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: Opposing party politicians claimed that the University of Sargodha refused to invite Imran Khan for a political address. While other posts claimed that he was invited by the university. Fact: The University of Sargodha administration never invited Imran Khan to deliver a speech, nor did they disinvite him. He was invited by the Punjab […]

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Claim: Shehbaz Sharif endorsed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) long march. Fact: A video clip from Shehbaz Sharif’s announcement of the Mehngai Mukao March from March 2022 was shared out of context to imply that he has endorsed PTI’s long march. On 28 October 2022, a content creator shared a video on Facebook claiming to show prime […]

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Claim: Imran Khan called for an emergency press conference at 3pm a day before the long march was supposed to begin, at Shahrah e Quaid e Azam, Lahore. Fact: Imran Khan never called for an emergency press conference, and the long march began as scheduled. On 27 October 2022, several social media posts on Facebook […]

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Claim: A viral image of what appears to be Pakistani men holding up a banner reading “We don’t want Kashmir, give us Virat Kohli” shared on social media. Fact: The image is doctored. The original picture shows pro-Pakistan residents of Kashmir holding a banner that read, “We want independence”. On 23 October 2022, Pakistan and […]

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Claim: Inspector General of Sindh Police, Ghulam Nabi Memon, claimed in a statement reported by ARY News that Karachi has a relatively lower crime rate compared to other cities in the world. Fact: According to data from the UNODC and crowd-sourced global statistics, Karachi is not one of the safer cities in the world. On […]

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Claim: Manufactured potato crisps, which have dark-coloured spots and appear burnt, contain throat mold, which can be harmful. Fact: There is no type of mold called “throat mold”. The darkened parts of potato crisps are caused by over frying.  On 19 September 2022, a social media influencer with 74,900 followers on Instagram shared an image […]

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Claim: Pakistan People’s Party has decided to suspend the membership of politician Aitzaz Ahsan over controversial remarks. Fact: Although there are demands within the party to suspend Aitzaz Ahsan, the Central Executive Committee of the party has made no such decision.  On 14 October 2022, mainstream news websites and social media posts reported that Pakistan […]

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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 […]

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Claim: Mohenjo-Daro will likely be removed from the list of World Heritage sites.  Fact: Mohenjo-Daro was never under consideration for removal, and UNESCO has directed $350,000 to the recovery and restoration of heritage sites in Pakistan in the aftermath of the flood. On 4 September 2022, a Facebook post claimed that Mohenjo-Daro will likely be […]

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Claim: An Express News bulletin quoting a purported FBR notification claimed the federal government exempted all taxes on the import of bulletproof vehicles for high-ranking military generals. Fact: According to the FBR, no such notification has been formally issued yet, although the tax exemption is indeed under the Prime Minister’s consideration. Since the policy hasn’t […]

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Claim: BISP accounts designated for receiving flood relief donations have been hacked. Fact: BISP officially clarified that none of their accounts were hacked. No reports claiming recipients have suffered such fraud have surfaced. On 19 September 2022, former deputy speaker of the National Assembly and member of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Qasim Khan Suri […]

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Claim: A viral image appearing to be a news update claimed PTI leader Shahbaz Gill said, “I do not wish to maintain political ties with Imran Khan” Fact: Shahbaz Gill did not make such an announcement. He remains a senior PTI leader and close ally of Imran Khan. The image is doctored. On 17 September […]

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