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.

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  Claim: A new picture of Imran Khan shows him with a long beard, wearing a blue shalwar kameez and a dark blue waistcoat Fact: Khan has not grown a beard during his time in prison. The image being circulated recently is doctored. On 27 October 2024, an Instagram user shared a photograph of Imran […]

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Claim: PML-N has announced that they are ready to leave the government since they did not receive public support for their big decisions. Fact: Screenshots of news bulletins aired in 2022 were used to imply that the statement is a recent development. The PML-N leadership has not made any statements about the possibility of leaving […]

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Claim: The US Embassy in Islamabad has reportedly advised its staff to prepare for evacuation, as the UAE mediates a political settlement in Pakistan at the military’s request  Fact: The US embassy has made no such announcements.  On 26 November 2024, X user @soldierspeaks published a post (archive) claiming that the US embassy in Islamabad […]

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Claim: At the end of 2024, Elon Musk will launch a smartphone called Tesla Pi, with three key features exclusive to this phone. These include a solar-powered battery which doesn’t require the phone to be charged manually. It will also not require an internet connection since all Tesla Pi smartphones will be automatically connected to […]

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Claim: While speaking to the press on the morning of 26 November 2024 about the PTI rally heading to Islamabad, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi claimed that the police officers were not using teargas shelling but the PTI protesters were. Fact: Naqvi’s statement is entirely inaccurate. There are several instances of documented evidence of teargas shelling […]

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Claim: PTI leader Advocate Sher Afzal Marwat was arrested on the morning of 26 November, 2024.  Fact: PTI’s social media team confirmed to Soch Fact Check that Marwat has not been arrested at the time of publishing. On Tuesday morning, a prominent account on X (formerly Twitter), whose bio identifies the user as a journalist […]

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Claim: A video shows the rocket by SpaceX creating a hole in the ionosphere, proving the Quran right as a verse in the Quran says: “And we have made the sky a roof withheld still they turn away from its signs” (21:32)  Fact: The video actually shows the second SpaceX test-flight of their two-stage rocket, […]

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Claim: A Pakistani cleric went paragliding in Europe while singing the azaan with a woman who was not his mahram. Fact: The individual in question, cleric Abdul Wali Khan, went paragliding with a male instructor, not a woman. He later shared additional footage showing himself alongside the male instructor who facilitated his paragliding experience. On […]

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Claim: Recent internet disruptions in Pakistan are not being caused by any kind of firewall installation or ‘web management system’ upgradation. And the UK and US also have a firewall similar to the one being installed in Pakistan right now.  Fact: Several digital rights advocates, journalists and international organisations have reported internet disruptions in Pakistan […]

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Claim: Ali Amin Gandapur, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) politician and the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) is lying about his abduction and arrest at the KPK CM House as leaked footage shows he is walking with police officials willingly.  Fact: The video in question shows a different politician, Pakhtoon Yar Khan. It does not show […]

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Claim: A viral video shows an employee at a Crusteez doughnut shop praising Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa for “exposing those receiving Israeli funding.” Fact: The clip is doctored; the original video actually captures the employee cursing at the chief justice. On 25 September 2024, a video began circulating on social media showing […]

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Claim: Imran Khan said “no one understood but the Israeli newspaper has praised me and said I am the only leader in Pakistan with credibility.” Fact: This statement is being falsely linked to Imran Khan. PTI’s former digital strategist Imran Ghazali confirmed that Khan did not give this statement. Moreover, Khalid Yousaf, Khan’s lawyer, also […]

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