General

373 General claim verifications avg. score 5.4/10 173 rated true or mostly true 165 rated false or mostly false

“Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha (Undiksha) is one of the public universities in Bali with a very good accreditation status as of April 2026.”

Mostly True

Undiksha is indeed a public university in Bali with a strong accreditation standing, but the claim understates the actual status. Official BAN-PT records and multiple news sources confirm Undiksha received "Unggul" (Excellent) accreditation — the highest possible tier — in March 2025 via Decree No. 2101/SK/BAN-PT/Ak.KP/PT/III/2025. Describing this as merely "very good" is directionally correct but imprecise, as "Unggul" sits above the "Baik Sekali" (Very Good) category in Indonesia's accreditation system.

“Out of 38 survey respondents, 18 reported listening to DWSA radio and 20 reported not listening to DWSA radio.”

False

No evidence supports the existence of this survey or its reported results. None of the credible audience measurement sources (Nielsen, Pew, Edison Research) reference a "DWSA radio" survey, and the only entity matching "DWSA" in the evidence appears to be a water/sewer authority, not a radio station. The specific 18/20 split from 38 respondents cannot be traced to any primary source, dataset, or publication.

“The chorus in Oedipus Rex serves as the voice of the community, commenting on events and guiding the audience's understanding.”

True

This claim reflects a well-established consensus in classical literary scholarship, supported unanimously across all available sources including institutionally credible ones such as the Yale Teachers Institute and Opera Philadelphia (citing Aristotle's Poetics). The chorus in Oedipus Rex is consistently described as representing the Theban elders — a community voice — that comments on events and shapes audience interpretation. The minor caveat that the chorus reacts alongside the audience rather than from a position of omniscience does not undermine the claim's core accuracy.

“The main causes of student dropout at the International University of Management in Namibia are financial constraints, poor academic preparation, and family obligations.”

Mostly False

No empirical evidence from the International University of Management itself supports this claim. The available sources study other Namibian contexts — distance learners at NAMCOL, rural schools, and generic global university dropout patterns — none of which collected data from IUM students or staff. The only source referencing IUM directly concedes that institution-specific dropout data is not widely published. While the three factors cited are plausible in a broad Southern African higher-education context, presenting them as verified "main causes" at IUM is unsupported.

“Cottage cheese is considered a substitute for traditional cheese in culinary uses.”

Mostly True

Cottage cheese is widely documented as a substitute for soft and fresh cheeses — including ricotta, cream cheese, and mascarpone — across dips, casseroles, lasagne, and baked dishes, supported by multiple credible culinary and health sources. However, the claim's broad framing overstates its versatility: cottage cheese does not melt, often requires blending to approximate other textures, and can fail in precision-baking contexts. It is a recognized substitute in many culinary applications, but not a general-purpose replacement for all traditional cheeses.

“Dubai International Airport (DXB) has plans to reduce flight operations during summer 2026.”

Mostly False

Flight reductions at DXB are real but stem from the Iran-Israel conflict that began in late February 2026 — not from any airport-authored plan. Dubai Airports' own communications frame changes as temporary precautions with gradual resumption underway, and its most recent pre-conflict outlook projected record traffic approaching 99.5 million passengers. The claim's phrasing — "has plans to reduce" — materially misrepresents reactive, externally imposed disruptions as deliberate airport strategy.

“Purchasing 1,000 copies of a book is sufficient to qualify it for the New York Times Best Seller List.”

False

No credible evidence supports the idea that 1,000 purchased copies can land a book on the New York Times Best Seller List. Every available source places the minimum threshold at roughly 3,000–5,000 copies sold per week, depending on category and competition. The NYT also uses a proprietary methodology that actively flags or discounts strategic bulk purchases, meaning that buying 1,000 copies in a single transaction would likely not even be fully counted toward list qualification.

“Judo is an effective martial art for self-defense in real-world street fight scenarios.”

Mixed

Judo does offer genuine self-defense utility in unarmed, one-on-one, close-quarters encounters — its throws and leverage-based techniques can neutralize larger opponents. However, the claim's unqualified framing omits critical limitations consistently acknowledged across sources: Judo training is gi-dependent, lacks a striking component, leaves practitioners vulnerable to punches and kicks, and performs poorly against multiple attackers or armed opponents. Even the most credible supporting source limits its endorsement to "certain street fight situations." The claim is partially true but misleadingly broad.

“Butter chicken is being removed from restaurant menus across India due to rising operational costs in 2026.”

Mostly False

Misleading. Some restaurants in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru have trimmed butter chicken from menus in March 2026, but the cause is an acute LPG supply disruption triggered by geopolitical tensions in West Asia — not generalized "rising operational costs." The claim overstates both the geographic scope ("across India") and the nature of the driver. These menu changes are crisis-conditional and concentrated in a few metros, while butter chicken remains widely available elsewhere.

“Approximately 75% of job applications are automatically rejected by applicant tracking systems before being reviewed by a human recruiter.”

False

This widely repeated statistic has no credible empirical foundation. The 75% figure traces back to a 2012 press release from Preptel, a now-defunct company that never published its methodology. The most rigorous available evidence directly contradicts the claim: a 2026 survey of 1,000 U.S. hiring managers found only 19% use AI to screen out applications before human review, and a separate recruiter survey found 92% confirmed their ATS does not auto-reject based on resume content. The apparent consensus among career blogs repeating this figure reflects circular sourcing, not independent verification.

