Does a real image show a wife crying as she hugs her husband goodbye because he is deploying to Iran? No, that's not true: This is an AI-generated image that was published with a request for engagement. The page where this originated posts emotionally charged AI-generated images with captions asking for comments and shares. Other engagement bait themes include children…

Oh, joy! It is the most wonderful day of the year (if you are a fact checker)... April Fool's Day is upon us, that day when every outlet, brand, influencer and Internet jokester under the sun tries to come up with something original to fool their audience with. Listing every effort at humor, satire, parody etc. on such a day…

Does a video widely shared on April Fool's Day show a real LGBTQ+ flag waving at an entrance to Amerant Bank Arena, a home stadium for the Florida Panthers? Yes, that's true: The video appeared on the hockey team's account on X, among other places. News reports confirmed that the flag was seen during the March 31, 2026, game. The…

Does a viral video prove that a man in traditional clothes once walked holding hands with his underage wife in a public space in Plano, Texas? No, that's not true: Beyond the narrator's allegations, the video contains nothing confirming a marital relationship between the two. The local police department told Lead Stories it had received no official reports of child…

Does a real photo show Australian politician Jacinta Allan with LGBTQ+ and Islamic country flags behind her? No, that's not true: It appears that another image was edited -- possibly using AI -- to create the photo of Allan with the flags in question. There is no reliable evidence to support the claim that Victoria's premier ever stood in front…

Is a video of a woman crying while tied up from the Epstein files released by the U.S. Department of Justice? No, that's not true: The footage is from a 2007 mockumentary-style horror film titled "The Poughkeepsie Tapes." The video exactly matches footage from the movie that is easily found on the internet. The claim appeared in a post with…

Did country singer Jason Aldean walk off the set of Stephen Colbert's TV show over a joke about Donald Trump? No, that's not true: The story originated on a Facebook page known for its satirical content. The image supporting the claim is stamped with a warning label that says: "Satire. Nothing on this page is real." The claim appeared in…

Did former British Prime Minister Liz Truss blame "underground transgender mafia" for a KitKat chocolate heist? No, that's not true: The made-up quote originated from a satire account that had a history of attributing false statements about "underground transgender mafia" to Truss. As of this writing, no credible media outlet had reported the former prime minister making such a remark.…

Did Bad Bunny and other famous people including Blake Shelton, Cardi B, Tom Jones, Andrea Bocelli say that they were supporting peaceful demonstrators via the National Defense Fund? No, that's not true: The claim was an example of so-called "Viet Spam" campaigns of nearly identical made-up clickbait stories, each featuring a different famous person, created to drive traffic to web…

Did single dad Michael Torres get 199 points instead of the 200 needed to win $20,000 in Family Feud Fast Money to pay for his daughter's cancer treatment? No, that's not true: The story was generated by artificial intelligence tools by a spam operation Lead Stories has identified as based in Vietnam. There is no credible documentation that this story…