Claim: Viral screenshot claims that a Polish artist made a digital cartoonised version of Osama bin Laden. Fact: The artist, in fact, created artwork of a character called Alex Willow, not Osama bin Laden. Her art was doctored to include bin Laden’s name and went viral. On 20 May 2022, Twitter user @ratbastard400 shared digital […]
Claim: A WhatsApp forward chain message claims that international fast food chain KFC was found guilty of concealing the fact that its burgers are not 100% chicken in a recent court case. The message — which was accompanied by a link to a report on the Courthouse News Service website — further claims that KFC […]
Claim: A bus carrying students from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) fell off a cliff near Skardu. Fact: The bus, in fact, collided with a van head-on and then slipped downwards into a ditch less than 30 feet deep. In addition, the incident did not take place near Skardu but near Mansehra in […]
Claim: Over 200,000 people attended a protest held in Karachi on 11 April 2022, following former prime minister Imran Khan’s removal from office. Fact: In addition to sourcing comments from on-the-ground witnesses, Soch Fact Check used tools such as Map Checking to investigate the claim. Our most liberal estimate suggests that just over 100,000 people […]
Claim: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will send images of naked humans to space to elicit a response from aliens. Fact: NASA is not working on a broadcast to launch images of naked humans into space. The misleading reports appear to have stemmed from a research study recently published in arXiv — an […]
Claim: A video shows Captain Bilal Zafar Abbasi hugging his son before leaving to fight in a battle during which he was killed in 2009. Fact: The clip does not show Captain Bilal Zafar Abbasi or, for that matter, Captain Dr Bilal Khali, both of whom were killed in battle. Voice of America journalist Benazir […]
Claim: A viral video shows Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and other members of the government inside the Masjid Nabawi in Medina, Saudi Arabia, with onlookers chanting the slogans, “Jiye Bhutto [Long live Bhutto]” and “Wazir-e-Azam Zindabad [Long live the prime minister].” Fact: Onlookers did not chant, ‘Jiye Bhutto’ during Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s visit to Medina. The […]
Claim: Kristian Nairn, the actor who played Hodor in ‘Game of Thrones’, has transitioned to a woman, according to reporting by Spanish media outlets. Fact: Nairn has not transitioned. Spanish media outlets based their stories on a viral tweet by a trans woman who looked similar to the ‘Game of Thrones’ actor pre-transition. On 5 […]
Claim: An image of Rajput ruler Raja Puran Mal and Mughal emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir is being shared with the claim that the former defeated the latter “thrice in a row” and that the latter “was so afraid” of the former “that he never met him in the battlefield”. Fact: The claim is factually incorrect as […]
Claim: The New York Herald published a cartoon hinting at the United States’ alleged intervention in support of the no-confidence motion through which Imran Khan was removed from power. The cartoon shows Uncle Sam patting a Pakistani judge on the head. Fact: The cartoon has been doctored. The original image was created by Brazilian artist […]
Claim: A picture shows a huge crowd of people at Lahore’s Liberty Chowk protesting against the removal of Imran Khan as Pakistan’s prime minister. Fact: A filter, which duplicates the original image beyond its borders, has been applied, making the crowd appear larger than it in fact was. The picture, although real, has been doctored […]
Claim: An image of an x-ray of a set of teeth with a baby-like figure visible in the gum area is circulating on social media with the claim that a rare case of ectopic pregnancy in teeth has been reported at Karachi’s Carevian International Hospital. Fact: The image was posted as a joke by a […]