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: A video shows Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of the right-wing Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), announcing that he will not be celebrating Pakistan’s Independence Day on 14 August 2023.  Fact: The video is from 2018, when Rehman made the announcement due to the alleged rigging of the July 2018 polls. Fact or Fiction? On 12 […]

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Claim: The Burj Khalifa refused to display Pakistan’s flag on the country’s 76th Independence Day, and the United Arab Emirates banned them from doing so. The landmark in Dubai did not light up to commemorate the occasion.  Fact: The world’s tallest building lit up with Pakistan’s national flag on the evening of 14 August 2023, […]

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Claim: Salman Ahmad, a close aide of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan, posted a photo of a secret document claiming another cypher was leaked.  Fact: The cypher was posted by a parody account of the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), or DG ISPR, in July 2023. Its informal language, spelling errors and lack […]

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Claim: A video shows a Pakistan International Airlines plane moving through a flooded runway at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore amid record-high rainfall. Fact: The video is old, dating back to August 2020. It also made rounds on social media in 2022 with a similar claim. Fact or Fiction? On 22 July 2023, Twitter […]

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Claim: A video shows animals roaming the streets of France after protestors freed them from a zoo as riots erupted in the country over the killing of an Algerian teenager Nahel M in June 2023. Fact: The video is unrelated to the June and July 2023 protests in France but is actually a compilation of […]

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Claim: London’s iconic landmark Trocadero building — previously an entertainment complex — will be turned into a three-story mosque by property tycoon Asif Aziz. Fact: The entire Trocadero building is not being converted into a mosque, and nor will it utilise three floors. Originally built as a restaurant in 1896, the Trocadero was later turned […]

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Claim: A video shows the Swedish presidential palace on fire after the incident of the Holy Quran burning in Sweden. Fact: The clip is not from Sweden. It shows the Manila Central Post Office in the Philippines, engulfed in fire in May 2023. Sweden has faced condemnations from Muslim countries for permitting an Iraqi refugee, […]

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Claim: Pakistan’s former minister Fawad Chaudhry has mocked India’s Chandrayaan-3 moon mission in a recent interview. Fact: The clip is from May 2019, when Chaudhry commented on the disputes over sightings of the Ramadan and Eid moons in Pakistan as the Minister of Science and Technology. He has not given any remarks on India’s recent […]

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Claim: Germany has banned at least 12 spices manufactured by Shan Foods after ethylene oxide was found in it.  Fact: At the time of publishing, Shan Foods’ spices have not been banned in Germany. At least 12 spices with specific batch dates have been recalled after the authorities issued a warning that these products contain […]

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Claim: As tension escalates in Parachinar, Kurram District, a photo shows the Taliban gathered at the Pakistan- Afghanistan border. Fact: The photo has been wrongly linked to the ongoing dispute between two tribes in Kurram; it is an old photo dating back to 2021.  Following firing over a land dispute between Bohshera and Dandar tribes […]

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Claim: Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan has requested his fans to support former prime minister Imran Khan. Fact: A clip from an old interaction of Roshan with his fans has been doctored. The actor has not actually made any comments regarding Imran Khan or voiced his support for the politician. Fact or Fiction? On 11 May […]

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Claim: A photo shows a boat overcrowded with migrants sinking in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Pylos, Greece. Fact: The photo is from July 2014, when a shipping company TORM, involved in search and rescue operations, rescued migrants from the Mediterranean Sea. Fact or Fiction? On 17 June 2023, Megh Updates (@MeghUpdates) shared […]

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