Twice a day we pull the posts going viral on TikTok, Instagram, X and Facebook and run them through the record. Each entry is a published verdict — what we found, why, and the sources behind it.
132 checks
X · Primary ~1.2K likes, 234 replies; same clip posted by 6+ accounts within an hour (@222rayyan 213 likes) per X syndication 17 Oct
False
The video appears to be real footage of a fire but is being misattributed: credible fact‑checks and news outlets found no evidence of a new, large Shaybah oil‑field fire on Oct 16–17, 2026 and traced the clip to earlier circulation, so the post's claim is false/misleading.
X · PMO post ~1.2K likes, ~2.6K replies; WaPo editor Matt Murray's quote-rebuttal ~26.7K likes; WashPostComms ~26K likes (X syndication, 17 Oct); Arab News, Independent, Haaretz, Mediaite coverage
True
The X post is an authentic statement from Israel's Prime Minister's Office saying the facts of the confrontation near Abu Falah (in which Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine was reportedly assaulted) remain unclear and are under investigation; independent, reputable news outlets confirm the attack occurred on Oct. 16, 2026 and that investigations were announced.
X · Primary post ~8.4K likes, ~1K replies (syndication, 17 Oct); Annahar says the clips drew 'several million views'; Telegraph X post 'Iranians recover new iPhones floating in Strait of Hormuz' ~1.9K likes
False
The sinking of the container ship GFS Pride in the Strait of Hormuz on 13–14 Oct 2026 is confirmed by maritime authorities and major outlets, but the specific short video attached to this post has been traced to an account producing AI art and is not authentic footage of people collecting iPhones — the clip is AI‑generated and the post’s visual ‘evidence’ is false.
X · Machhad517 post 4,164 likes; Turkish-language @SinvarHms 818 likes (X syndication, 17 Oct); fact-checked by Annahar (16 Oct) and Misbar (15 Oct, 'fake', clip altered from older Syria footage)
False
The short video has been manipulated: it is a reuse of footage from late November 2024 in Syria (showing posters of Bashar al‑Assad) with the portrait swapped to show Ilham Aliyev. The post's claim that Azerbaijani soldiers are toppling Aliyev as part of a coup is false.
X · Zelensky post 57,930 likes / 2,104 replies (X syndication, 17 Oct); Telegraph 16 Oct says Musk proposed the cap to Trump; Trump says neither he nor Musk responsible; wide pickup (Welt, FR, Il Fatto, Onet, Gazeta)
True
The post accurately reflects President Zelenskyy 27s Oct 16, 2026 remarks and contemporaneous reporting: Starlink/Starshield experienced a temporary speed cap (not a shutdown) around Oct 14 that Ukrainian officials say reduced their ability to intercept some jet-powered Shahed drones; Ukraine also says it does not use Starlink for strikes inside Russia.
TikTok · Debunked by AFP (15 Oct), Full Fact, CyberPeace, Fact Crescendo, Tribune/iVerify; shared on X, TikTok and Facebook in Indonesian and other languages
True But
The Oct. 10, 2026 missile strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh that killed 12 and injured 309 is confirmed by Saudi authorities and multiple reputable outlets. The short video used in the TikTok post is a fabricated/illustrative composite (and the post labels it as 'illustration'), so the pictured explosion is not authentic footage of the strike.
X · CBS reporter's clip 23 likes (syndication, 17 Oct); Mediaite 16 Oct; Trump repeats the casualty figure often
Can't Verify
The video is authentic and the caption accurately describes it: Gabe Gutierrez asked Trump whether he'd forgotten that Putin started the war, and Trump responded he "knows the details," that he wants the war to end, and stated casualty figures. The recording of the exchange is corroborated by contemporaneous press reports; Trump's numerical casualty claims are recorded in the clip but are not independently verified here.
X · Houthi war-media video post 5,189 likes; Saree's original claim 9,477 likes (X syndication, 17 Oct). Reported by TASS, Anadolu, News.az, SBS, 8am.media, migflug
Can't Verify
Houthi military media posted infrared footage and a spokesman said a Saudi Eurofighter Typhoon was hit over Saada on 15 Oct 2026. Multiple regional and specialist outlets carried the Houthi claim and the released footage, but there is no independent confirmation from Saudi authorities or an authoritative wire service that the aircraft was destroyed or crashed. The claim remains unverified.
