The daily check-in

Trending, checked.

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.

96 checks

Did Giorgia Meloni call the Milan judge's decision on Youssef Siher's arrest "shameful"?

X · Meloni video post 43,428 likes; Milan tribunal called government comments 'irricevibili'; ANM response; Pagella Politica explainer 29 Oct; Salvini post 1,974 likes

True But

The video is genuine footage from Giorgia Meloni's own account on 28 October 2026, and the core fact she states — that the Milan GIP refused to validate Youssef Siher's arrest — is accurate and widely reported. However, her claim that the 'Movimento 17 ottobre' Telegram page incited the demonstrations that led to the devastation of Milan shops is wrong: the channel was created on the evening of 18 October, after the violence, and Meloni herself later conceded she had misstated the chronology.

PoliticsCrimeView details→

Was the AfD poster with the raised arm ruled a crime while the CDU and Greens posters were fine?

X · @kutschera_u post 3,170 likes; dpa fact-check published 30 Oct 14:32 after BGH rejected Möller's appeal

Misleading

The image is a recycled three-poster collage whose central comparison is false: the AfD motif shown is not the poster a court ruled criminal, and the CDU poster in it never existed in that form. The underlying conviction of AfD MP Wilko Möller is real, but the post's framing of a two-tier justice system rests on a doctored comparison.

PoliticsCrimeView details→

Does the Paris police warning mean Halloween masks and fake weapons are illegal?

X · @prefpolice 766 likes and 785 replies, a heavily ratioed reply count (X syndication, 30 Oct). Sciences Po law professor N. Hervieu's correction got 2,690 likes. 20 Minutes Fake Off and Les Surligneurs both covered it on 29 Oct. Interior Minister Nuñez commented on Thursday.

Misleading

The image is a genuine Préfecture de Police de Paris Halloween graphic from 28 October 2026, but its legal warnings are misleading: they omit the 2010 law's exemption for festive dress and misattribute the 3 years / 45,000 euros penalty, which applies to weapons carried at demonstrations or used to threaten, not to ordinary costume props.

CrimeConsumerView details→

Did CZ say a Binance hack froze $971 million at Tether and $823 million at Circle?

X · CZ post 28,158 likes; @binance statement 6,539 likes (X, 30 Oct); wide pickup (HT, Mirror, Forbes 'Was Binance hacked?'); 'binance' trending Google Trends IE/PK/PH

True But

The post is a genuine 29 October 2026 statement by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao about a real multi-billion-dollar security breach at Binance, and its core figures — Tether and Circle freezing roughly $971 million and $823 million — check out, though Tether's freeze was later revised upward to about $1.567 billion.

EconomyTechnologyView details→

Was a Trump supporter stabbed outside Trump's rally in Ohio?

X · Bowyer post 2,832 likes; Derek Myers video 2,645 likes / 373 replies (29 Oct check); pushed by Gateway Pundit, LifeZette, 100PercentFedUp; Chillicothe police told Newsweek and TMZ 'there was no stabbing' (officer's pocketknife clip caught in a shirt during a fight)

False

The video is genuine footage of a scuffle outside Trump's Chillicothe, Ohio rally on 28 October 2026, but the caption's claim that an anti-Trump protester stabbed a Trump supporter is false — police say the apparent knife was an officer's closed pocketknife whose clip snagged on a man's shirt, and no one was stabbed or arrested.

CrimePoliticsView details→

Does a viral video show Eritrean migrants rioting in The Hague, Netherlands, in late October 2026?

X · 3,221 likes on @MarioBojic; @MAGAStorm47 668 likes ('Massive riots have started in The Hague... broke into the Opera House'); Portuguese repost @canalsergio2 251 likes; Misbar fact-check 28 Oct · resurfaced

Misleading

The video is genuine footage of the February 2024 Eritrean community riots at The Hague's Opera Zalencentrum, but the post presents it as current unrest in October 2026 — a claim two independent fact-checks have already debunked.

CrimePoliticsView details→

Was activist Thomas 'Young Bob' Moffitt arrested in London simply for saying 'Paki' instead of 'Pakistani', as Libs of TikTok claimed?

X · Libs of TikTok post 25,754 likes (check.py 29 Oct); counter-post by @I_amMukhtar 4,523 likes; X trending topics 'Young Bob Arrested for Paki at London Protest, Case Dropped' (per WebSearch); The Daily Britain 27 Oct

Can't Verify

The footage of British activist Thomas Moffitt being led away by police is genuine, and his arrest in Westminster on 25 October 2026 over an allegation he used the slur 'Paki' is reported. But the post overstates the case: no charge has been confirmed, the circumstances are disputed, and a single contested arrest does not show that 'the UK has no free speech'.

CrimePoliticsView details→

Was Greta Thunberg arrested in Rome for setting off an explosive device, per an Interpol director?

