Claim: A new iOS update automatically activated a feature that shares users’ precise location on Instagram for all other users on the platform to see. Fact: The location setting is built into the device and cannot be automatically switched on through an iOS update. Instagram has officially denied this claim. On 26 August 2022, a […]
Claim: Social media post claim that a popular indoor plant, dieffenbachia, is so deadly that it could kill an adult in 15 minutes and a child in less than a minute and may also cause permanent blindness. Fact: Claims that the dieffenbachia plant leads to death if ingested and permanent blindness if rubbed into the […]
Claim: A form circulating on social media asks individuals affected by the torrential rains and flooding in Sindh to submit information to obtain relief funds from the Government of Sindh. Fact: The Sindh government has not issued this form. A spokesperson for Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has termed it “not genuine”. A form […]
Claim: A video shows four SUVs were swept away in a flash flood in Pakistan. Fact: The video is, in fact, from September 2020 when flash floods hit Sharjah and the vehicles were swept away in the Wadi Shees. Earlier this month, Facebook user ‘Muhammad Babbar Khan’ posted a reel — the social media platform’s […]
Claim: A viral image shows a young girl who drowned in Balochistan during the recent monsoon flooding in Pakistan. Fact: The viral image is of a girl who drowned in River Kabul, Peshawar and was found by rescue services near Attock. On 27 July 2022, an image of an infant’s dead body went viral on […]
Claim: Pakistan is a top destination for countries to dump their waste, with most countries opting to dispose of their waste in Pakistan. Fact: According to publicly available information, Pakistan’s relative share in the import of global waste is small. The misinformation appears connected to reports that 40 No Objection Certificates (“NOCs”) were issued to […]
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: An eight-year-old girl discovered that cancer can be treated using antibiotics. Fact: The claim is misleading and concerns a piece of old news from 2015. In 2015, Dr Michael P. Lisanti made news headlines when he and his wife Dr Federica Sotgia, both professors at the Manchester University, UK spoke with their daughter Camilla […]
Claim: A video shows an ‘artificial sun’ created recently by China after successful experimentation going up in the sky during a launch event. Fact: The video is actually of a rocket launch event. The ‘artificial sun’, which was created in a superconducting tokamak magnetic nuclear fusion energy reactor, cannot be launched into the sky. On […]
Claim: A video circulating on social media allegedly depicts the world’s first plastic woman, created by China. Fact: The clip is from a short promotional film for the adventure video game; Detroit: Become Human. It features the character of Chloe, who is an android personal assistant in the game. Fact or Fiction? On 8 […]
Claim: A website shared a story with the headline, “Do not use this medicine, it is causing kidney failure. Doctors have suggested it as dangerous.” Included in the story were remarks from a conference held in Pakistan during which the side effects of allopathic medicine were discussed. Allopathic medicine is another term for science-based, modern […]
Claim: Bill Gates has called for the withdrawal of COVID-19 vaccines after admitting that the pandemic was “a farce”. Fact: Bill Gates did not call for a withdrawal of COVID-19 vaccines nor did he make the other statements attributed to him in the viral WhatsApp chain message. The message is false as it is based […]