Claim: The tallest skyscraper in China -fourth tallest building in the world- caught fire, leaving six hundred people dead. It was the biggest fire since 9/11. An additional claim in social media posts argues that the fire was an American conspiracy plan. Fact: No casualties from the incident were reported. Furthermore, the building is not […]
Claim: A screenshot of Afghan cricket player Farid Malik apologising after for a recent on-field feud with Pakistan’s Asif Ali was widely shared on social media Fact: The Twitter account purportedly representing Farid Malik is fake, and neither player has issued an apology for the verbal spat, which turned violent. Pakistan’s cricket team faced off […]
Claim: A video of an apartment building being destroyed by giant waves was taken at Emaar Apartments in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Phase 8 in Karachi, Pakistan Fact: The claim is false. The video is from 2018 Spain where huge waves from a wind storm on the north coast of Tenerife in the Canary Islands […]
Claim: A viral video on social media shows a small child being rescued in the aftermath of recent floods in Pakistan. Fact: The claim is misleading as the video is from 2020, not from recent floods. On 25 August 2022, journalist Hamid Mir posted a video with an Urdu caption that, when translated to English, […]
Claim: A viral video of a leopard attacking a cow on the roadside is being shared with claims that the incident happened near Margalla Hills, Islamabad Fact: The claim is false. The video is from India and was first shared by Indian Forest Service officer, Saket Badola on Twitter before going viral in Pakistan. On […]
Claim: A cloudburst time lapse is being shared on social media with the claim that it is from Jamshoro during the torrential monsoon of 2022. Fact: The video is from Perth, Australia and was shot in February 2020. Fact or Fiction? On 19 August, 2022 Senator and Federal Minister on Climate Change, Sherry Rahman shared […]
Claim: Actor Johnny Depp participated in an Ashura ritual in Karbala, Iraq on 10 Muharram of Islamic calendar. Fact: The man seen in the viral video is not Johnny Depp but, in fact, Iranian model Amin Sal’es. On 8 August 2022, Twitter user @mizsworld shared the picture of a man with long hair and sunglasses […]
Claim: The World Animal Protection (WAP) condemned the arrest of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan’s aide, Dr Shahbaz Gill, in a Twitter post. Fact: WAP has not released any statement regarding the arrest of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan’s aide, Dr Shahbaz Gill. On 9 August 2022, Facebook user ‘Adeel Ali Khan’ posted […]
Claim: ARY News reported that businessman Sheikh Danish, the main accused in a recent case of kidnapping and torture in Faisalabad, has been released on bail. Fact: Danish has not been granted bail. He is presently in police custody under physical remand ordered by a judicial magistrate in Faisalabad. On 8 August 2022, an incident […]
Claim: News anchor Syed Ali Haider talks about a case of sexual harassment at Quetta’s Heart and General Hospital. He links a viral clip of a doctor sexually assaulting a patient during a surgery to a video of a woman demanding justice for being harassed during surgery. Fact: The video of a doctor sexually assaulting […]
Claim: An image of a female dancer in front of a portrait of Quaid e Azam is from the official national day celebrations held at the Jinnah Convention Center, Islamabad Fact: The viral image is from 2018. At the official national celebration this year, the stage was different from the one shown in the photograph […]
Claim: The title of a Facebook video claims that two biological siblings in Pakistan married each other. Fact: The married couple in the video are not biological siblings. They were born to different parents; they do not have the same father or mother, nor are they related to each other. On 29 July 2022, Facebook […]