Claim: A picture shows a Palestinian boy who lost his legs due to Israel’s bombing. Fact: The picture shows a Lebanese boy who lost his legs in 2006. On 28 December 2023, X (formerly Twitter) user @ShaykhSulaiman posted (archive) a picture of a child with amputated legs and wrote, “THEY TOOK THIS CHILD’S LEGS.” @ShaykhSulaiman […]
Claim: Saudi Arabia and the UAE have told Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas to resign and dissolve the current government so that they can appoint a Saudi- and UAE-approved regime in its place; if Abbas does not agree, the two states would halt future financial aid to the Palestinian territories. Fact: Since no reputable outlet has […]
Claim: A video shows a cargo ship bound for Israel attacked by Yemen’s Houthis in the Red Sea. Fact: The video shows a vessel named Maersk Honam that caught fire on 6 March 2018. The blaze was not a result of any attack. On 15 December 2023, X account @TheNewIndian_in posted (archive) a video of […]
Claim: A photo shows the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Qazi Faez Isa, posing with members of the IPP on the occasion of joining the newly-created political group. Fact: The image has been doctored. It originally shows a former lawmaker and ex-member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Ali Nawaz Awan, and not Justice Qazi Faez Isa. […]
Claim: The BBC produced and ran a video report debunking “the entire drama of 9 May”, when protests erupted in Pakistan over Imran Khan’s arrest. The video features footage from the demonstrations, identifies two individuals as state functionaries who fanned the flames, and asks key questions about what transpired that day. Fact: The BBC never […]
Claim: A picture shows a semi-naked Israeli rape victim from the 7 October Hamas attack; it depicts a dead woman lying face-down in a patch of grass, without trousers. Fact: The image does not show an Israeli rape victim; it was, in fact, uploaded online in 2022, more than a year before the Hamas attack […]
Claim: A picture shows children killed in the 2023 war between Israel and Hamas in Palestine. Three other images we found circulating online are also unrelated to the ongoing war. Fact: The image actually depicts the dead bodies of children killed in a toxic gas attack in Syria in August 2013. The second image showing […]
Claim: A video shows 130 Jews, including top US government officials, being arrested for trafficking human organs harvested from Palestinians. Fact: The video, while authentic, is not recent nor related to the ongoing war in Palestine. It is from a July 2009 sting operation by the US authorities. Furthermore, the number of detained officials was […]
Claim: PKR 5,000 banknotes are being discontinued across Pakistan. Fact: Pakistan’s caretaker information minister has not confirmed a ban on the PKR 5000 banknote. However, when a lawmaker suggested that the PKR 5,000 banknotes should be discontinued, the minister indicated that such policy decisions should be made by the next Parliament. On 21 November 2023, […]
Claim: A picture shows US President Joe Biden kneeling in front of George Floyd’s daughter and asking for her forgiveness on behalf of the state. Fact: The picture shows Biden speaking to C.J. Brown, the son of a Detroit store owner, while he was campaigning to become the President of the United States. On 23 […]
Claim: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s psychiatrist, Dr Moshe Yatom, has died by suicide. Fact: Netanyahu’s psychiatrist did not die by suicide; recent news reports claiming so are based on a satirical article published back in 2010. On 6 November 2023, Pakistani media outlet Global Village Space published an article (archive) titled, “Israeli Prime Minister’s psychiatrist […]
Claim: A video shows that the chief of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Lt-Gen Herzl “Herzi” Halevi, was captured, detained, and subjected to violence repeatedly. Fact: The video neither shows the Israeli army chief Halevi, nor is it recent. It actually depicts a Ukrainian prisoner of war from February 2023. On 1 November 2023, Facebook […]