Claim: A video shows singer Muhammad Ashraf Malik, also commonly known as Malkoo, under arrest after performing at a concert in Sargodha. Fact: The singer was not arrested, but was in fact escorted out of the venue by the Sargodha Police. Fact or Fiction? On 14 December 2023, X (formerly Twitter) user Shakir Mehmood Awan […]
Claim: A video featuring the former prime minister, Imran Khan, recorded in jail and shared primarily on TikTok, claimed he has been granted bail by the court and has no pending cases against him. In the video, Khan urges his supporters to prepare for a peaceful protest. Fact: The video is doctored, with jail bars […]
Claim: The Intercept is an Indian propaganda tool run by an Indian named Sumi Agarwal Fact: The Intercept is an investigative journalism platform co-founded by Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras. Pierre Omidyar, eBay founder and philanthropist, provided the funding to launch The Intercept in 2014. On 18 December 2023, X (formerly, Twitter) account […]
Claim: A photo shows the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Qazi Faez Isa, posing with members of the IPP on the occasion of joining the newly-created political group. Fact: The image has been doctored. It originally shows a former lawmaker and ex-member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Ali Nawaz Awan, and not Justice Qazi Faez Isa. […]
Claim: The BBC produced and ran a video report debunking “the entire drama of 9 May”, when protests erupted in Pakistan over Imran Khan’s arrest. The video features footage from the demonstrations, identifies two individuals as state functionaries who fanned the flames, and asks key questions about what transpired that day. Fact: The BBC never […]
Claim: PKR 5,000 banknotes are being discontinued across Pakistan. Fact: Pakistan’s caretaker information minister has not confirmed a ban on the PKR 5000 banknote. However, when a lawmaker suggested that the PKR 5,000 banknotes should be discontinued, the minister indicated that such policy decisions should be made by the next Parliament. On 21 November 2023, […]
Claim: Khursheed Shah has apologised for the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) “mistake” to join hands with Nawaz Sharif and remove Imran Khan’s government from power. Fact: The PPP parliamentarian did not apologise for ousting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s (PTI) government. Instead, he apologised for forming a coalition with the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) government. PDM is a […]
Claim: A picture shows US President Joe Biden kneeling in front of George Floyd’s daughter and asking for her forgiveness on behalf of the state. Fact: The picture shows Biden speaking to C.J. Brown, the son of a Detroit store owner, while he was campaigning to become the President of the United States. On 23 […]
Claim: Khawaja Asif had ink thrown on him as a warning ahead of Nawaz Sharif’s return on 21 October. Fact: The video is more than five years old and does not show a recent attack on Khawaja Asif. On 29 September 2023, the Facebook user ‘پھول نگر واچ’ posted a video (archive) showing Khawaja Muhammad […]
Claim: A picture shows Imran Khan sleeping on the floor of a jail cell. Fact: The image was taken during the 2011 sit-in organised by Imran Khan against drone strikes in Pakistan. It has been doctored to include the prison bars. On 7 August 2023, the Facebook page ‘Peshawar Zalmi Confessions’ posted a picture (archive) […]
Claim: An image shows Imran Khan walking out of jail with inmates and prison guards in the background. Fact: The image is not real but generated by artificial intelligence. On 29 August 2023, Instagram user @talhamalik.pti posted a picture (archive) showing Imran Khan — Pakistan’s former prime minister and the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) […]
Claim: Two photographs show the jail cell in which Imran Khan is being detained. Fact: The images are, in fact, of cells in the closed-down Ohio State Reformatory and Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary; they were taken in 2021 and 2016. On 11 August 2023, X (formerly Twitter) user @p4pakipower1 posted a picture (archive) apparently of a […]