Claim: An image is being circulated on social media with captions claiming it depicts a women’s rally by a group of religious parties on 8th March 2020 held alongside Aurat Azadi March Islamabad. Fact: The image in question is actually from a women’s rally that was held by Jamaat-e-Islami on 9 August 2019 to support […]
CLAIM: Based on an anonymous tip, a Facebook page with 93,000 followers posted an alleged witness account claiming there are 745 registered cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi. FACT: According to the World Health Organisation, the most reliable source for information regarding confirmed cases of COVID-19, there […]
CLAIM: Chinese officials are on standby with 100,000 “duck troops” to assist in Pakistan’s national locust emergency, Chinese experts recommend the use of ducks in Pakistan over pesticides and other methods FACT: Zhang Long, part of the delegation of Chinese experts sent to Pakistan to assist in the locust emergency, rejected the report that China […]
Claim: A video has surfaced online with captions that claim it shows China’s president visiting a mosque to request Muslims to pray that the new coronavirus outbreak subsides. Fact: The clip is actually from a 2016 video when the president visited Xincheng Mosque in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northwest China for a fact-finding […]
Claim: FBR Chairman Shabbar Zaidi has resigned.Fact: Shabbar Zaidi has not resigned, but he may have to step down due to poor health. On Tuesday 11 February, social media posts and news reports spread claiming that Shabbar Zaidi has resigned from his position as Chairman of the Federal Bureau of Revenues (FBR). The words […]
Claim: The Chinese government and Pakistan Embassy are fulfilling the needs of Pakistani students quarantined in China. Fact: Many students are not being taken care of and have not been provided meals. Moreover, the Pakistani embassy in Wuhan is not cooperating or answering their calls. Verdict: Mostly false The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared […]
#1: Fire tenders with the help of water tankers provided by the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board put out the fire by 2am. Fire brigade officials told news organisations that they were called to the scene at approximately 10pm and the fire was extinguished around 2:30am. The Soch Fact Check team visited Teen Hatti to […]
CLAIM: Facebook page, ZSN News, claimed Prime Minister Imran Khan announced March 1 onwards, Friday and Saturday would be full holidays, and Sunday would be a working day. FACT: Although the image was made to look like a TV News screenshot, it was created by the Facebook page admin. No such change has been planned, […]
Claim: A video circulating on Twitter shows the US air strike that killed Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani. Fact: The clip in question is a distorted preview of the video game, AC-130 Gunship Simulator – Convoy Engagement. Verdict: False. Iran’s powerful general, Qassem Soleimani, was assassinated in an American air strike in Baghdad on January 3. […]
CLAIM: Deceased Pashtun poet and academic Arman Loni was an Afghan immigrant. FACT: Although Pashtuns can be referred to as ethnically ‘Afghan’, Arman Loni was born in Pakistan and is therefore not an immigrant. VERDICT: False The Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) was once again trending on Twitter on Sunday, January 12, after the Pashtun Long March […]
Claim: Twitter user Tarek Fatah tweeted a video and claimed it depicted a woman yelling at a polio worker and refusing to give her children polio drops. Fact: The video is actually a clip from the movie Load Wedding. On 15 January 2020, Canadian Pakistani journalist Tarek Fatah, shared a video showing a woman standing […]
Claim: 183 arsonists were charged for starting bushfires in Australia, bushfires are primarily caused by people. Fact: Only 24 people were charged for deliberately starting bushfires, which is fewer than in previous years. Bushfires in Australia are becoming more common due to climate change. Verdict: False New South Wales (NSW – an Eastern state of […]