Claim: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked in an interview, “What is the biggest problem facing the next generation and what should we do to solve it today?”. He responded by saying the main goal is to stop militant Islamic regimes from getting nuclear weapons and that Pakistan is one of the two countries […]
Claim: King Charles III offered Imran Khan to become the King of the United Kingdom. Fact: The claim originated from a satirical report, which was eventually disseminated as real news. On 15 March 2023, Facebook user ‘Abdul Ghani Muhammdi’ posted a visual (archive) featuring Imran Khan, the former prime minister and chief of the Pakistan […]
Claim: A video shows several buildings collapsing after a sizable earthquake hit many countries, including Pakistan, on 21 March 2023. Fact: The video does not show recent visuals from Pakistan. In fact, it is actually from the February 2023 earthquake that struck Turkey. On Tuesday evening, a powerful 6.5 magnitude earthquake jolted Afghanistan and Pakistan, […]
Claim: A photo shows Pope Francis wearing a long white-coloured puffer jacket. Fact: The photo doing the rounds on social media is not real. It was generated by the Artificial Intelligence (AI) art tool Midjourney. Fact or Fiction? On 25 March 2023, Twitter user @M_Jeffnaldo shared a photo claiming that it shows Pope Francis wearing […]
Claim: A photo shows a police officer hitting a woman with a gun’s butt at Zaman Park, Lahore. Fact: The photo is old. It actually shows a Taliban security personnel threatening a woman in Kabul, Afghanistan. Fact or Fiction? On 16 March 2023, journalist Armughan Aksi shared a photo on Twitter claiming that it shows […]
Claim: A social media video apparently shows a cat being rescued after a powerful earthquake hit Turkey and Syria earlier this month. Fact: The claim about the video is misleading. The video is from 2018, when a cat was rescued from a fire in Volgograd, Russia. A massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Turkey and […]
Claim: A social media video claims that it shows Turkish actor Burak Ozcivit helping victims in the aftermath of the recent earthquake in Turkey. Fact: The claim is false as the clip is from the Turkish TV drama “Kara Sevda,” which aired from 2015 to 2017 and starred Ozcivit. On 10 February 2023, a video […]
Claim: News outlets reported that Twitter fired a man 24 hours after hiring him. Fact: The reports were based on tweets by @SaeedDiCaprio, who posted them as an elaborate joke. On 10 February 2023, four Nigerian news outlets published a news story titled, “Elon Musk allegedly fires man from Twitter 24 hours after hiring him.” […]
Claim: Numerous pictures of dogs have surfaced on the Internet with the claim they were part of rescue operations following the devastating Turkey-Syria earthquakes in February 2023. Fact: Many of these photos are not recent or related to the Turkey-Syria earthquakes in February 2023. On 6 February 2023, Turkey and Syria were hit by two […]
Claim: A video shows a man burning what is claimed to be the Quran in a street in Sweden in January 2023 before another man punches and kicks him. Fact: The clip is not from Sweden, nor is it recent. It shows a man blowtorching the Quran in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2021. On 23 January […]
Claim: Pakistani website MM News says claims about the prediction of an earthquake in Pakistan, India or Afghanistan were “falsely attributed” to Dutch researcher Frank Hoogerbeets. It further states that none of the three aforementioned countries’ names or those of any other South Asian nation appeared on his Twitter account or the website of his […]
Claim: Dutch researcher Frank Hoogerbeets tweeted a list of “safety rules [for] when an earthquake occurs”, including asking God for help. Fact: Hoogerbeets did not tweet such a list. On 8 February 2023, Twitter account @Frank_Hoogerbee (archive) posted a tweet stating “safety rules [for] when an earthquake occurs”. According to @Frank_Hoogerbee, these rules are as […]