Claim: A Facebook page shared a post about plans to restore and renovate historic buildings in Sheikh Badin National Park, along with an image apparently depicting one such building. Fact: The image is in fact of the Great Mosque of Djenne, also known as Timbuktu Djinguereber Mosque, which is located in Mali and not in […]
Claim: TransPeshawar BRT, the bus rapid transit system in Peshawar, won the Sustainable Transport Award (STA) 2022. Fact: TransPeshawar or Peshawar BRT won the second “Honourable Mention” at the 2022 Sustainable Transport Awards. The first place award was, in fact, won by Bogotá, Columbia, in recognition of the city’s implementation of several sustainable mobility initiatives. […]
Claim: A video is being circulated with the claim that it shows an elderly woman, Naseem, protesting outside the Lahore Press Club following the disappearance of her daughter, who has been missing for four days. Fact: The clip does show Naseem but it is not recent. The video is from January 2021; it is being […]
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 […]
Claim: Lahore is now the centre of the COVID-19 Omicron variant in Pakistan. Fact: Lahore’s COVID-19 positivity rate is lower than some other Pakistani cities such as Karachi, Muzaffarabad, Hyderabad and Islamabad, as of 21 January 2022. It may, however, have the highest positivity rate of cities within the province of Punjab. On 21 January […]
Claim: The Government of Punjab has made it mandatory for boys and girls to wear caps and scarves, respectively, in schools across the province. Fact: Schoolchildren will only be required to wear caps and scarves when attending the classes reserved for Quran recitation and teaching. On 17 January 2022, journalist Hasan Zaidi, Dawn’s editor for […]
Claim: Pakistan has banned indoor dining to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic’s fifth wave. Fact: On 19 January 2022, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) banned indoor gatherings, weddings, and dining, but only in districts and cities with a COVID-19 positivity rate over 10%. Fact or Fiction? On 21 January 2022, Facebook page FHM Pakistan […]
Claim: A scenic motorway-bridge high in the mountains was built under the leadership of PML-N supremo and former prime minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif. Fact: The motorway-bridge is located in Austria, not Pakistan, and has no connection to Sharif. On 1 January 2022, Facebook user ‘Hayat Yusofzai’ posted an image showing a motorway passing through […]
Claim: A video doing the rounds on social media depicts the Taliban destroying mobile phones in Afghanistan. Fact: The video is not of the Taliban destroying mobile phones in Afghanistan but of Pakistan Customs’ officers destroying smuggled and contraband goods at a destruction ceremony in Karachi. Fact or Fiction: On 13 January 2022, Facebook page […]
Claim: Pakistan has cancelled a deal with Turkey to acquire 30 T129 ATAK helicopters. Fact: Pakistan has not cancelled the helicopter deal with Turkey. Fact or Fiction? On 5 January 2022, Facebook page The Bangladesh Defence Analyst made the following claim in a post: “DG ISPR has confirmed that Pakistan Army Aviation is going to […]
Claim: The Government of Sindh has ordered the closure of schools across the province and Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has suggested imposing a lockdown due to the concerning COVID-19 situation. Fact: The chief minister said the decision to impose a lockdown and close schools would be taken in line with National Command and Operation […]
Claim: A video circulating on social media allegedly depicts an excavator crane crashing into a ditch while carrying out relief work in Murree following a disastrous road blockage that left 22 dead. Fact: The video does show a crane overturning and slipping into a ditch, but it is from 2020 and was not taken in […]