Fact check: The disinformation we debunked in 2025

The year 2025 marked a turning point in the evolution of disinformation campaigns. AI-generated content, in particular short, viral AI videos, was going viral and was viewed and shared millions of times. Some fakes were just entertaining, others were created to manipulate our opinions, for example on Russia's war in Ukraine or on politicians like French President Emmanuel Macron.

Powered by generative AI, deepfake technology and micro-targeted social media strategies, these campaigns blurred the line between reality and fake at an unprecedented scale. From synthetic videos influencing voter behavior to false-flag narratives fueling geopolitical tensions, disinformation in 2025 saw a new speed and frequency. And it is a systemic threat to democratic processes and public trust.

This year, DW Fact check published more than 180 fact checks. They tackled false and misleading narratives shaping conversations across politics, health, climate, technology, sports and history.

So, what dominated the disinformation landscape in 2025? Let's dive in.

False claims about elections and disinformation campaigns aimed at influencing voters ran rampant, especially in Brazil and Moldova.

Another persistent target of disinformation was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. From US President Donald Trump's false claims in February that Zelenskyy had allegedly lost the support of his people to Trump's criticism during the Ukrainian White House visit in March that led to a surge in missinformation about Ukrainian's president.

The newly elected New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, also faced waves of disinformation before and after his win.

In Pakistan, rumors during the HPV vaccine drive claiming vaccines led to infertility and disabilities caused hesitancy. These falsehoods even triggered threats against health workers.

Climate deniers continued to distort research in 2025. In summer, satellite data showed Antarctic ice sheets had grown, sparking claims that climate change was reversing or a hoax. The reality is far more complex. For detailed information on this topic check our article.

More and more people turn to AI with their questions. The public's weekly usage of generative AI systems like ChatGPT and also the consumption of news via a generative AI has roughly doubled, the Reuters Institute Generative AI and news report 2025 found.

AI fact-checking tools also became popular — but often got it wrong. According to a recent study they often fail to deliver accurate, fact-based information.

But not only technology was a driver for disinformation in 2025. Also controversial topics that triggered emotions were an effective vehicle for false or misleading narratives spreading fast on social media. The debate over transgender women in sports intensified after Trump signed a decree banning trans women athletes from women's competitions. We analyzed studies and spoke to experts: Do trans women have an unfair athletic advantage? And what about Imane Khelif, Algerian boxer and cis-gender woman, who faced renewed false reports? We delivered the facts.

Historical topics, too, were used to spread false narratives in 2025. In February, we debunked myths about how many people really died in the Allied's bombing of Dresden in 1945. In the last year of World War II, 1945, British and US bomber squadrons carried out devastating air raids on German cities like Dresden. Up to 25,000 people were killed in the air raids from February 13 to 15, according to studies. Today, however, some users are mistakenly spreading the tenfold number of victims.

Earlier, Alice Weidel, then Germany's far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) chancellor candidate, falsely claimed Hitler "was a communist," not "right-wing," during a live talk with Elon Musk. Historians strongly disagree. We wrote a fact check.

From viral videos to AI-generated images, 2025 was full of online hoaxes. The Coldplay kiss cam moment reignited claims that "The Simpsons" predicted world events. Spoiler: Not true.

In May, AI-manipulated images of Muhammad al-Muhammad, a Syrian teenager who helped stop a knife attack in Hamburg, flooded social media, questioning his role. A viral video of Jerusalem in 1897? Surprisingly real. And no — Christmas markets in Germany were not canceled in 2025, and neither were Christmas markets in Europe "stormed" by Muslims.

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2025 marked major fact-checking partnerships. DW joined forces with German public broadcaster ARD's Fact check network, and the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) Spotlight network to tackle election-related disinformation and expose coordinated campaigns — from Russian influence operations to misleading Gaza narratives.

At the beginning of the year, DW Fact check researched and published many fact checks focusing on mis- and disinformation before and during the German elections, together with the ARD fact checkers of ARD Faktenfinder and the BR24 #Faktenfuchs. One example looked at how Elon Musk meddled in Germany's elections by spreading false and misleading claims on his platform X.

One investigation with the EBU  uncovered that Israel  was using its government advertising agency to run paid international campaigns aimed at shaping public opinion in parts of Europe and North America.

AI-generated content exploded — easier to make, harder to detect. From fake videos to fabricated images, the challenge of spotting what's real has never been greater.

After Meta scrapped fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram in the US, users turned to AI chatbots like Grok. "Hey @Grok, is this true?" was one of the most popular questions asked by users trying to fact-check viral posts on X.

While platforms like X introduced community notes and users turned to AI chatbots, these tools were wrong a lot of the time.

Example: Grok misidentified a current Gaza photo as an old image from Iraq, fueling misinformation.

Bottom line? Fact-checking still requires human expertise.

Want to learn how to spot fakes? Check out and read our tutorials here.

And test your fact-checking skills in our interactive quiz here.