FactCheckRadar Real-Time Fact Checking 358 published fact-checks

Built for rumors, fast-moving news, and claims that spread faster than the proof.

Latest fact-checks

Mostly true

Reports of 3 ships hit in Strait of Hormuz on April 18 are partially inaccurate; two attacks confirmed

Claim checked

“3 ships in the Strait of Hormuz have been hit by Iran”

On April 18, 2026, Iran reimposed restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz, leading to at least two confirmed attacks on commercial vessels: a tanker fired upon by gunboats and a container ship hit by a projectile. While the claim of "3 ships" being hit matches a previous high-profile incident from March 11, 2026, current reports for April 18 verify only two such attacks. The...

Read full report ↗
Mostly true

DeepSeek-V4 Release Rumors and Technical Specifications

Claim checked

“Okay, Deepseek V4 is coming out this week! 1.6T MOE model, a competing model to Opus-4.6/GPT-5.4 MMLU 99.4% / SWE 83.7% Since the parameters are so large, only the quantized version will be possible on a 512GB Mac. Sorry it's a Korean article, you'll have to translate it to read”

Reports and social media posts from April 20, 2026, suggest that DeepSeek-V4 is slated for release as early as this week. While technical specifications such as a 1.6 trillion parameter MoE architecture and high benchmark scores (MMLU 99.4%) are circulating, these figures originate from unofficial leaks and researcher predictions rather than a formal announcement from...

Read full report ↗
Supported

IRGC Defies Iranian Foreign Minister, Maintains Strait of Hormuz Closure

Claim checked

“Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi: "The Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open." IRGC Navy: "The Strait of Hormuz is closed. We will open it by the order of Khamenei, not by the tweet of some idiot" IRGC is running the show. Ghalibaf and Araghchi are useful idiots. _”

Reports from April 18, 2026, confirm a major public rift within the Iranian leadership regarding the Strait of Hormuz. While Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced the waterway was "completely open" following a Lebanon ceasefire, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy immediately overrode him. In a maritime broadcast, the IRGC reportedly labeled the Foreign...

Read full report ↗
Supported

Senator Lindsey Graham Claims Iran Faces Financial Ruin Following U.S. Naval Blockade

Claim checked

“Senator Graham: Iran is on the verge of financial ruin from the blockade.”

Senator Lindsey Graham has publicly asserted that the Iranian regime is on the verge of financial collapse due to a U.S. naval blockade. This claim aligns with Graham's ongoing rhetoric regarding the 2026 conflict and is supported by economic reports indicating that the blockade, which began on April 13, 2026, is causing "terminal collapse" of the Iranian rial and costing the...

Read full report ↗
Misleading

Hungarian Constitutional Amendment Procedures and the 'Constituent Assembly' Claim

Claim checked

“Changing the constitution would only be possible if the Tisza Party, using its two-thirds majority, called a Constituent National Assembly, after which parliament would dissolve itself. If it does not choose this path, it would essentially amount to a constitutional coup.”

The claim that changing the Hungarian constitution is only possible through a 'Constituent National Assembly' followed by the dissolution of parliament is legally incorrect under the current Fundamental Law of Hungary. While a political actor may propose such a path as a moral or democratic preference, the existing legal framework provides a specific, legal mechanism for...

Read full report ↗
Mostly true

GPT-5.5 'Spud' in Testing and Comparison to Claude Opus 4.7

Claim checked

“Yep. GPT-5.5 has been in testing on ChatGPT for a few days now, and I can confirm it’s better than Opus 4.7.”

While evidence confirms that GPT-5.5 (code-named "Spud") is a real model nearing release and Claude Opus 4.7 was recently launched, the claim that GPT-5.5 is currently being "stealth tested" on ChatGPT is unverified. GPT-5.5 Status: OpenAI executives confirmed pretraining was completed in late March 2026, with a release expected in Q2 2026. Opus 4.7 Status: Anthropic released...

Read full report ↗
Supported

USAF Air Bridge Activity Reported Over Europe and Middle East

Claim checked

“The U.S. Air Force air bridge over Europe and into the Middle East continues with at least 16 C-17A "Globemaster IIIs" joining at least 2 KC-135 "Stratotankers" right now.”

Reports from open-source intelligence (OSINT) trackers indicate a significant and ongoing U.S. Air Force air bridge involving at least 16 C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft and multiple KC-135 Stratotankers moving through Europe toward the Middle East as of April 21, 2026.

Read full report ↗
Supported

FBI Raids Home of Suspect in Sam Altman Molotov Cocktail Attack

Claim checked

“FBI agents raided the home of the 21-year-old suspect accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman’s home. He was reportedly driven by anti-AI views and carried a manifesto listing AI executives and investors with addresses.”

On April 13, 2026, FBI agents raided the Texas home of Daniel Moreno-Gama, a suspect accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at the San Francisco residence of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Investigators confirmed the suspect was motivated by anti-AI views and carried a manifesto that included a "hit list" of other AI executives and investors along with their home addresses.