“Sicily is the largest island located entirely within the European Union.”

True

Sicily's status as the largest island entirely within the EU is well-supported by geographic and political evidence. Every European island larger than Sicily (~25,700 km²)—Great Britain, Iceland, and the island of Ireland—falls outside the EU or is split between EU and non-EU jurisdictions. The counterargument that the Republic of Ireland should count conflates a political entity with a geographic island; the island of Ireland as a whole is not entirely EU territory due to Northern Ireland's UK status.

“Oregon's plastic bag ban has not resulted in a reduction of overall plastic waste as of March 28, 2026.”

Mostly False

This claim presents a definitive conclusion — that Oregon's plastic bag ban has not reduced overall plastic waste — but the comprehensive statewide waste generation data needed to confirm or deny it has not been published as of March 28, 2026. Oregon DEQ reports show the ban did shift consumption away from thin single-use plastic bags, and a 2025 peer-reviewed study found 25–47% fewer plastic bags at shoreline cleanups in ban jurisdictions. While substitution effects (thicker bags, increased trash bag sales) are real concerns, they have not been quantified for Oregon in net tonnage terms. The claim asserts certainty where none exists.

“The green digital rain code effect in the 1999 film The Matrix was composed entirely of Japanese sushi recipes.”

False

The Matrix's iconic green digital rain was not composed "entirely" of Japanese sushi recipes. Production designer Simon Whiteley drew partial inspiration from his wife's Japanese cookbooks, but the on-screen code is a deliberate mixture of katakana characters, Arabic numerals, Latin letters, Kangxi radicals, and miscellaneous symbols — all heavily stylized. Snopes explicitly rates this claim as a "Mixture." Sushi recipes were one input among several, not the sole source.

“Flag football has been approved as an official Olympic sport.”

Mostly True

Flag football was officially approved by the IOC Session in Mumbai in October 2023 for inclusion in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic programme. A qualification system and competition schedule (July 15–22, 2028) have since been confirmed. The claim is substantively accurate but omits an important detail: the approval is specific to the LA 2028 Games. Flag football has not been confirmed as a permanent Olympic sport for future Games beyond 2028.

“The 2026 World Happiness Report found no significant relationship between social media use and youth happiness.”

False

The 2026 World Happiness Report directly contradicts this claim. The report documents significant associations between heavy social media use and lower youth wellbeing, particularly among girls and in English-speaking countries and Western Europe. While the report notes complexity — such as moderate use being associated with higher wellbeing than no use at all — and stops short of claiming causation, it repeatedly identifies meaningful negative patterns. Characterizing these findings as "no significant relationship" fundamentally misrepresents the report's conclusions.

“Chuck Norris died on March 19, 2026.”

True

Chuck Norris's death on March 19, 2026 is confirmed by multiple major, independent news organizations — including AP, Al Jazeera, CBS News, and others — all citing a family statement posted on Instagram. The few sources disputing the claim are anonymous blogs and a known satire/hoax aggregator with no credible counter-evidence. The cause of death has not been publicly disclosed, and a brief period of conflicting reports existed due to earlier hospitalization coverage, but the core claim is accurate.

“The number of public libraries in the United States exceeds the number of McDonald's restaurant locations in the United States.”

True

Federal data from the Institute of Museum and Library Services reports over 17,000 public library locations (main libraries, branches, and bookmobiles) in the United States. Multiple independent sources place U.S. McDonald's restaurant locations at approximately 13,600–13,800. The margin of roughly 3,200+ locations comfortably supports the claim. While some readers may think "libraries" means only standalone buildings, the standard institutional definition counts all public library service outlets — the same unit-of-analysis used for restaurant locations.

“A viral video claims to show Jeffrey Epstein alive under the alias "Palm Beach Pete," contradicting the official record of his death in August 2019.”

Mostly True

A viral video did circulate in March 2026 with social media users claiming it showed Jeffrey Epstein alive in Florida under the alias "Palm Beach Pete," and this does contradict the official record of his August 2019 death by suicide. However, the man in the video publicly came forward, identified himself as "Palm Beach Pete," and explicitly denied being Epstein. No credible evidence links him to Epstein. The claim accurately describes the viral narrative but omits the debunking.

“A widely circulated photo depicts Timothee Chalamet falling on the red carpet at the 2026 Oscars ceremony.”

False

The viral photo of Timothée Chalamet supposedly falling at the 2026 Oscars is fabricated. Multiple fact-checkers traced it to a misleading post on X by @DiscussingFish that falsely cited the Academy as its source. No credible outlet, live broadcast, or official account reported any fall. Authentic red carpet coverage from The Guardian, ELLE, Business Insider, and others consistently shows Chalamet arriving and posing normally in an all-white Givenchy suit with no incident.

“Jessie Buckley is the first British actress to win the Academy Award for Best Actress.”

False

This claim is false on two counts. Jessie Buckley is Irish, not British — she was born in Kerry, Ireland, and every major outlet covering her 2026 Best Actress win identifies her as Irish. Her victory is historic as the first Irish Best Actress Oscar. Additionally, numerous British actresses have already won this award, including Vivien Leigh (1939), Julie Andrews (1964), Glenda Jackson (1969, 1973), Kate Winslet (2008), and Olivia Colman (2019).