Claim: Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has announced its support for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) candidates in the 8 February 2024 elections, following a statement made in favour of Imran Khan by the party’s chief Saad Rizvi. Fact: Noman Khalid, TLP’s candidate from NA-113 Sheikhupura-I, denied the claim. He said that TLP urges its supporters to vote for […]
Claim: PML-N’s candidate for National Assembly from Chakwal, Major (r) Tahir Iqbal, said, “The person second to God is known as Mian Nawaz Sharif.” Fact: Major Iqbal’s remarks have been taken out of context and presented in a purposely trimmed video. Upon viewing a longer version of the clip, Iqbal in his speech praises Nawaz […]
Claim: The New York Times recently published an article titled “How US has turned Pakistan into a poor country without going to war,” in which it questions where “the Establishment’s Pakistan vision and strategy” is and praises Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The piece is written by NYT Editor-in-Chief Joseph Hope. Fact: There is no […]
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: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar said that according to the United Nations’ Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID), there are approximately 50 cases of enforced disappearances in Balochistan. Fact: Kakar’s statement is misleading; the WGEID’s recent report cited 1,635 enforced disappearances in Pakistan but did not specify Balochistan’s figures. In 2016, […]
Claim: A video shows graves of Baloch people that Pakistan Army soldiers desecrated as the ethnic community marched to Islamabad, demanding an end to alleged human rights abuses. Fact: The video dates as far back as at least 2018 and is not “the state’s ongoing attempts to attack the graves of those killed” allegedly by […]
Claim: A viral WhatsApp forward claims that castor oil can help rid a person of cataracts Fact: There is no evidence to support that the use of castor oil can cure cataracts, in fact, castor oil use in your eyes can cause adverse reactions. On 7 December 2023, Soch Fact Check was sent a viral WhatsApp […]
Claim: A pregnant Thai woman, Natthawaree Mulkan, who was abducted by Hamas following their attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, has delivered a baby in captivity. Fact: The woman who was taken hostage was not pregnant. Both Thailand’s foreign ministry and the woman’s mother have confirmed that the claim is false. On 18 November […]
Claim: A video shows the IDF identifying a hostage guardian list in a Hamas hideout. Fact: The list is a misidentified calendar that lists the days of the week. On 14 November 2023, Israeli ground operations broadcasted their investigative findings of Hamas hideouts at the Al-Rantisi hospital in Gaza. In a video posted on […]
Claim: The NADRA is “going against” the Constitution of Pakistan and a decision by the Federal Shariat Court by resuming the registration of transgender persons’ identity cards. Fact: The NADRA is not going against either because the Constitution of Pakistan states that a ruling by the Federal Shariat Court cannot take effect until the defined […]
Claim: 40 babies were beheaded during the 2023 Hamas attack in Israel as tensions escalate in Gaza. Fact: The reporter who broke the story says she “believes” an account provided by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), while other journalists who visited the site of the attack said they were not shown any bodies. The Israeli […]
Claim: A crocodile crept into a residential area of Karachi. Fact: The video is not from Karachi, Pakistan, but from the Mahisagar district of India’s Gujarat state. On 26 September 2023, Facebook user ‘ALi Khan AK’ posted a video (archive) showing a group of men trying to capture what appears to be a crocodile in […]