Fact check: How to cut through Epstein files disinformation

DW News · Feb 26, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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In late January, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) releasedmore than 3.5 million documents related to convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The release allowed the public to examine Epstein's connections to celebrities, business leaders and other influential figures. But it also opened a Pandora's box of rumors, misinterpretations and outright disinformation — leaving many struggling to distinguish verifiable facts from viral fiction. DW Fact check explains why it is so difficult to sort rumors from reality in such cases. The archive includes more than 180,000 images and over 2,000 videos. "Just having the documents doesn't mean you can search them immediately," said Gianna Grün, head of data journalism at DW. "You have to make them machine-readable first." Within hours of the release, social media platforms were flooded with screenshots, name lists and dramatic claims — not all of which hold up to scrutiny. Epstein survivor speaks out to DWTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "Even though these are now public records, it does not mean they are verified, true or accurate," noted Steve Eder, an investigative reporter of the New York Times. The outlet has described the undertaking as "one of the largest and most complex reporting projects in recent New York Times history." A name appearing in a document does not, by itself, establish involvement in criminal activity. Each reference must be examined in full context. Zuckerberg enjoying sushi with Epstein? Claim: A widely shared claimon social media platform X formerly known as Twitter appears to show Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sitting next to Epstein, with a young woman leaning on Zuckerberg's lap. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman is also pictured. An AI-generated image falsely shows Zuckerberg (center) sitting with Epstein (left) and Hoffman (right)Image: x DW Fact check: Fake The image carriesa watermark reading "DFF." A reverse image search leads us to an X account that regularly posts AI-generated images and videos, claiming to expose them via "AI Videos and Memes." A real photo of Zuckerberg is includedin the DOJ release, reportedly from a dinner in August 2015, together with Elon Musk. Epstein is not present in the image. The viral picture blends authentic details with synthetic elements. Zuckerberg saidhe has had no contact with Epstein beyond that dinner. Hoffman statedhe met Epsteindue to a fundraising relationship, which he now regrets.Analyzing millions of documents takes time Dozens of newsrooms are currently combing through the material. Some collaborate across organizations, while others rely on AI tools to structure and process the data. "With the help of AI, I wrote a tool that leveraged the DOJ's own search functionality to allow reporters to quickly extract every page of search results and put them in a spreadsheet" explains the New York Times AI project editor Dylan Freedman in an in-houseinterview. "From there, we populated tabs for search results from key figures linking back to the source material, and reporters crowdsourced verifying the information," he said. Reporters then linked these results back to individual documents, examining each mention within its surrounding context. Tom Hanks denied entry into Greece? Claim: Another viral postclaims that actor Tom Hanks was refused entry into Greece after his name allegedly appeared in the Epstein files, citing a “Greek Foreign Minister Jostaki Barronopolous” who allegedly revoked Hanks’ citizenship. False claims are circulating on social media, for instance about repercussions for Tom Hanks Image: x DW Fact check: False The story is entirely fabricated. Hanks did receive Greek citizenship in 2020, but the referenced minister does not exist. The current Greek foreign minister is George Gerapetritis. Hanks’ name does appear in the files, but only in passing references with no indication of wrongdoing. "Context is very important: if a person is mentioned x times, the number itself doesn't really tell you that much," DW's data journalist Grün said. "For example, is the name popping up as part of a newsletter someone subscribed to? Or is it appearing because there has been an actual bilateral email exchange? Or is a third person mentioning your person of interest, and if so, in what semantic context?" A process that may take years The DOJ said it had identified more than six million potential responsive pages linked to the Epstein files.Only about half have been released to the publicso far. Experts expect that investigating, verifying and contextualizing such an enormous volume of documents could take years. Edited by: Sarah Steffen, Rachel Baig