X · Coalition post 19,526 likes; Saree denial (@Yah_Saree) 7,693 likes (X syndication, 17 Oct). Covered by Shafaq, Breitbart, Okaz, Al-Quds, Yemen Monitor, Oman Daily, Hespress, houseofsaud.com
True
An official X post from the coalition spokesman said a cruise missile was intercepted and destroyed over the Medina region on Oct 15, 2026; that claim is corroborated by multiple reputable news outlets and is therefore assessed as true.
X · 5,185 likes, 677 replies (X syndication, 16 Oct); follows Le Pen's pledge to stop aid and Zelensky's FT reply; covered by franceinfo, BFMTV, Boursorama, Ukrainska Pravda, Kyiv Independent; Sud Radio guest says real aid is 'a few hundred million'
True But
The video is authentic CNEWS footage of Marine Le Pen making the statements quoted in the caption. Independent news outlets reported the same remarks: she offered to speak with Zelensky, said France "no longer has the means" and cited about €6 billion per year, and has said financial aid would stop six months after a possible election win.
X · 204 likes / 143 replies (syndication 16 Oct); Hamas publicly rejected Mladenov's position (Al Jazeera 16 Oct); JPost, ynet, i24, Asharq Al-Awsat, JFeed coverage; Gaza trucking union disputes COGAT account
True
TRUE — Multiple reputable news organizations report that Nickolay Mladenov posted that he received a letter from COGAT saying private-sector merchants in Gaza have suspended coordination for commercial goods citing threats/forced taxation by Hamas; the claim is supported by contemporaneous reporting.
X · 1,226 likes / 443 replies on primary (syndication 16 Oct); multiple FB reels and X reposts listed by Misbar; Misbar rated misleading 15-16 Oct (footage is an Aug 2026 Ukrainian ammo depot blast in Bucha)
Misleading
There were confirmed Houthi missile/drone launches toward Riyadh on 13–14 October 2026 and Saudi agencies say interceptions occurred with limited injuries from falling debris. However the short viral video in this post does not provide verified evidence of a strike on a Royal Guard camp near Al‑Yamamah; independent fact‑checkers have found the clip misattributed or edited/AI‑manipulated, so the post is misleading.
X · 10,310 likes, 124 replies (X syndication, 16 Oct); debunked by both Maldita and Newtral on 15 Oct
Can't Verify
The image is visually plausible but I found no credible reporting or verifiable provenance for the alleged 'leaked' Netanyahu photos or the claim that the whiteboard outlines an operation against Spain; the allegation is unsupported by independent sources.
X · 14,274 likes, 750 replies (X syndication, 16 Oct); Newsom quote-post 13,084 likes; bipartisan Senate committee push for an inquiry (Spiegel 16 Oct); Zelensky confirmed on 16 Oct that the restrictions hampered interception of jet Shaheds (Ukrainska Pravda)
True But
A Reuters story by Erin Banco and Gram Slattery dated Oct. 15, 2026 reports that the order to limit the Starshield satellite service for Ukraine originated inside the White House, citing anonymous US and Western officials; that Reuters reporting is reflected in the post but the underlying claim rests on anonymous sources and there is at least a partial official denial.
X · 3,463 likes (X syndication, 16 Oct); Lead Stories 16 Oct
Misleading
The video appears to be authentic airplane-window footage of a dense anchorage but is misattributed by the caption. Visual/contextual evidence and contemporaneous reporting indicate the clip more closely matches the eastern Singapore anchorage, so using it to claim 'all the oil [is] stuck in Hormuz' is misleading.
X · Covered by CNN Arabic and Gulf News live blog 15-16 Oct; IRGC mine claim carried by Tehran Times; 297 likes on the Arabic post
True
CENTCOM’s Arabic post correctly reports that Iran’s IRGC has been claiming control of the Strait of Hormuz and its denial is corroborated by multiple independent news outlets reporting CENTCOM’s statement that U.S. forces and partners continued to facilitate vessel transits; the broader control situation remains contested because attacks and disruptions have continued.
