Claim: A Sharia council in Pakistan determined a rapist’s sister should be raped by the victim’s brother in front of 40 witnesses. This is known as ‘revenge rape’ in Sharia law. Fact: While this incident occurred, the decision followed tribal customs and was not determined by a Sharia council. Sharia law does not allow for […]
Claim: Authorities have recovered slaughtered dogs and food made with dog meat from restaurants in Karachi. Fact: The claim is false as the Sindh Food Authority (SFA) has refuted the reports. The accompanying pictures are also old and unrelated. On 9 September 2024, Soch Fact Check received a WhatsApp message containing the screenshot of a […]
Claim: Imran Khan said “no one understood but the Israeli newspaper has praised me and said I am the only leader in Pakistan with credibility.” Fact: This statement is being falsely linked to Imran Khan. PTI’s former digital strategist Imran Ghazali confirmed that Khan did not give this statement. Moreover, Khalid Yousaf, Khan’s lawyer, also […]
Claim: A widely circulated image shows Natasha Danish recording herself while driving recklessly. Natasha was involved in a deadly traffic accident in Karachi in August. Fact: The image does not show Natasha Danish. We found the image was taken from a video that was originally posted by a TikTok user, who has published several other […]
Claim: Elon Musk has acquired Stanford University. Fact: Elon Musk has not acquired Stanford University at all; the claim originates from a satirical article published in the student-run newspaper The Stanford Daily. On 5 September 2024, Facebook user ‘Tam M Pham’ posted (archive) a screenshot of an article with the headline, “Elon Musk acquires the […]
Claim: India’s Zindagi channel apologised to its viewers for the TV series “Barzakh” and took down all of the show’s episodes from YouTube. Fact: The channel did not issue any apology for producing “Barzakh” and only took down the episodes from YouTube Pakistan. The TV series can still be watched around the world. On 6 […]
Claim: South Korean car manufacturer Kia has launched a vehicle named “Khan” to honour Imran Khan. Fact: The claim is false. The vehicle in question is not manufactured by Kia but by KG Mobility, also a South Korean company, which has confirmed that the SUV’s name is a reference to the Mongol Empire, not Imran […]
Claim: A video claims to show an eight-foot-long centipede. Fact: The video was generated using artificial intelligence. Its creator has confirmed that he made it using Runway’s Gen-3 Alpha tool. On 26 June 2024, BOL News posted (archive) a viral video on its Instagram account, @bolnetwork, comprising two different footages that allegedly depict a giant […]
Claim: An image shows Maryam Nawaz wearing a short pink dress, alongside two senior Punjab Police officers in bright pink clothes. Fact: The picture has been doctored, likely using the Generative Fill tool of Adobe Photoshop that uses artificial intelligence (AI). On 26 April 2024, X (formerly Twitter) user @MehreenAli99 posted (archive) a picture of […]
Claim: A foreigner and five Pakistanis were held hostage and robbed on their way to Taxila. Fact: A group of eight people, not six, were robbed on their way back from a hiking trail in Shah Allah Ditta; they were not en route to Taxila. On 8 April 2024, Dawn and Express Tribune published articles […]
Claim: An image shows a child in the Shimshal village of Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region posing with a snow leopard she raised from when it was a kitten. Fact: The image’s creator has said it was created using the generative artificial intelligence (AI) programme Midjourney. It has no basis in reality. On 3 April 2024, Soch […]
Claim: An artwork showing a Palestinian journalist nailed to a cross was created by Banksy. Fact: The visual was created by Hassan Ragab, an Egyptian artist who uses artificial intelligence in his artwork, to highlight the killing of close to 100 journalists in Gaza since 7 October. On 6 February 2024, X (formerly Twitter) user […]