Claim: An audio clip of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) founder, Imran Khan, suggests that he has announced a boycott of the 2024 general elections being held on 8 February in Pakistan. Fact: The party’s official account on X denied the announcement of any such decision. The viral audio clip is likely AI-generated. Elections 2024 Ahead of […]
Claim: A fatwa issued by Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi states that voting for JUI-F is ‘haram’ as they ask for votes in the name of religion. Fact: Darul Uloom Karachi did not issue such a fatwa. The image making rounds on social media is a doctored version of a fatwa about coronavirus prevention from 2020. […]
Claim: Analyst Michael Kugelman said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif is “a top candidate to be the next premier not because he’s wildly popular – he certainly is – but more so because he’s played his cards right”. Fact: The BBC misquoted Kugelman in an article. In his original comment to the […]
Claim: A fatwa issued ahead of the 2024 general elections in Pakistan advises that it is better to vote for a Muslim candidate than a non-Muslim one. Fact: The fatwa was not issued recently. It was seemingly issued in 2018 in response to a question about PPP leader Hari Ram Kishori Lal’s candidacy. However, it […]
Claim: A Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Mehr Muhammad Waseem withdrew from Lahore’s NA-119 in favour of PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz. Fact: PTI’s candidate for Maryam Nawaz’s constituency was not Mehr Muhammad Waseem. On 21 January 2024, Geo News and Express Tribune, published articles titled “’Breakthrough’ for PML-N as PTI candidate withdraws in favour of Maryam Nawaz”, […]
Claim: Election Commission Pakistan (ECP) has imposed a ban on political surveys & opinion polls just ahead of general elections scheduled on 8 February 2024. Fact: ECP’s ban on political surveys is not recent. According to clause 12 of the ECP’s Code of Conduct for National Media, organisations and media persons are prohibited from entrance […]
Claim: Maulana Fazl ur Rahman claimed that half of Pakistan will be facing snowfall if elections are held in January 2024. Fact: The JUI-F politician’s statement is not true as half of Pakistan will not experience snowfall at the time of the elections. Moreover, most of the areas he listed himself will not face snowfall, […]
Claim: Viral image claims that the Canadian Parliament suggested that no loans should be granted to Pakistan until the current government conducts free and fair elections. Fact: This is false; no information available on the Canadian Parliament’s website or with any mainstream credible news organisation confirms that the Parliament suggested no loans should be granted […]
Claim: Ten billion rupees out of 21 billion rupees, has been released for the Election Commission of Pakistan to conduct the Punjab Assembly elections. The rest of the funds will be disbursed once the KPK Assembly elections are scheduled. Fact: The Ministry of Finance has not yet released any funds to the Election Commission […]
Claim: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has announced they will boycott elections in Punjab, which were scheduled to be held on 14 May 2023 as per court orders. Fact: PML-N has not announced a boycott of the upcoming Punjab elections. Fact or Fiction? On 20 April 2023, the Facebook page Pakistantopup shared a claim that […]
Claim: Awami National Party’s (ANP) leader Ghulam Ahmad Bilour said it’s impossible to defeat Imran Khan and has graciously accepted his loss in the NA-31 Peshawar by-election. Fact: Bilour did not issue any such statement. In fact, he refused to accept the by-election result and accused the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government of “massive rigging”. Fact or […]
Claim: Former Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan wrote a tweet asking former Prime Minister Imran Khan to call for public protests if it appears that local elections are being rigged to stop people voting for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Fact: The account responsible for the tweet appears to be impersonating Nisar. No such tweet […]