Claim: A clip on Facebook, with a thumbnail that includes images of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, shows how intelligence agencies spy on citizens. Fact: The thumbnail of the Facebook video is misleading; the clip is, in fact, from the 2015 film ‘Eye in the Sky’ […]
Claim: A photo shows the wreckage of a Pakistan Army helicopter that was carrying six passengers, including 12 Corps Commander Lieutenant General Sarfraz Ali, to Balochistan’s Lasbela for flood relief operations and crashed on 1 August. Fact: The image is not related to the 1 August crash but is, in fact, from another incident from […]
Claim: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial during a hearing pertaining to the election of Punjab’s chief minister was reported as saying, “It is rainy season [but] no one brought pakoras for us,” according to a Geo News bulletin. Fact: Justice Bandial made no such comment; a Geo News bulletin was doctored to […]
Claim: A video shows raindrops falling onto a body of water, progressively getting closer to the person filming, as a downpour starts. The caption accompanying the clip suggests the video was taken in Karachi, Pakistan. Fact: The video was, in fact, shot at Aheru Lake in Valgamaa, Estonia on 19 July 2022 by Priitin Rebane, […]
Claim: A video shows passengers in a moving car that was inundated with water during the recent bout of heavy rainfall in Karachi. Fact: The video is, in fact, not recent; it surfaced back in 2020 when a similar monsoon season lashed Karachi. On 7 July 2022, Facebook page ‘Bilawal Zardari’ shared a video claiming […]
Claim: Pakistani television host Imran Riaz Khan claims Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah is posing for photographs to make it seem like the provincial government is engaged in relief work during the 2022 Karachi rains. Khan posted a picture on Twitter showing Shah standing in waist-deep flood water. Fact: The picture of Shah […]
Claim: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was not given the same welcome by Turkey during his visit in 2022 as his predecessor, Imran Khan, who was received by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Sharif was welcomed by the Turkish Minister of Local Government instead. Fact: The picture depicting Khan shaking hands with Erdogan is, in fact, […]
Claim: A picture shows people stranded due to heavy monsoon flooding in Punjab in July 2022. Fact: The picture is misleading as it is not recent. It was taken on 23 July 2015 in Rajanpur. On 27 July 2022, Twitter user @shahzadShafi007 posted a picture showing people displaced by floods taking refuge on a charpoy […]
Claim: A new scam blocks and hacks an individual’s phone after a call from the number ‘912250041117’ asks the user to press 1 if they are vaccinated. Fact: The claim appears to be false. In Pakistan, no such number — whether landline or mobile phone — is operational. Numerous international fact-checking organisations have also debunked […]
Claim: An image shared on social media on 14 July 2022 shows a huge crowd at a rally held by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Multan, Punjab, where party chief and former Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed his supporters. A poster with an image of Khan, former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, and Shah Mehmood […]
Claim: Hindus in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province are forced to wear topis — caps typically worn by Muslim men during prayers — when they enter the Guru Gorakhnath temple near Peshawar, the only remaining Shiva temple in the country. Fact: There is no truth to the claim. The Hindu community is free to worship […]
Claim: A Spanish newspaper recently published pictures of “thieves from around the world”, including former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif. Fact: Nawaz Sharif’s picture appeared in a 2016 article by Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia about the Panama Papers. Sharif’s name and photo did not feature in a recent article by the publication about international […]