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: 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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Claim: PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif was severely upset at the recent Supreme Court decision and announced a political split from PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari. Fact: Several viral Facebook posts doctored videos of Nawaz Sharif’s address at the Asma Jahangir Conference 2021, his speech at a political rally in Lahore from 13 December 2020 and […]

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Claim: Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif has publicly endorsed a “soft intervention” in the country by the Pakistan Army and has said that if a soft intervention can lead to any sort of benefit to the country, then he is ready to accept it. Fact: Capital TV spread a false headline claiming that Prime […]

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Claim: Journalist Imran Riaz Khan is collecting donations online to help disabled people in Pakistan. Fact: Imran Riaz Khan’s Twitter account was hacked and a PayPal scam was shared through a tweet. The journalist uploaded a video warning people not to interact with his account or make any donations.  On 30 July 2022, journalist Imran […]

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Claim: A viral image shows a young girl who drowned in Balochistan during the recent monsoon flooding in Pakistan.  Fact: The viral image is of a girl who drowned in River Kabul, Peshawar and was found by rescue services near Attock. On 27 July 2022, an image of an infant’s dead body went viral on […]

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Claim: An Israeli journalist visited Makkahand Madina in July 2022 during the time of Hajj (7-12 July) on a permit issued by the Saudi government.   Fact: Israeli journalist Gil Tamary entered Makkah unlawfully with the help of a Saudi man who was later arrested by Saudi authorities.  On 20 July 2022, a Facebook page called […]

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Claim: Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif has announced his resignation and will be dissolving the country’s assemblies.  Fact: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has made no such announcement.  On 18 and 19 January 2022, several pages shared videos on Facebook with different variations of the caption, “شہباز شریف نے نئے الیکشن کی تاریخ دیدی اور […]

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