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: Facebook has initiated talks with Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) about the prospect of opening up a local office in the country. A meeting was held between representatives affiliated with the platform and FIA Cyber Crime Wing Director Humayun Bashir in this regard. Fact: The FIA denied the reports in a statement issued via […]

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Claim: A photo depicts a pile of tear gas shells used by police against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s supporters during the Long March led by Imran Khan on 25 May 2022.  Fact: The photo is actually from a protest held in 2014. Fact or Fiction? On 26 May 2022, journalist Imran Riaz Khan shared a photo of […]

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Claim: Photos doing the rounds on social media depict 1500 private jets parked at the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in Davos, Switzerland in May 2022. Fact: The photographs were not taken at the May 2022 WEF summit in Davos, Switzerland. In fact, these are old photos taken in May 2015 at the McCarren International […]

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Claim: A video circulating on social media depicts a forest fire in the Sherani district of Balochistan.  Fact: The video does not show pine nut forests located in Balochistan’s Sherani district ablaze, but rather is of wildfires raging across a forest in Victoria, Australia in December 2019. Fact or Fiction? On 22 May 2022, a […]

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Claim: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan set a Guinness World Record for having the most listeners in a Twitter Space on 20 April 2022. (Twitter Spaces is a feature that allows you to have live audio conversations on the platform.) Fact: While Khan hosted a record-breaking Twitter Space with 165,000 live listeners tuning in at […]

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Claim: A photo circulating on social media shows people queuing up at petrol pumps as Pakistan faces a fuel shortage.  Fact: The photo is actually from January 2015. It shows people standing in a long queue to buy petrol at a fuel station in Lahore as the city faced an acute shortage of petrol.  Fact […]

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Claim: Bill Gates’ Twitter account has been suspended following billionaire Elon Musk’s purchase of the social media platform.  Fact: Gates’ account has not been suspended as confirmed by a Twitter spokesperson and a spokesperson for the philanthropist.  Fact or Fiction? On 26 April 2022, Facebook page Jacksonville Florida “The 904” shared a screenshot claiming that […]

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Claim: A video circulating on social media depicts people gathered in the United States to show their support for Imran Khan, Pakistan’s ousted former prime minister, following his removal from office in April 2022.  Fact: The video does not show crowds rallying for Khan in the United States but rather football fans celebrating Senegal’s victory […]

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Claim: Hospitals across the country have stopped treating patients on Sehat Cards, following Imran Khan’s removal from office. Fact: Media reports suggest that public and private sector hospitals in the Rawalpindi division have surreptitiously denied treatment to patients under the Sehat Insaf Card. Soch Fact Check cannot confirm the veracity of these reports. However, the […]

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Claim: The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev criticised Pakistan’s opposition parties and sent a message to the people of Pakistan to stand behind their leader Imran Khan, as he is not only a beacon of light for Pakistan but also the Muslim world. He also urged people to foil the conspiracy against Khan. Fact: Aliyev […]

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Claim: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in collaboration with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has developed an online voting system for overseas Pakistanis.  Fact: The claim about the development of an online voting system  for overseas Pakistanis  is fake, as confirmed by both NADRA and the ECP. Fact or Fiction? On 5 […]

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Claim: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s message regarding his 27 March 2022 public gathering ahead of the no-confidence vote was projected on the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates. Fact: The video of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, being illuminated with Khan’s message is not real. In fact, the landmark has never […]

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