Claim: Posts shared online criticise new Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif for having photos of himself and his brother and former PM Nawaz Sharif printed on the side of a London bus as part of an ad campaign. Social media users sharing this claim are comparing it to a similar ad campaign run under the previous […]
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: Social media posts claim that on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, which was celebrated in Pakistan from 3-5 May 2022, the government increased the monthly cash disbursement payable to eligible families under the Ehsaas Kafalat program from PKR 14,000 to PKR 36,000. Fact: The claim is false. The government has not issued an announcement relating […]
Claim: A video is circulating that claims to show that Pakistani religious scholar Maulana Tariq Jameel’s clothing store sells ‘western’ clothes. Fact: Maulana Tariq Jameel’s store outlet does not sell ‘western’ clothes. The shop that can be seen in the video is next to an outlet of the scholar’s clothing brand. On 28th April 2022, […]
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 is circulating on social media which suggests Maulana Asad Mehmud, Federal Minister for Communications, put tape over a portrait of founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah hanging in his office. Fact: Maulana Asad Mehmud did not put tape over a portrait of Quaid-e-Azam. The portrait is obscured due to the reflection […]
Claim: A video is being shared online with the claim that it shows a woman who “turned against” the Aurat March after participating in it. Fact: The woman was not a participant at Aurat March but a journalist who appears to have been part of a group of other YouTubers and Facebook page owners who […]
Claim: A Facebook page posted a video with a headline that translated into English read, “How Islam and Pakistan were defamed in the name of Aurat March.” The video appears to depict a reporter trying to interview people but being barred from doing so by Aurat March organisers. Text on the cover image of the […]
Claim: A picture shows a young woman at the Aurat March sporting a poster that, when translated from Urdu to English, says, “Khota Puli Chowk in Gujranwala should be renamed to Khoti Puli Chowk.” Fact: The text on the poster is doctored. The actual text is in Roman Urdu and translates to, “This is me, […]
Claim: A picture shows a participant of Aurat March 2022 carrying a placard with text that reads, “God please give me a penis I want to rape men.” Fact: The image is originally from 2018 and the text has been edited onto it. The poster, in fact, featured text that read, “Girls Just Wanna Have […]
Claim: A picture shows a woman participating in Aurat March holding a poster that reads, “Real men don’t rape and real women don’t expose body.” Fact: The photo is, in fact, from protests connected to the 2012 Nirbhaya rape case in India. The photo appears to be doctored as the text, “and real women don’t […]
Claim: A large majority of Pakistanis believe that Aurat March should be banned, according to a survey. Fact: A Twitter poll about Aurat March carried out by talk show host Maleeha Hashmey, who is known for her right-wing, conservative views, is being shared as a representative survey by various news outlets. The poll cannot be […]