Claim: A viral image appearing to be a news update claimed PTI leader Shahbaz Gill said, “I do not wish to maintain political ties with Imran Khan”
Fact: Shahbaz Gill did not make such an announcement. He remains a senior PTI leader and close ally of Imran Khan. The image is doctored.
On 17 September 2022, a graphic with the Jang newspaper watermark went viral on social media. The purported report claimed PTI leader Shahbaz Gill announced he does not wish to maintain political ties with party chief Imran Khan.
Fact or Fiction?
This claim is false. On 21 September 2022, Shahbaz Gill’s office confirmed to Soch Fact Check that he is still a member of PTI and an aide of Imran Khan, directing us to a 19 September 2022 political meeting between Khan and Gill after his release from jail.
The graphic containing the claim could not be found officially published by Jang newspaper on any platform through a reverse image search and a manual search of Jang’s social media in the week leading up to 17 September 2022.
Virality
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis for the 6-day period since 17 September 2022 to 22 September 2022 using the following search terms:
- “Shahbaz Gill” “Imran Khan” “separation”
- “تعلق” “شہبازگل” “عمران خان”
We found at least 19 posts on Facebook which engaged at least 2281 social media users. Some of them can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Conclusion: Shahbaz Gill did not announce he desires to cut political ties with Imran Khan and remains his close ally. Jang newspaper never published such a graphic officially on any online platform.