Hamna Iqbal Baig

Hamna Baig is a fact-checker at Soch Fact Check. She has a BA in Media Sciences from Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology and an MA in Multimedia Journalism from the University of Kent. Her stories have appeared in an international media outlet, Pioneers Post as well as in local online and print publications in Pakistan; DAWN, ARY News and SAMAA Digital. She covers culture, social issues and social entrepreneurship as a freelance journalist.

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Claim: At least 50,000 babies were born in Faisalabad in just ten days in December 2022, the most in any city in Pakistan.  Fact: More than 50,000 childbirths were registered in the Faisalabad division and over 25,000 in the Faisalabad district between 10 and 20 December 2022 as part of a birth registration drive launched […]

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Claim: A video shows surgeons arguing with nursing staff inside an operation theatre in Pakistan.  Fact: The video depicts an incident from Umaid Hospital, Jodphur, Rajasthan in India in August 20177. It is not from Pakistan.  Fact or Fiction? On 4 January 2023, Pakistani-Canadian columnist Tarek Fatah retweeted a video claiming that it shows surgeons […]

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Claim: A video shows dollars being smuggled out of Pakistan into Afghanistan through the Chaman border. Fact: The video is from September 2021, when the Taliban claimed to have recovered US dollars and gold bars stashed away at the residence of Amrullah Saleh, the ousted Afghan vice president. Fact or Fiction? On 21 December 2022, […]

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Claim: A video shows Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf MNA Faheem Khan being beaten up onboard a plane. Fact: The video shows a fight that broke out on a Thai Smile Airways flight from Bangkok to India on 27 December 2022. Fact or Fiction? On 2 January 2023, Twitter user Sarfraz Nisar shared a video claiming that it shows […]

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Claim: The Green Line train running between Karachi and Islamabad has been restored. Fact: The train line, which was cancelled in August 2022 following heavy rains and floods, will be restored from January 2023. The claim appears to be based on a fake notification doing the rounds on social media. Fact or Fiction? On 13 […]

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Claim: A photo shows soldiers being taken as hostages following a siege at the Counter-Terrorism Department’s (CTD) compound in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Fact: The photo is old. It was featured in a March 2008 article. Fact or Fiction? On 19 December 2022, Twitter user M. Salman Farooqui shared a photo implying that it shows […]

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Claim: Google has suspended the purchase of paid apps in Pakistan. Fact: The tech giant has suspended the purchase of carrier-paid apps in Pakistan via mobile credit only. But the payment to purchase paid apps can be made via credit or debit cards. Fact or Fiction? On 3 December 2022, Daily Pakistan Global shared a […]

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Claim: The German national ethics council has called for incest between siblings to be legalised by the government. Fact: The Ethics Council recommended that section 173 of the German criminal code that criminalises incest between siblings be repealed on 24 September 2014 but incest between siblings was never legalised in Germany. The viral posts pass […]

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Claim: A screenshot of journalist Shahzeb Khanzada’s tweet suggests that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that if the International Monetary Fund (IMF) does not help the country, Pakistan may consider selling its nuclear assets.  Fact: The finance minister did not make any such comment about selling Pakistan’s nuclear program. The screenshot doing the rounds on […]

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Claim: A photo shows Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo posing happily next to a TV screen that shows Argentina’s captain Lionel Messi . It appears that Ronaldo is cheering for Messi.  Fact: The photo does not show Ronaldo cheering for Messi; the image is doctored. The original photo shows Ronaldo watching Portugal’s UEFA Nations League match […]

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Claim: Portugal striker and footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a deal to join Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr.  Fact: Ronaldo denied that he agreed to join Al Nassr following Portugal’s World Cup win against Switzerland in the FIFA World Cup on 7 December 2022. Fact or Fiction? On 6 December 2022, the Facebook page Origination Pakistan […]

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Claim: A video shows Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif listening to a man in a UK court reading out accusations of misappropriation of British taxpayers’ money and government aid, which was intended for the 2005 flood victims. The allegations were originally revealed in a Daily Mail article in 2019, following which the PML-N leader filed […]

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