Fact Check

Is it illegal to leave a three-star Google restaurant review in Germany? No, that's not true: It is legal to leave a three-star review, but German law supports the restaurant's commercial reputation. If a business challenges reviews as defamatory Google will remove them, with provisions for the reviewer to appeal. Where reviews are removed, Google displays a non-exact count --…

Did European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ban laptops from cafés in the European Union? No, that's not true: There is no credible evidence that von der Leyen ever ordered such a ban. The creator of the post that made the original claim also admitted that it was "shitposting" and should not be taken seriously. The claim appeared in…

Did President Donald Trump, in a social media post, repeat the protest slogan "MERZ, LICK EGGS" about the German chancellor and suggest the United States might "take over" Germany? No, that's not true: The supposed post does not appear on the president's official Truth Social account, and there are no reliable reports that it ever did. Trump has been critical…

Does a viral video capture a real fight between Brazilian soccer players Neymar and Robinho Júnior? No, that's not true: The clip contained glitches typical of AI-generated content. Neymar was not part of that soccer club when the video's timestamp suggested the incident took place. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on May 5, 2026.…

Does a viral image show a real bus converted into a mobile grocery store in contemporary Denmark? No, that's not true: The image was a product of generative AI. Contrary to viral posts, mobile grocery stores are not a recent invention -- they have been in use in Europe at least since 1956. The claim appeared in a post (archived…

Does a video show a Russian submarine arriving in Havana, Cuba, in May 2026? No, that's not true: The footage dates back to June 2024, when a nuclear-powered Russian submarine and three Russian warships arrived in Havana as part of a port visit coinciding with Russian naval exercises in the Caribbean. The clip resurfaced in social media posts falsely claiming…

Did the United States have an election with 133 million registered voters in which 159 million votes were cast? No, that's not true: Official government figures for national elections do not support that claim. More than 158 million Americans cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election, but more than 168 million were registered to vote. The claim appeared in a…

Does a viral video show Kansas City Chiefs football player Travis Kelce attending the 2026 Met Gala? No, that's not true: Kelce skipped the event. The video showed singer Sam Smith. The claim appeared in a post by the account @C_3C_3 published on X on May 4, 2026 (archived here and here). It read: Travis Kelce looks absurd. This is…

Does a real video show how a person rescued a submerged wolf trapped under ice, and how a pack of black wolves tracked them down to be reunited? No, that's not true: This video is AI-generated. The YouTube channel that first posted the video carries a disclaimer, "All videos on this channel are fictional and AI-generated. The animals, characters, stories,…

Are social media posts real that say a long list of musicians, actors and other celebs are each stepping "back into the spotlight" for a "Back to the Heart" or "Back to the Fire" project? No, that's not true: The false claims originate from AI-generated articles and Facebook posts created by a spam operation managed from Vietnam. Fake fan pages…

Did President Donald Trump repost an image depicting him as Jesus Christ being crucified? No, that is not true: There is no credible evidence that the president ever shared such a post on his Truth Social account, and no verified record or archive of it appearing on his official feed. There is also no evidence that the person credited with…

Was Bruce Springsteen's summer tour canceled over his politics and lack of ticket sales? No, that's not true: The claim originated on a satirical Facebook page run by Christopher Blair, a self-described liberal with a documented history of creating fake content to trick conservatives into sharing it. The disclaimer from the account says "nothing on this page is real" and…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump suggest on social media that Americans "drive downhill" to "adapt" to high gas prices? No, that's not true: His accounts did not show such a post. No credible media organization reported such a statement. The fake screenshot showed a blue checkmark next to Trump's X handle, but his real X accounts display a gray checkmark.…

Did Senator Elizabeth Warren sell 20,000 shares of Spirit Airlines stock at a huge profit just two weeks ago? No, that's not true: A meme's claim that the senator sold shares in the airline before it went bust is unfounded. This story originated from a satire page that carries a disclaimer, "Nothing on this page is real." Press coverage documented…

Does a video show a double missile strike by Iran on a U.S. ship during hostile action in May 2026? No, that's not true: The clip resurfaced in social media posts falsely claiming it showed an Iranian strike near Jask Island, but it actually comes from a 2016 live-fire exercise conducted by the U.S. Navy and its allies in the…

Did President Donald Trump really post a meme saying "I have all the cards" in which he is holding a hand of Uno cards, a game in which the goal is to get rid of your cards as quickly as possible? Yes, that's true: Trump posted the meme showing him with six Uno "Wild" cards to Truth Social on May…

Are Facebook posts claiming to show "a simple stone marker" where three U.S. states converge real? No, that's not true: These images and text, which do not reflect real geography, are clickbait posts made with artificial intelligence tools. The Facebook pages used to distribute them impersonate local interest groups in each state, but are managed from Bangladesh. Among the false…

Does a real video show Erika Kirk and capture the sound of her heavy breathing on camera? No, that's not true: This 15-second video clip is fake. The AI-generated footage is modeled after a real video released by The Charlie Kirk Show on April 30, 2026, but there are key differences between the two videos. There are inconsistencies between the…

Did Donald Trump post an image of himself helping Lady Liberty give birth to a mini-Trump wrapped in an American flag? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Trump posted the image on his Truth Social account. The image has a watermark of a well-known meme creator and was posted on the creator's Instagram account. The claim appeared…

Did President Donald Trump warn Jimmy Kimmel and others in a social media post that "I had James Comey arrested"? No, that's not true: The supposed post does not appear on the president's official Truth Social account, and there are no reliable reports that it ever did. While the president has not explicitly threatened to arrest Jimmy Kimmel, he has…