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 screenshot of Afghan cricket player Farid Malik apologising after for a recent on-field feud with Pakistan’s Asif Ali was widely shared on social media Fact: The Twitter account purportedly representing Farid Malik is fake, and neither player has issued an apology for the verbal spat, which turned violent. Pakistan’s cricket team faced off […]

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Claim: According to British journalist Julia Hartley-Brewer, extreme weather events are not increasing worldwide Fact: Extreme weather events are increasing across the globe, especially in North America, Europe and Asia, according to the Summary for Policymakers report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). On 2 September 2022, Talk TV, a recently launched British […]

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Claim: Journalist Waqas Ahmed has started working at the International Human Rights Foundation (IHRF). Fact: Both Waqas Ahmed and the IHRF deny the claim. On 25 August 2022, a Twitter account called Standup Pakistan shared a tweet claiming that 29-year-old journalist Waqas Ahmed is the first Pakistani to work for the IHRF. This tweet gained […]

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Claim: A new iOS update automatically activated a  feature that shares users’ precise location on Instagram for all other users on the platform to see. Fact: The location setting is built into the device and cannot be automatically switched on through an iOS update. Instagram has officially denied this claim. On 26 August 2022, a […]

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Claim: PML-Q MNA Monis Elahi has joined Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf Fact: Monis Elahi has officially rejected any claims regarding him joining PTI and he has also published a tweet rejecting the viral image of a notification claiming the same.  On 19 August 2022, several twitter users shared an image which claimed to be a […]

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Claim: Imran Khan was voted Best Prime Minister by 93% of Pakistanis in a survey conducted by Arab Magazine Fact: Arab Magazine did not conduct a survey where Imran Khan was polled Best Prime Minister by 93% of Pakistanis. On 15 August 2022, a Twitter user shared an image which claimed that 93% Pakistanis believe […]

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Claim: ARY News reported that businessman Sheikh Danish, the main accused in a recent case of kidnapping and torture in Faisalabad, has been released on bail. Fact: Danish has not been granted bail. He is presently in police custody under physical remand ordered by a judicial magistrate in Faisalabad. On 8 August 2022, an incident […]

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Claim: An image of a female dancer in front of a portrait of Quaid e Azam is from the official national day celebrations held at the Jinnah Convention Center, Islamabad Fact: The viral image is from 2018. At the official national celebration this year, the stage was different from the one shown in the photograph […]

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Claim: An image shows Amna Baig of the Islamabad police saluting Maryam Nawaz Sharif. Baig has also been nominated as the Head of the FIA team investigating the PTI foreign funding case. Fact: The image is from 2017 and shows SSP Arsala Saleem saluting Maryam Nawaz while she attended a JIT hearing at the National […]

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Claim: An image of PML-N head Nawaz Sharif watching something on his phone is being shared with captions that imply he was watching Imran Khan’s August 13 political rally. Fact: The politician was watching his daughter’s political rally from July; the image was posted to Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s Twitter last month.  On August 14 2022, […]

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Claim: Caryn E Gifford, a level 2 policy advisor to American diplomat David Blome, posted a tweet confirming that a US tactical drone accidentally hit a Pakistan Army helicopter in Balochistan’s Lasbela, resulting in multiple fatalities.  Fact: The US embassy has not issued any statement regarding the recent Pakistan Army helicopter accident in Lasbela, Balochistan. […]

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Claim: According to a tweet by defense analyst Davis Jackman, the head of the CIA told US President Joe Biden that former Prime Minister Imran Khan will likely win the upcoming general elections in Pakistan with two-thirds majority.  Fact: The claim is false. There is no publicly available evidence to suggest the head of the […]

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