X · Eddy Jokovich post: 515 likes, 106 replies (X syndication). The same clip is on Arabic Instagram/Facebook, captioned as 400 olive trees uprooted in Beit Rima. Kashif found AI artefacts. The real 24 Sep Beit Rima uprooting involved two bulldozers.
True
The caption's claim — that this is footage of Israeli forces using excavators to rip out Palestinian olive trees in the West Bank — is supported by multiple reputable news reports from late September–October 2026 that document bulldozing operations and include photos/videos. The clip itself appears to be authentic handheld footage and is being used as visual evidence of those operations.
X · @Bint_AlDeerah has 351 likes and @Hanadi_AlQahti 84. Misbar says the footage shows missiles over Kuwait during the June 2025 12-day war, which the Kuwaiti army addressed on 16 Jun 2025. · resurfaced
Misleading
The video is likely authentic night-footage of aerial streaks over Khamis Mushait, but the caption implying a drone(s) 'reached' or struck the Khamis Mushait air base is misleading: reputable reporting and official Saudi/coalition statements describe interceptions and do not independently confirm drones successfully striking the base.
X · @AlhodelGhalep has 432 likes. @KHALID_GR2030 and Facebook reels carry the same clip. Misbar matched it to the Dec 2024 explosion at a munitions depot near Tartus, Syria, after an Israeli strike (OSINTdefender post of 15 Dec 2024). · resurfaced
Misleading
The video is likely authentic footage of a large munitions-style explosion, but it has circulated online before and has been reused to illustrate different strikes in Sanaa. The caption's claim that it shows a new airstrike destroying ballistic-missile stores 'in the heart of Sana'a' is misleading.
X · 3.9K likes, 136 replies (X syndication, 15 Oct). Fox News built a 15 Oct story on it, adding a claim from Palestinian MoH data that Gaza's population grew in 2025.
True
The video is authentic and shows Commissioner Chris Sidoti saying the Commission did not independently verify the Israeli figures for militants or the civilian count; the UN commission's A/HRC/60/CRP.3 and investigative reporting document the 8,900 named fighters and the ~53,000 death total that produced the '83% civilian' figure.
X · ~887 likes, 396 replies; The National coverage of the Schama-Yousaf exchange
True
Humza Yousaf's post correctly states that an independent UN Commission of Inquiry concluded in a report published on 16 September 2025 that Israeli authorities' conduct in Gaza met the legal elements of genocide; multiple UN publications and reputable news outlets corroborate this finding.
X · ~1.5K likes, 526 replies; public rebuttal by former First Minister Humza Yousaf; The National coverage
True But
The population figures Simon Schama cites (about 2.2 million in Gaza before October 7 and about 2.1 million in 2026) match Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics estimates and revisions; his concluding statement that 'this is not a genocide' is an interpretive/legal judgment, not a single verifiable fact.
X · Musk post ~40.6K likes, 2.5K replies; Sikorski quote-post ~62.9K likes; Fox, Newsweek, Mediaite, Washington Examiner, La Vanguardia, WP.pl coverage
Misleading
The X post mixes accurate and oversimplified claims. It is correct that Starshield is SpaceX's government-facing offering and that government/DoD customers procure and operate Starshield-capable equipment; it is also correct that Starlink is SpaceX's commercial service and that its terms and export controls limit certain military end-uses. However, saying Starshield is wholly "owned and controlled" by the U.S. government and that the President personally decides speed limits is an oversimplification of contractual, operational, and regulatory realities.
X · ~1.5K likes within an hour of posting; quoted in the Guardian PMQs live blog after Burnham called the Greens' motion antisemitic
Misleading
The video is authentic broadcast footage of the House of Commons (PMQs). The caption quotes statements Zack Polanski did publicly post on 28 March 2026 (that he is the only Jewish political party leader and that he experiences antisemitism), but the caption mixes those verifiable statements with subjective or inflammatory accusations and is paired with unrelated Commons footage — a misleading juxtaposition.