2,577 verifications avg. score 5.6/10 1,249 rated (mostly) true 1,067 rated (mostly) false
“TikTok activates users' phone microphones and cameras without their knowledge to collect data.”
No credible evidence supports the claim that TikTok covertly activates phone microphones or cameras. Both Android and iOS enforce runtime permission gates that structurally prevent any app from accessing these sensors without explicit user consent, and multiple independent security analyses confirm no evidence of TikTok bypassing these protections. While TikTok does raise legitimate privacy concerns — including data sharing practices and extensive data collection — the specific allegation of secret mic/camera activation is unfounded.
“Russia has administered the first personalized cancer vaccine to human patients.”
Russia did administer its domestically developed personalized mRNA cancer vaccine, NeoOncovac, to a patient for the first time in April 2026 — but this was a national milestone, not a global first. Personalized cancer vaccines had already been administered to hundreds of patients in international clinical trials years earlier, as documented by the European Commission. The claim's phrasing implies a world-first achievement that the evidence does not support.
“In the Eurovision Song Contest, countries systematically award higher points to geographically or politically aligned countries than to others, independent of song quality.”
Multiple peer-reviewed studies confirm that Eurovision countries systematically award extra points to geographically and culturally close neighbors, even after accounting for song appeal. However, the claim overstates the evidence in two important ways: song quality remains the dominant predictor of voting outcomes, and the bias is an additive residual effect rather than one that operates "independent of" merit. The pattern is also driven more by cultural-linguistic proximity than by explicit political alignment.
“Marife Ravidas Ganahon, a master mat weaver from the Higaonon community in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon, was proclaimed a Manlilikha ng Bayan (National Living Treasure) in December 2023 by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. through Proclamation No. 427.”
The central facts of this claim are well-supported by official legal texts and independent reporting. Proclamation No. 427, dated December 15, 2023, does declare Marife Ravidas Ganahon a Manlilikha ng Bayan, and it is issued under President Marcos Jr.'s authority. However, the term "master mat weaver" does not appear in the proclamation or authoritative sources, and the document was physically countersigned by Executive Secretary Bersamin — a routine procedure that does not change its presidential character but slightly overstates direct presidential involvement.
“The social harms of capitalism, including poverty and lack of healthcare access, outweigh its economic benefits.”
Capitalism's social harms—inequality, healthcare gaps, and environmental costs—are well-documented, but the claim that these harms "outweigh" economic benefits is not supported by the available evidence. The highest-authority global data shows extreme poverty fell from roughly 36% to 9% between 1990 and 2017 under market-led growth, and mainstream institutions describe health and welfare gains within capitalist frameworks. No rigorous comparative cost-benefit analysis in the evidence pool establishes that aggregate harms exceed aggregate benefits.
“The Smithsonian Institution excavated human skeletal remains over 7 feet tall from burial mounds in Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky between 1880 and 1920 and subsequently suppressed all records of these findings.”
No credible evidence supports the claim that the Smithsonian excavated 7-foot-plus skeletons and then suppressed all records. High-authority fact-checks from AP News and PolitiFact trace the suppression narrative to a satirical fiction website, and the Smithsonian's own spokesperson has directly denied any destruction or concealment. While 19th-century mound excavations did occur, the leap from sparse historical newspaper accounts to a systematic institutional cover-up is unsupported and relies on argument from ignorance.
“There is no strong correlation between GDP per capita and average national happiness across countries.”
Cross-country data consistently show a clear positive association between GDP per capita and average national happiness. The World Happiness Report 2025 finds GDP per capita explains roughly 20–30% of between-country variance in life evaluations, and Our World in Data visualizations confirm a strong upward pattern. While GDP is not the sole or dominant driver — social support, freedom, and other factors also matter — this does not support the claim that "no strong correlation" exists. The claim overstates the weakness of a well-documented relationship.
“The National Transportation Safety Board report concluded that organizational factors, including resource management, organizational climate, and organizational processes, contributed to the crash of UPS Airlines Flight 1354 on August 14, 2013.”
The NTSB's official probable cause and contributing factors for UPS Flight 1354 address only crew performance, fatigue, and configuration errors — none are characterized as organizational factors, resource management, organizational climate, or organizational processes. While the report's narrative discusses dispatcher coordination issues, these were never formally designated as contributing factors. The organizational-factors framing originates from independent external analyses, not from the NTSB report itself. The claim misattributes conclusions to the NTSB that the agency did not make.
“Consumption of coffee increases blood pressure.”
Coffee can temporarily raise blood pressure for one to three hours after consumption, particularly in non-habitual drinkers — but the unqualified claim that coffee "increases blood pressure" overstates the evidence. Multiple high-quality meta-analyses, a 2026 Mendelian randomization study, and large-scale population data consistently show that habitual coffee consumption does not produce sustained blood pressure elevation and may even be associated with lower hypertension risk. The claim captures a real but transient effect while omitting the tolerance and long-term context that most readers would need.
“Nepal's Prime Minister enacted a law on April 21, 2025 mandating a 12-hour workday Monday through Friday with weekends off.”
This claim originated as a social media rumor and was explicitly debunked by Nepal's Labour Ministry on the very date cited. The Kathmandu Post reported on April 21, 2025 that no such law was enacted, and Nepal's standard 8-hour workday under the 2017 Labour Act remains unchanged. Multiple independent legal sources confirm that "12 hours" refers only to an overtime-inclusive daily maximum — not a mandated schedule. No credible evidence supports any part of this claim.