Read full report ↗
Supported

Iran's Deputy Parliament Speaker Claims Strait of Hormuz is Iran's 'Atomic Bomb'

Claim checked

“"Our atomic bomb is the Strait of Hormuz," Iran's Deputy Parliament Speaker Hamidreza Haji Babaei said on Sunday.”

On April 12, 2026, Iranian Deputy Parliament Speaker Hamidreza Haji Babaei reportedly described the Strait of Hormuz as Iran's "atomic bomb," emphasizing its strategic importance as a deterrent and a tool for economic leverage. This statement coincides with legislative efforts in the Iranian parliament to "nationalize" the waterway and impose transit tolls payable only in...

Read full report ↗
Unverified

Reports of Iranian Drone Strike on U.S. Naval Vessels Unverified

Claim checked

“Tasnim reports that Iranian forces launched a drone strike at U.S. naval vessels following the attack on the ship”

A social media claim alleging that the Tasnim News Agency reported an Iranian drone strike on U.S. naval vessels is currently unverified. While Tasnim has reported on the replenishment of drone stockpiles and the maintenance of control over the Strait of Hormuz, there is no record of the agency reporting a specific new drone strike against U.S. ships as of April 19, 2026.

Read full report ↗
Supported

Moonshot AI Launches Kimi K2.6 with Top Coding and Agent Benchmarks

Claim checked

“Kimi K2.6 Launched: Open-Source + Competing with Frontier Models - Agentic coding king: #1 on SWE-Bench Pro (58.6), beating GPT-5.4 xhigh (57.7), Gemini 3.1 Pro (54.2), Claude Opus 4.6 (53.4)”

Moonshot AI has officially released Kimi K2.6, an open-weight model designed for complex agentic tasks and long-horizon coding. Evidence confirms it achieved a score of 58.6 on SWE-Bench Pro, placing it at the top of the leaderboard and surpassing models like GPT-5.4 and Claude Opus 4.6 in that specific metric.

Read full report ↗
Supported

U.S. Forces Seize Iranian-Flagged Cargo Ship in Gulf of Oman

Claim checked

“U.S. forces have seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman after it tried to get pass the naval blockade. U.S. marines are currently on the vessel and have “full custody” of the ship, President Trump announced.”

On April 19, 2026, President Donald Trump announced that U.S. forces successfully seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman. The vessel was intercepted after attempting to bypass a U.S. naval blockade. U.S. Marines are currently on board and have taken "full custody" of the ship.

Read full report ↗
Supported

Iran Implements New Transit Rules and Security Fees for Strait of Hormuz

Claim checked

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has announced new rules for the Strait of Hormuz: vessels that pay faster for security services and comply with protocols will get priority crossing. Others will be forced to face delays.”

The Islamic Republic of Iran has introduced a new regulatory framework for the Strait of Hormuz, requiring commercial vessels to obtain Iranian authorization and follow designated routes. This system includes the collection of "security and service fees"—reported to be as high as $2 million per vessel—to grant safe passage. Vessels that comply with these protocols and pay the...

Read full report ↗
Supported

Oxford Professor Michael Wooldridge Claims ChatGPT Lacks True Understanding

Claim checked

“Oxford AI professor Michael Wooldridge: "ChatGPT doesn't understand anything. It's essentially doing some fancy statistics."”

Michael Wooldridge, a professor of computer science at the University of Oxford, has consistently argued that Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT do not possess genuine understanding. He describes their functionality as sophisticated statistical pattern-matching rather than a grasp of meaning or real-world context.

Read full report ↗
Supported

Péter Magyar's Tisza Party Wins Supermajority in 2026 Hungarian Election

Claim checked

“I've seen enough. Orban is finished, Péter Magyar's Tisza will win a constitutional majority (supermajority).”

Based on early results and official concessions from the April 12, 2026, parliamentary election, Péter Magyar's Tisza Party has defeated Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party. Current projections indicate Tisza is on track to secure a constitutional supermajority (two-thirds of seats) in the National Assembly.

Read full report ↗
Supported

Viktor Orbán's Odds of Remaining Hungarian PM Drop to 15-16% on Election Day

Claim checked

“Orban's odds of remaining Hungary's Prime Minister tumble to just 15% ahead of today's election”

As of April 12, 2026, betting markets and prediction platforms show that Viktor Orbán's chances of remaining Hungary's Prime Minister have fallen significantly, with current odds sitting between 15% and 16%. This decline follows a surge in support for the opposition Tisza Party, led by Péter Magyar, which is now the heavy favorite to win the most seats and lead the next...

Read full report ↗
Supported

Pakistan Deploys 13,000 Troops and Fighter Jets to Saudi Arabia Under Defense Pact

Claim checked

“Pakistan to send 13,000 troops and over 10 aircraft to Saudi Arabia. Significant deployment.”

On April 11, 2026, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defence announced the arrival of a significant Pakistani military contingent at King Abdulaziz Air Base. The deployment includes approximately 13,000 soldiers and between 10 to 18 fighter jets, fulfilling a strategic mutual defense agreement signed in September 2025. The move is intended to enhance joint military coordination and...

Read full report ↗