Claim: PML-N MNA Ahsan Iqbal said that American president Joe Biden’s recent remarks questioning the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear program are because, like a father, he wants what is best for Pakistan.
Fact: Ahsan Iqbal did not make this comment, a Geo News Urdu parody account on Twitter did.
On 15 October 2022, a journalist shared a tweet with a screenshot of an image allegedly shared by Geo News Urdu. This screenshot contained an image of PMLN MNA Ahsan Iqbal with the quote “امریکی صدر جو بائیڈن نے باپ کی حثیت سے ہماری بہتری کی بات کی ہے احسن اقبال” [US President Joe Biden has talked about our improvement like a father, Ahsan Iqbal].
Several Twitter users shared this image believing this to be a genuine comment from Ahsan Iqbal and some posts also made it to Facebook and Instagram.
In a speech on 13 October, Biden said Pakistan is “maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world” as it has “nuclear weapons without any cohesion”.
On 15 October, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari responded saying, “As far as the question of the safety and security of Pakistan’s nuclear assets are concerned, we meet all – each and every – international standard in accordance with the IAEA.” He has also summoned the US Ambassador to discuss the comments.
Fact or Fiction?
The official Geo News Twitter handle is @geonews_urdu, which is a verified account. When we searched the username affiliated with the account which shared Ahsan Iqbal’s image, its Twitter handle was @geonewsurduu, and its Twitter biography states it is“Parody account”.
However, despite this, several Twitter users, including the journalist whose tweet was mentioned earlier, quoted the tweet in support of Imran Khan against what they believed to be PML-N’s response to Biden’s statement.
Virality
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis for the 3-day period since 15 October 2022 to 17 October 2022 using the following search terms:
- “باپ” “جو بائیڈن”
The tweet made by the parody account was shared with 148,154 Twitter users and gathered over 2897 Twitter interactions. Some verified Twitter accounts also shared this false quote.
We found 18 posts on Facebook with 567 interactions. Some of them can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. We also found other tweets sharing the same claim here, here, here, here and here
Conclusion: A Geo News parody account falsely attributed a comment to Ahsan Iqbal. This comment travelled to Facebook as a genuine statement.