Areeba Fatima

Areeba Fatima is a senior fact-checker and investigative reporter. She studied Anthropology at Lahore University of Management Sciences. She has also worked with Fact Focus on an Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) investigation, the Suisse Secrets. She loves working with large datasets to extract meaningful information. She is interested in internet governance, financial crime, political corruption and emerging technologies.

True False

Claim: An Israeli writer and government advisor claimed a hospitalised Palestinian man is acting and faking his injuries as he was exposed after he posted a video of himself  appearing perfectly healthy a few days later Fact: The claim links  two unrelated videos,  filmed at different times and places. Most importantly, the hospitalised man in […]

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True False

Claim: A series of images show a Palestinian girl being rescued  by three different people, each one from a different day, from locations that are 50 km apart from each other.   Fact: The pictures do not show a Palestinian girl. They were taken in Aleppo, Syria in the aftermath of a bombing that took place […]

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True False

Claim: The Pakistani government has asked all banks to stop accepting donations for Palestine. A leaked internal memo from Bank Alfalah is being used to claim that the bank does not accept donations for the account of the Palestinian government.  Fact: The Pakistani government has not asked banks to stop accepting donations for Palestine. Donations […]

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True False

Claim: Taylor Swift’s Eras tour film was cancelled in Israel over the Gaza conflict. Fact: The film is being screened in Israel as scheduled. The screenshot shown in the video is authentic, but it was caused by a technical glitch on the website, not by a deliberate decision to pull the film. On 7 November […]

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True False

Claim: A McDonald’s outlet in Peshawar was temporarily closed after a massive boycott due to McDonalds’ pro-IDF stance in the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Fact: The McDonald’s outlet in Peshawar was not closed, but was open and operational as usual, according to local sources and online reviews. The claim is false. On 5 November 2023, […]

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True False

Claim: Eight UAE planes have landed at airports in Israel, carrying military aid and equipment for the Israeli army. Fact: This claim is false and reports developments from last year out of context. There is no evidence of the UAE supplying military aid to Israel in the ongoing war.  On 7 October 2023, the Al […]

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True False

Claim: A video posted on social media in October 2023 shows a pro-Palestinian demonstration on UCLA’s campus with people chanting, “We want Jewish genocide.” Fact: The claim is false. The video does not show the demonstrators chanting, “We want Jewish genocide.” Instead, they are saying, “Israel, Israel, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide.” […]

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True False

Claim: A video from Hezbollah’s social media shows the terror group’s members and their supporters attempting to climb over the fence and enter Israel amidst the recent Israel-Palestine war. Other versions claim the video shows Lebanese civilians climbing the fence in an attempt to reach Gaza, while others claim it shows Gazan citizens trying to […]

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True False

Claim: Maulana Fazl ur Rahman claimed that half of Pakistan will be facing snowfall if elections are held in January 2024.  Fact: The JUI-F politician’s statement is not true as half of Pakistan will not experience snowfall at the time of the elections. Moreover, most of the areas he listed himself will not face snowfall, […]

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True False

Claim: Jewish students at Cooper Union College New York were locked inside the library for their own safety as a mob of Hamas supporting students attempted to break in. Fact: The video shows a peaceful protest by pro-Palestinian students who were chanting slogans outside the library. The protest was planned and there was no property […]

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True False

Claim: The Colombian government has expelled the Israeli ambassador from their country.   Fact: The Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Peace announced on his officially verified X (formerly Twitter) account that the state has not expelled the Israeli ambassador, and that it was a misrepresentation of an informal statement that he tweeted in response to […]

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True False

Claim: The Taliban have announced that they have asked Iran, Iraq and Jordan to grant them passage to Israel. They have stated that their intent is to “conquer Jerusalem”. Fact: The Afghan Taliban spokesperson has refuted the claim that the Taliban are seeking permission from neighbouring countries to access a passage to Israel after the […]

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