“Jimi Hendrix is deceased.”
Jimi Hendrix's death on September 18, 1970, in London is one of the most thoroughly documented facts in modern music history. Multiple independent sources — including biographical references and autopsy-derived accounts — consistently confirm he died of asphyxiation following a barbiturate overdose at age 27. No credible source disputes this, and the claim is unambiguously supported by the evidence.
“Kurt Cobain died on April 5, 1994.”
The official King County Medical Examiner's report and multiple credible sources consistently establish April 5, 1994 as Kurt Cobain's date of death. While the body was not discovered until April 8, the forensic determination of April 5 is the legally and medically recognized date, unchallenged even by recent 2026 studies that dispute the manner of death. One minor outlier source suggests "around April 6," but this does not meaningfully undermine the established record.
“As of April 18, 2026, Israel has conducted widespread explosions targeting infrastructure in the southern Lebanese towns of Qantara, Khiam, Naqoura, al-Bayada, Chama, and Houla, breaking a ceasefire.”
The claim significantly overstates what the evidence confirms. While credible sources — including Le Monde and the Lebanese military — document Israeli ceasefire violations after April 17, including bombardments in Khiam, the specific assertion of "widespread explosions" across all six named towns (Qantara, Khiam, Naqoura, al-Bayada, Chama, and Houla) is not substantiated. Evidence for Naqoura and al-Bayada dates to April 4–5, before the ceasefire, and Qantara, Chama, and Houla lack any post-ceasefire corroboration.
“Roberto Sánchez's vote increments in the 2026 Peruvian general election, between 63.3% and 91.3% of counted actas, display a statistically anomalous linear pattern that is inconsistent with natural demographic variation.”
No source in the available evidence presents the statistical analysis, increment series, or anomaly test that this claim treats as established fact. Multiple credible outlets — including the EU observer mission, AFP, and MercoPress — attribute Roberto Sánchez's vote gains during the cited window to the well-documented compositional effect of late-arriving rural and Andean ballot tallies, which is a textbook example of natural demographic variation, not an anomaly inconsistent with it.
“Jair Bolsonaro has died as of April 2026.”
Jair Bolsonaro is confirmed alive as of mid-April 2026 by multiple major international news agencies. AP News reported his hospital discharge to house arrest on March 27, 2026; BBC News stated he "remains alive" as of April 15, 2026; and Al Jazeera referenced him actively endorsing his son's presidential campaign on April 16, 2026. The claim appears to conflate metaphorical "political death" coverage with literal death, but no credible source reports or suggests he has died.
“Multiple high-profile scientists in the United States died under unusual or suspicious circumstances between April 2024 and April 2026.”
Several U.S. scientists and defense-linked researchers did die or go missing between 2024 and 2026, and the cluster drew White House attention — but the "suspicious circumstances" framing significantly overstates the evidence. Investigators found no common thread linking the cases, several deaths involved no suspected foul play or were resolved, and no government agency has confirmed a pattern of suspicious activity. The "high-profile" label is also loosely applied, with some individuals being contractors or personnel in unrelated fields rather than prominent scientists.
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has triggered a new Cold War dynamic that has produced significant economic effects on small-power nations in Asia and Europe.”
The claim is directionally correct on economic spillovers but packages them under a contested "new Cold War" label that overstates analytical consensus and implies a causal mechanism the evidence does not clearly support. High-authority sources (World Bank, OECD, IMF) confirm significant economic disruptions to smaller European and some Asian states from the invasion, but these effects stem primarily from war, sanctions, and commodity shocks—not a distinct Cold War structure. The Asia component also overgeneralizes: impacts are concentrated in Central Asia and the Caucasus, while much of developing Asia saw limited direct fallout.
“The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill was defeated in the Lok Sabha on April 19, 2026, receiving 298 votes in favour and 230 against, failing to secure the required two-thirds majority.”
The bill's defeat and failure to secure a two-thirds majority are confirmed by multiple authoritative sources, and the 298–230 vote tally is well-corroborated. However, the claim states the vote occurred on April 19, 2026, when the Press Information Bureau, The Hindu, DD News On Air, and other credible outlets consistently place it on April 17, 2026. This date error is a material factual inaccuracy that undermines the claim's reliability despite its otherwise largely accurate content.
“Aisha Gaddafi publicly warned the Iranian people that making concessions to the West does not lead to peace.”
The warning attributed to Aisha Gaddafi was not authentically issued by her. A message urging Iranians not to trust Western concessions circulated widely on social media and was amplified by multiple outlets, but Gaddafi herself issued an official denial through her family's verified media page in January 2026, calling it falsely attributed and demanding its removal. Fact-checkers traced all supporting coverage back to a single fabricated social media post. The only authenticated statement from Gaddafi's channels is the denial itself.
“The Mayor of New York City publicly stated that $30 billion in US military spending abroad could instead be redirected to radically improve the lives of American citizens.”
Mayor Mamdani did publicly criticize $30 billion in U.S. military spending abroad as a "moral obscenity" when contrasted with unmet domestic needs like city-run grocery programs. However, the claim overstates this rhetorical moral critique as an explicit proposal to "redirect" those funds to "radically improve" American lives. His major budget addresses focused on local fiscal measures, not federal military reallocation. The claim captures a real sentiment but materially distorts its specificity and policy character.