X · 4,494 likes (syndication 28 Oct); Lead Stories fact-check

False

The image is a real 2023 photograph of Greta Thunberg being detained by Swedish police in Malmö, but the post uses it to push a completely fabricated story about a 2026 Rome arrest on terrorism charges, complete with a non-existent 'Interpol Director Josef Barrone' and a $5 million bail.

EnvironmentCrimeView details→

Has the 'Cat in the Hat' trend reached Germany?

TikTok · 2.6M plays, 114.5K likes, 47K shares (TikTok page JSON); Correctiv 26 Oct (misleading: some images AI); RP Online 27 Oct Halloween warning

True But

The TikTok claim that the "Cat in the Hat" trend has reached Germany is supported: the Polizeirevier Wittenberg published a press release describing a Coswig (Anhalt) incident on 19 Sep 2026 and German outlets have reported multiple sightings and police warnings. However, many circulated images/videos are mixed with AI‑generated fakes, so not every shared sighting is genuine.

CrimeTechnologyView details→

Did three Democratic female candidates for Congress get hit by cars recently?

X · 19,657 likes on X (syndication); CalltoActivism Peltola crash post 8,242 likes; Twitchy pickup notes proposed Community Note (Kaptur crash was 2 Aug)

Misleading

Partly true: Mary Peltola was recently injured in a car crash and an Ohio Democratic congresswoman (Marcy Kaptur) was injured in a hit-and-run in August 2026, but there is no reliable evidence that a Tennessee Democratic congressional candidate was struck in the same recent window. Presenting all three as having been hit 'over the past few days' is misleading.

PoliticsCrimeView details→

Did Flávio Bolsonaro arrive in the United States?

X · 80.5K likes on Levy post (syndication); Agência Brasil headline 'Aliado de Trump diz que Flávio Bolsonaro chegou aos EUA'; Infobae/La Nación/TN/Folha/G1/Reuters/NYT coverage of the alleged escape via Puerto Iguazú; Aos Fatos and Chequeado explainers 27 Oct

True But

The claim that Flávio Bolsonaro arrived in the United States is confirmed by multiple reputable news outlets (Oct. 27, 2026). The additional claim that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio 'masterminded' the operation is unverified and rests on social-media allegations and anonymous sourcing.

PoliticsCrimeView details→

Did violent crime plummet in 2025 according to statistics?

X · Blanche 1,321 likes, DOJ 383 likes (syndication, 27 Oct); wide pickup 26-27 Oct: CBS News, NY Post, Daily Wire, Daily Signal, RedState, Western Journal ('largest drop in history' framing)

True But

The post accurately reproduces Bureau of Justice Statistics’ preliminary NCVS 2025 estimates: BJS and the DOJ press release (Oct 26, 2026) report a ~25% drop in serious nonfatal violent victimization and the other category declines shown. These figures are preliminary and come from the redesigned NCVS instrument, which BJS warns may be revised in final publications.

CrimePoliticsView details→

Does a viral video show Muslim children being indoctrinated to commit violence?

Facebook · JIBWIS disowned it 26-27 Oct; CAN, Amnesty and Wike aide Lere Olayinka called for a DSS/police probe; P.M. News says 'tens of thousands of views' on X; coverage in Premium Times/allAfrica, Leadership, Blueprint, P.M. News, Church Times, Muslim News

True But

A viral video published 25–26 Oct 2026 shows youths in uniforms chanting for AK-47s and naming Enugu and Jos as targets; multiple independent Nigerian outlets report the same translation and human-rights groups and JIBWIS leaders have called for investigations. The footage appears likely authentic, but the organisation’s direct responsibility and the clip’s full provenance and recording date are not yet independently verified.

CrimeConflictView details→

Did Sílvia Orriols claim rioters in Barcelona were subsidized immigrants?

X · Orriols 6,836 likes; Vox's Garriga 1,549 likes; @agusantonetti 7,077 likes

Can't Verify

The X post repeats an unproven political claim that the recent Barcelona rioters are 'subsidized immigrants'. News reporting from Oct 24-25, 2026 documents the disturbances and many detentions but provides no authoritative evidence supporting that characterization; the claim is therefore unsupported/misleading.

PoliticsCrimeView details→

Did Emmanuel Macron say this is the first planned racist terrorist act in France?

X · Bellamy rebuttal 13.6K likes; Le Figaro 'la lourde erreur de Macron', Entrevue, i24news; Bardella, Crif and PS deputy objected; Elysee clarified

Misleading

The video is authentic footage of Emmanuel Macron speaking in Trappes on Oct 23, 2026; his description of the shootings as a racist terrorist attack is supported by contemporaneous reporting and the PNAT investigation. However his claim that this is "the first time" such a planned racist terrorist act has occurred in France is false or misleading because earlier attacks have targeted people for their religion or presumed ethnicity (e.g., Toulouse 2012, Hyper Cacher 2015, Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray 2016).

PoliticsCrimeView details→

Did police throw grenades in Metz on October 17, 2026?

