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.
20 checks · 10 morning · 10 afternoon
X · Wide mainstream pickup 15 Oct: CNN, MS NOW, Raw Story, Political Wire; clip 282 likes
Misleading
The video appears to show an authentic rally clip of Donald Trump making numeric claims about inflation. His statement that inflation is "1.7%" is only true under a narrow, three‑month annualized core CPI measure and is therefore a cherry‑picked statistic; his reference to "19%" is false. Overall the remarks are misleading.
X · 6,432 likes (X syndication, 16 Oct); AFP says millions of views across X, FB, IG, Threads; AFP 15 Oct, MEAWW 16 Oct
False
The video is authentic footage of Caitlin Upton’s widely shared 2007 Miss Teen USA answer; it does not show Katie Zacharia. The post’s claim that the clip depicts the new White House press secretary is false.
X · 9,194 likes, 857 replies (X syndication, 16 Oct); Full Fact says it is being reshared on Facebook and Instagram · resurfaced
False
The video used in the post is not reliable proof that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky performed this dance. Reputable fact-checkers have traced similar viral clips to other performers on TikTok/Douyin and identified manipulated face-swapped versions; the post's caption that uses the clip as evidence against Zelensky is misleading and mixes opinion with a false visual claim.
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 · 72,182 likes, 3,339 replies (X syndication, 16 Oct); Twitchy write-up 15 Oct
Can't Verify
The video appears to be authentic footage of Nafisa Fai (an Oregon county official/candidate) speaking on a podium in front of a U.S. flag; she likely speaks Somali in the clip. However, independent verification that the event took place in Minnesota and that the American flag was intentionally hung upside-down is lacking — the claim is currently unsupported by mainstream reporting and rests on social reposts.
X · 26,440 likes, 459 replies (X syndication, 16 Oct); IBTimes UK says the explanation is unconfirmed
Can't Verify
Authentic video from Donald Trump's Oct. 13, 2026 Wasilla rally shows a man approaching Secret Service agents and agents moving; however, available reporting does not confirm the caption's claim that the man was warning of a security threat or that agents 'eliminated' any threat. The caption is therefore misleading.
X · 4,088 likes, 1,055 replies (X syndication, 16 Oct); Fox News and NY Post asked her husband about it 15 Oct
Misleading
False: there is no credible evidence that Rep. Ilhan Omar 'fled' to Morocco. Major outlets report a search of her Washington residence and statements denying the rumours. Morocco is commonly listed among countries without a formal bilateral extradition treaty with the U.S., but that legal detail does not validate the unsubstantiated flight allegation.
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 · 1,912 likes, 1,178 replies (X syndication, 16 Oct); Newtral coverage 15 Oct during the 29N general-election campaign
True But
The video is authentic and correctly points out that the PSOE government (Zapatero) announced a pension freeze in 2010 and that the PP publicly supported IPC-based revalorisation in 2020; however the clip's broad claim that the PP 'always' voted to raise pensions omits important context (the 2013 PP-era revaluation framework and minimum 0.25% rule) and is therefore partly misleading.
X · 17 likes, 77 replies (X syndication, 16 Oct); Full Fact coverage 14 Oct; strong search demand
False
The video is an authentic TalkTV interview in which Robert Jenrick says Reform UK would deploy Royal Marines to the Channel and that 'if they need to use lethal force, then they'll be able to do so.' The post caption's claim that HM Armed Forces 'would not... use lethal force' is contradicted by the clip, and the caption's statement that there were '0 boats before Brexit' is false.
X · 582,342 likes / 27,961 replies on Musk post (X syndication, 16 Oct); Tesla '0-60 mph in 0.81 seconds' post 33,867 likes; CBS/AFP, Newsweek, Forbes, Yahoo Finance coverage; Bluesky trending 'Tesla holds Roadster livestream event'
True But
The video is authentic footage from Tesla's October 2026 Roadster demo and shows a prototype using thrusters to perform brief hops and flips. Elon Musk's caption is partly true — the demo proves short 'flying' hops are possible for this prototype but not that consumer vehicles can freely fly on public roads today.
X · MEAWW: Krassenstein post 2.5M+ views within hours; 5,187 likes (X syndication 16 Oct); @buffys repost 13,882 likes; Acyn clip 2,340 likes; HuffPost story 16 Oct
Misleading
The attached video is authentic footage from a White House Rose Garden event on October 15, 2026 in which President Trump says, "I have some very severe problems." Independent transcripts and multiple news outlets confirm he said this. The post's caption, which claims he "admitted that he has major health issues," is misleading because Trump did not explicitly say the problems were health-related or describe them.
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.
Instagram · El Sabueso: IG post with 73,200 interactions, 11K comments, 1,600 reposts, also on X and Facebook; separately checked by Chequeado, Newtral (SynthID detected), Malaespina, ChurchPop 15-16 Oct; Facebook copies in a fake Vatican News group (Open, Mimikama 16 Oct)
True
The Instagram post correctly reports that Pope Leo XIV was admitted to Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Hospital on 13 October 2026 for surgery to remove a lung nodule; this is confirmed by the Holy See Press Office and multiple reputable news outlets.
X · 23,125 likes / 1,591 replies (X syndication, 16 Oct); MEAWW: 492K+ views within hours
False
The social-media post's claim that Mike Pence has been implicated in the DOJ investigation of John Bolton is false. DOJ statements, Bolton-related indictments and major news coverage do not mention Pence; the post appears to conflate unrelated matters and lacks credible evidence.
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 · 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 · 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 · 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 · TK post 1,521 likes and 152 replies; corridor clip from @PaniNaSzpilkach 2,645 likes (X syndication, 16 Oct). Berek filed a criminal complaint and posted again on 16 Oct; a prosecutor collected TK monitoring footage on 16 Oct. Google Trends PL 'trybunał konstytucyjny' 5000+ (16 Oct).
Misleading
The quoted post is a real statement published by the Constitutional Tribunal's official X account on Oct 14, 2026. Its legal points about how one becomes a TK judge are correct, but the categorical denial that force was used is contradicted by contemporaneous reporting of an altercation and a complaint alleging physical contact.