Did the Czech Pirate Party, a junior member of the Czech coalition government, with the support of the European Union, propose to control wild mushroom and berry foraging in the same way as fishing and game hunting is regulated in the country? No, that's not true: the party has not proposed a measure to limit these popular activities and says…

Does Germany owe the Czech Republic for unpaid war reparations? No, the Czech Republic and Germany agreed to close the issue of WWII reparations in 1997, when both countries agreed not to burden their relationship with political and legal issues from the past. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) where it was published by TikTok on September 8…

Did the government stage an incident in which Czech men are accused of randomly attacking two Ukrainian women on the streets? No, that's not true: The police caught one of the attackers shortly after the incident and put him in custody. Also, there is no evidence that one of the victims allegedly "made a miraculous recovery," as claimed in posts…

Are ballot boxes left unattended in unsecured locations at night during the two-day Czech election period, making it easy for votes to be manipulated? No, that's not true: the ballot boxes and polling station rooms are sealed overnight to prevent easy access and ballot tampering. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) which was published by TikTok on September…

Were the Maui wildfires deliberately planned by a group of global elites who want to establish and consolidate power over the world? No, that's not true: Maui officials have told the media that claims that the fire was intentionally set are unfounded and that the investigation of how the disaster started is still ongoing. The claim appeared in a video…

Does Neil Armstrong´s refusal to swear on the Bible that he landed on the moon mean that the landing did not happen? No, that's not true: The author of the claim is a conspiracy theorist who spreads that the moon landing was faked, despite plenty of evidence from NASA and other parties that the astronauts from the Apollo missions walked…

Are most of the Ukrainian war refugees seeking temporary protection in the Czech Republic men who might be fit for battle? No, that's not true: As of April 1, 2023 more than three quarters of Ukrainian refugees in the country were women, children, and senior citizens. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) where it was published on TikTok…

Is Pavel Novotny, a controversial Prague district mayor, an advisor to Czech President Petr Pavel? No, that's not true: The president's office and Novotny confirmed to Lead Stories via email that it is not true. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) where it was published by TikTok on Aug. 12. It has a caption in Czech, translated by…

Did Meta remove a Czech freelance reporter's Facebook post and delete her profile because she wrote that Kyiv is a normal functioning city? No, that's not true: the journalists removed the post where she described everyday life in Kyiv and her journey to Ukraine, saying she had received abusive threats from social media users. The claim appeared in a video…

Did the U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirm that graphene oxide is in "fake COVID" mRNA vaccines after being forced to disclose confidential Pfizer documents under a U.S. federal court order? No, that's not true: Graphene oxide is not among the ingredients in the COVID vaccine. The FDA did not confirm graphene oxide is one of the ingredients, saying in…

Was Pfizer BioNTech's executive Janine Small's statement in the European Parliament that the company never tested its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine to prevent transmission before launching it on the market a bombshell? No, that's not true: such trials were never required by the regulators, nor did the company claim that. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok…

Does an unusually cold and rainy spell in central Europe in early August mean that climate change is a hoax? No, that's not true: weather and climate are not the same things, and heavier precipitation, harsher winters, and other weather anomalies, happen in a warming world. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) where it was published by TikTok…

Can Amazon voice assistant Alexa foretell the future - and did it predict the start of WWIII? No, that's not true: there is no device that can foretell the future and Amazon says it cannot replicate this particular response. The claim that Alexa predicted the start of World War III is shown in a video (archived here) published by TikTok…

Is the Ukrainian mafia kidnapping Roma and other children for organ harvesting in the Czech Republic? No, that's not true: Czech police have no evidence of children being abducted by Ukrainians. The claim that there have been cases of child abduction appeared in a video (archived here) where it was published on TikTok on July 19, 2023, with captions in…

Is Kosovo part of Serbia? No, that's not true: Kosovo, a former province of Serbia, declared independence in 2008 and is recognized as a sovereign state by key European nations, as well as the United States and other countries, despite Serbia´s rejection of the move. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on July 25, 2023, with…

Is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a British secret service agent? No, that's not true: No reputable media has reported on Zelenskyy's elevation to any position within the MI6. A search for the phrase "Volodymyr Zelensky is an Mi6 agent," using Google News' index of thousands of credible news sites, did not reveal any factual reports that he works for the…

Does the Czech government "care more about foreigners than its own people" because it did not provide special government planes to evacuate Czech tourists stranded in Rhodes as a consequence of the wildfires that hit the Greek island? No, that's not true: The Czech Foreign Ministry sent several consulate officials to help Czech tourists leave Rhodes, and the government organized…

Are people with Rhesus negative blood type descendants of aliens? No, that's not true: Rhesus negative blood appears in about 7 percent of the entire global population. The story appeared in a TikTok video (archived here) by @verteneverte on July 1, 2023, under the title (translated into English by Lead Stories staff) "Are humans descended from aliens? Let's look at…

Did Czech boo Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Czech President Petr Pavel at Prague Castle during Zelenskyy's visit on July 6, 2023? No, that's not true: The audio in the video was added after the real video was posted. In the original video, which is a live broadcast of CNN Prima News, the castle's band can be heard playing. The…

Do products with the Rainforest Alliance seal contain vaccines, and are they manufactured by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation? No, that's not true: The Rainforest Alliance´s seal is used on consumer products of farms and companies that meet international criteria for sustainable agriculture, and the Rainforest Alliance is a global nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable farming and forestry. Among…