X · 18.3K likes; related post 19.7K likes; same Metz clip re-shared in Italy as 'agenti provocatori' (Open, 21 Oct); resurfacing around 24 Oct protest day · resurfaced

True

The circulated video is genuine footage filmed in Metz during the October 17, 2026 demonstrations and shows plainclothes police (reported as BAC officers) throwing a crowd-control grenade near the Passage/ruelle behind Caf Blondel and then moving back toward uniformed colleagues; regional outlets and local authorities have confirmed this description.

PoliticsCrimeView details→

Did Katie Hobbs-Aligned Canvassers Help Non-Citizens and Felons Vote?

X · 11.6K likes on origin; TPAction repost 38K likes, Kari Lake 23K; UW CIP measured up to ~3,300 X posts/hour with renewed surge 23 Oct · resurfaced

Misleading

An undercover video posted Oct 22, 2026 by Muckraker shows some canvassers appearing to offer or encourage voter‑registration assistance to people who said they were non‑citizens or a felon, but the footage does not show any completed unlawful registrations and there is no independent, authoritative reporting or official finding confirming illegal registrations or votes — the post’s framing overstates what the footage proves.

PoliticsCrimeView details→

Did 2 Pakistani Muslims Set Fire to a Church in Wales?

X · 13,399 likes (X syndication); Hindi repost 22 Oct 1,990 likes; Misbar 23 Oct says video is a 2025 fire at Bethany chapel.

False

The video is authentic footage of the Bethany Chapel fire in Port Talbot on 24 April 2025, but the post's caption claiming '2 Pakistani Muslims' set it alight is false. South Wales Police arrested two local teenagers and explicitly denied any link to Pakistan.

CrimeOtherView details→

Did President Trump announce a RICO investigation into George Soros?

X · 19,230 likes (X syndication, 24 Oct). MEAWW: recycles Trump's Aug 2025 'should be charged with RICO' post as new. · resurfaced

Misleading

The post recycles and amplifies earlier statements: there is no evidence that President Trump made a new Oct 23, 2026 announcement that George Soros and his entire network would be investigated under RICO; reputable coverage shows similar calls from August 2025, and fact‑checks label the viral Oct 23 post misleading.

PoliticsCrimeView details→

Did monkeys in Italy try to loot a bakery?

X · 20.3K likes on the X post · resurfaced

Misleading

The video is authentic footage of Corbo's Bakery in Cleveland, Ohio from May 31, 2020 showing owners and employees armed to defend the shop; the post's caption that this occurred in Italy and describes the crowd as 'monos africanos' is false and misleading.

CrimeView details→

Did a man decapitate the Iwo Jima statue?

X · 9,030 likes (X syndication, 23 Oct); Melugin origin 7.5K likes; NY Post, Fox, Townhall; White House statement

True But

Police and multiple news outlets confirm that a Stafford man identified as Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano was arrested Oct. 21, 2026, after allegedly using a sledgehammer to damage the Iwo Jima statue at Quantico. Fox News reports (citing unnamed federal sources) that the suspect is a Mexican national and former DACA recipient, but that immigration detail is not independently confirmed in police releases or by other major wire services at the time of this check.

CrimePoliticsView details→

Did a video show Milan citizens fighting back against migrants?

X · 150,260 likes (X syndication, 23 Oct); Facta reports over 14M views; copies in ES, FR, DE, RU, ZH; new Facta investigation 23 Oct

Misleading

The video is authentic footage from violent protests and looting in central Milan on Oct 18–19, 2026 showing a man confronting people outside an Under Armour store. However, the caption's claims that the crowd are '3rd world migrants' and that 'the people of Milan' collectively are beating them back are unsupported and misleading.

CrimePoliticsView details→

Did the carnage spread to Italy and other parts of Europe?

X · 5,083 likes per X syndication 23 Oct; video attached. Context: Le Monde, Guardian, Caixin 20 Oct report protests and clashes in Milan and Italy; Independent 22 Oct 'Europe's riots spread to Spain'

True But

The video appears to be authentic phone footage of looting and smashed shop windows. Major news outlets reported that unrest beginning in France did spread to Italy (notably Milan) in mid‑October 2026, so the factual portion of Nigel Farage's caption (that carnage reached Italy and other parts of Europe) is supported; the broader political characterisation in the caption is opinion.

PoliticsCrimeView details→

Did a court filing identify Ilhan Omar under a false identity?

X · 28.7K likes per X syndication 23 Oct; Fox News 'not her real name' story and Trump calling on Omar to resign at Iowa rally 22 Oct (Newsweek); Omar's office calls it a smear.

True But

The image reproduces a real D.D.C. government filing that refers to Rep. Ilhan Omar as "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar." That naming in the motion is confirmed by court-recap postings and news reports. However, the poster dds the inference that DOJ therefore believes she is present in the U.S. under a false identity; the filing's use of multiple names does not by itself prove DOJ holds that belief.

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