Hand Over Personal Information
Can simply answering three or four questions and paying a nominal handling fee qualify people to redeem tickets, receive expensive products, $500 or even $1,000 gift cards, store credit or compensation from well-known brands? No, that's n
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Fauci NOT ‘Set To Be Arrested’ For Lying To Congress — It’s A Followbait Scheme
Is Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and former chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, facing imminent arrest for lying to Congress? No, that's not true: The allegation
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Alien Boarding Spaceship Before Flying Away — It’s Clip From Sci-Fi Short Film
Does a short video show in reality a lanky extraterrestrial boarding a hovering spaceship in a snowy field before flying away above a Siberian forest? No, that's not true: The animated clip is a cropped version of a science fiction short
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Promise Of $1,000 Store Credit Is NOT From SHEIN Clothing Brand — Phishing Website
Is the fast-fashion clothing brand SHEIN offering $1,000 in store credit to Facebook users for simply answering four questions? No, that's not true: SHEIN is a real clothing brand but this is not their promotion. The empty promise of stor
Logically→ Digital entrance gates at Walmarts in 15-minute cities won’t open for residents who have exceeded their meat, dairy, and egg consumption limit.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Elon Musk Did NOT Invent Energy-Saving Device That Will Cut Power Bills By 90%
Did Elon Musk invent a ground-breaking plug-in device that helps lower electric bills by lowering consumption instantly? No, that's not true: Electrical devices with identical plastic housings have been marketed online for years without m
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Silicon Valley Bank Failure NOT ‘First Massive Bank Collapse This Century’
Was the $209 billion Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failure in March 2023 the "first massive bank collapse this century"? No, that's not true: "Washington Mutual is still larger, but SVB was the largest since the Great Recession," Julianne Bre
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence Copper Bracelets Reduce Blood Sugar, Treat Diabetes
Have copper bracelets made by "CopperHeal" been shown to "significantly reduce" blood sugar and treat diabetes? No, that's not true: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed to Lead Stories in an email that the agency had not
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Elon Musk Did NOT Endorse A Remedy Called Shilajit — Video Altered With Cloned Voice
Did Elon Musk endorse a remedy called shilajit? No, that's not true: This video clip of Musk speaking at the Ted2022 Conference has been dubbed with a sound-alike clone copy of Musk's voice to make it appear he was touting shilajit, when
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Elon Musk Did NOT Tweet Bill Gates ‘Doesn’t Know How To Code’
Did tech entrepreneur Elon Musk "expose" the professional incompetency of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in a series of tweets on March 2, 2023? No, that's not true: An archived version of Musk's Twitter account does not contain any entr
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: TikTok Video Is NOT Real Bill Gates TV Interview – It’s Deepfake Of Australian Show
Did Sarah Ferguson, the host of the Australian daily current affairs news program "7.30," pose several testy and loaded questions to Bill Gates when she interviewed him, resulting in Gates finally declaring, "OK that's enough. This interv
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Elon Musk Did NOT Ban Greta Thunberg From Twitter — It’s Satirical Story
Did Elon Musk ban activist Greta Thunberg from Twitter? No, that's not true: Thunberg's Twitter account is still active. The claim appears in a publication with a disclaimer that its satirical articles are "not meant to be taken seriously
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Record Einstein Said ‘I Fear The Day That Technology Will Surpass Our Human Interaction’
Did Albert Einstein say, "I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots"? No, that's not true: Archival experts told Lead Stories that there is "no evidence" of such a quote
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ‘Sandy UFO’ Was NOT Caught On Camera — It’s Special Effects From Movie ‘Nope’
Was a massive "sandy UFO" caught on camera? No, that's not true: This footage is not real; it's special effects graphics in the 2022 sci-fi horror movie "Nope," directed by Jordan Peele. A short video clip was published on Instagram by @y
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO ‘Premeditated Murder’ Arrest Warrant Issued For Bill Gates In Philippines COVID Vaccine Rollout — ‘Heinous Crimes Court’ Does Not Exist
Was an arrest warrant for Bill Gates issued by the "Heinous Crimes Court" in the Philippines for "premeditated murder" linked to vaccine roll out? No, that's not true: A legal expert told Lead Stories, "Philippine courts do not have the a
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show China Has Cloned Dinosaurs — These Are Animatronic Theme-Park Attractions
