Claim: Social media posts claim that an international magazine published a cartoon showing Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan polishing the shoes of US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu. Fact: The cartoon is actually a stock image sourced from a 1902 children’s magazine called Chatterbox. […]
Claim: PML-Q MNA Monis Elahi has joined Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf Fact: Monis Elahi has officially rejected any claims regarding him joining PTI and he has also published a tweet rejecting the viral image of a notification claiming the same. On 19 August 2022, several twitter users shared an image which claimed to be a […]
Claim: Journalist Imran Riaz Khan tweeted an image of a woman in lockup who he claims is the wife of the driver of Dr Shahbaz Gill. Fact: The image attributed to the driver’s wife is misleading. The image first surfaced in 2019 in relation to a murder case. On 11 August 2022, Pakistani journalist Imran […]
Claim: A video shows a man lying naked on a bed, with a white cloth over his genitals and bruises on his backside. Social media users claim the man is former prime minister Imran Khan’s aide, Dr Shahbaz Gill. Fact: The man is not Dr Shahbaz Gill as a longer version of the same clip […]
Claim: Imran Khan was voted Best Prime Minister by 93% of Pakistanis in a survey conducted by Arab Magazine Fact: Arab Magazine did not conduct a survey where Imran Khan was polled Best Prime Minister by 93% of Pakistanis. On 15 August 2022, a Twitter user shared an image which claimed that 93% Pakistanis believe […]
Claim: A video shows former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s aide, Shahbaz Gill, meeting his children while in detention following his arrest last week. Fact: The video does not show Shahbaz Gill or his children but about a couple of children who allegedly ran away from home due to an abusive father. On 13 August 2022, […]
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: An image of PML-N head Nawaz Sharif watching something on his phone is being shared with captions that imply he was watching Imran Khan’s August 13 political rally. Fact: The politician was watching his daughter’s political rally from July; the image was posted to Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s Twitter last month. On August 14 2022, […]
Claim: Al Jazeera reported “Pakistan provides air corridor for US military flights to and from Afghanistan”. Fact: Al Jazeera did not confirm the news. The Al Jazeera logo and headline have been doctored onto the image to make it look like a screenshot from Al Jazeera TV. On 2 August 2022, US President Joe Biden […]
Claim: A picture shows former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed lying in a hospital bed after it was claimed he checked in there to “hide” from the consequences of his past actions. Fact: The picture is not recent and is, in fact, from 2019, when Sheikh Rashid was admitted to a hospital after experiencing pain […]
Claim: A screengrab of a news bulletin tweeted by Shireen Mazari claims that “Imran Khan’s victory in Pakistan’s elections will be India’s loss”. In the caption of her tweet, Mazari also claims that the US and India fear Khan and that the US is behind the regime change in Pakistan. Fact: The claim is misleading […]
Claim: Social media users, especially those aligned with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), allege that former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s aide, Shahbaz Gill, and his driver were beaten by police while being arrested in Islamabad on 9 August 2020. Fact: CCTV footage of the arrest shows Shahbaz Gill was shifted to another vehicle peacefully and not tortured; […]