Does a video on social media show that China has successfully cloned several species of dinosaurs? No, that's not true: The video's clips, shot at different locations, show Jurassic-Park-themed animatronics and puppetry. The dinosaurs are
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Elon Musk Is NOT Offering To Pay Homeowners To Install Solar Panels — Site Harvesting Personal Info
Did Elon Musk offer to pay 100 homeowners to test the "newest technology of solar panels"? No, that's not true: This offer that's too good to be true is a ruse to collect personal information and is not associated with Musk or Tesla in an
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Colorful Image Is NOT A Real Photo Of A ‘Complete Rainbow’ Captured By Pilot At 30,000 Feet
Did a pilot capture a photo of a complete full-circle rainbow while flying 30,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean? No, that's not true: This image is not a real photograph -- it's a fabricated image. Several key features present in real rainb
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Elon Musk Is NOT Buying Facebook
Is Elon Musk buying Facebook? No, that's not true: The article saying so has a clear disclaimer at the end that reads, "Recall that this is satire and not actual news." The claim originated in an article (archived here) published by Topad
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Posts About Missing Teenager Brandon Smith Are Rent-To-Own Scam
Did a teenager named Brandon Smith go missing on February 28, 2023, in multiple American cities simultaneously? No, that's not true: Lead Stories analysis shows that a series of social media posts about a boy and his dog has characteristi
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Vaccinated People Do NOT Become The Property Of mRNA Vaccine Patent Holders — mRNA Does NOT Alter Natural DNA
Do gene editing mRNA vaccine patent holders own vaccinated people outright once injected, and does mRNA alter natural human DNA? No, that's not true: A Stanford University professor of law specializing in bioethics told Lead Stories that
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence Bill Gates Is Creating A Seed To ‘Target Black People’
Is Bill Gates engineering a seed that "will target Black people" and possibly kill them? No, that's not true: A video making that claim offers no evidence that Gates is producing a seed for plants that can attack the immune system of Blac
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Twitter Did NOT Institute Policy Banning Flag Of Ukraine
Did Twitter make a rule that users may not display the flag of Ukraine on their profile because it is considered a political statement against Russia? No, that's not true: A post from Walter Report contained a fabricated image which appea
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: HAARP Does NOT ‘Send A Billion-Watt Microwave’ To Cause Disasters On Earth
Can the Alaska-based HAARP project, a former military research facility for studying the ionosphere, remotely initiate natural disasters such as earthquakes anywhere on Earth? No, that's not true: An "explanation" of its purported capabil
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Definition Of Word ‘Horizontal’ Does NOT Prove Earth Is Flat
Did the word "horizon" come from the word "horizontal," and is this evidence that the Earth must be flat? No, that's not true: The word "horizon" came first, and the adjective "horizontal" followed. The adjective describes something "rela
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Report Does NOT Prove ‘Bill Gates’ Lab-Grown Meat Causes Cancer In Humans’
Does a report assessing the safety of a plant-based meat product made by a company in which Bill Gates has invested prove that meat grown in a laboratory causes cancer in humans? No, that's not true: Since the report doesn't even consider
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Andrew Tate Has NOT Been Released From Custody As Of February 22, 2023
Was Andrew Tate, who was arrested in late 2022 on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and participating in organized crime, released as of February 22, 2023? No, that's not true: The former kickboxing champion and internet influencer rem
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Apple Does NOT Have To Pay $700 To ‘Anyone With A Slowed-Down’ iPhone
Does Apple have to pay $700 "to anyone with a slowed-down phone, if they claim it"? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Apple has to pay $700 to anyone with a slowed-down iPhone. In 2020, the company settled a lawsuit for $310
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Images Of Spacecraft And Structures In Antarctica Are Not Real — Digitally Edited And Misrepresented Pictures
Does a collection of photos shared on social media show "another world" and remnants of a lost civilization or buried spacecraft under the ice of Antarctica? No, that's not true: These photos come from several sources. Some are presented
The Dispatch→ Meta’s VR Albatross
(Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)Mark Zuckerberg is burning billions of dollars on Meta’s virtual reality platform with no sign of payoff in sight.The post Meta’s VR Albatross appeared first on The Dis