Claim: A video shows a bird breathing fire from its mouth. Fact: The video is the work of Brazilian special effects artist Fabricio Rabachim, who posted it on his YouTube channel in 2020. On 24 August 2022, the Facebook page ‘Amazing World’ shared a video with the claim, “A bird that breathes fire from its […]
Claim: An image of a car’s bloodied interior shows the aftermath of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif’s alleged assassination. Fact: The picture is, in fact, of the inside of the car in which Maulana Muhammad Adil Khan, a religious scholar and Jamia Farooqia Karachi’s rector, was assassinated in October 2020. It has no relation whatsoever to […]
Claim: A data table shows that 28,723 people changed the gender they were assigned at birth through the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) from July 2018 to June 2021. Fact: The NADRA has categorically termed the portrayal of the data as “misinterpretation”, saying that it is “not related to gender reassignment”. A spokesperson, Faik […]
Claim: ‘Behind Closed Doors’, a documentary made by filmmakers Michael Oswald and Murtaza Mehdi about Pakistan’s Sharif family, is set to be released on streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Fact: The director of ‘Behind Closed Doors’, Michael Oswald, confirmed to Soch Fact Check that no deal has been signed with either Netflix or […]
Claim: Pakistani mixed spices company Shan Foods Limited has launched a recipe masala packet called ‘Punjabi Biryani’ and claimed it is “World Famous in Punjab.” Fact: Shan Foods Limited has been manufacturing ‘Punjabi Biryani’ recipe masala packets for a few years now. A senior official at the company says the product is not recent; the […]
Claim: A child in the Pashtoon Abad neighbourhood of Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s Balochistan province, died due to the oral polio vaccine (OPV) administered to her in September 2022. Fact: The doctor who treated the child confirmed that she died due to severe pneumonia, a condition in which food or liquid enters the airways […]
Claim: A video shows a Baloch ‘revolutionary’ firing from behind a wall as a fire burns nearby during a clash with Pakistan Army soldiers in the Balochistan province following the crash of a military helicopter in Harnai, near Khost, in September 2022. Fact: The clip is, in fact, from Baluchistan, Iran, where a newly-formed armed […]
Claim: A flag made of locks of hair waves in Iran in solidarity with a young woman killed by the country’s “morality police” for not wearing her hijab properly. Fact: The black flag is actually an installation by Belgian visual artist Edith Dekyndt unveiled in 2014. On 21 September 2022, Indian media outlet Firstpost shared […]
Claim: An image shows the wreckage of a Pakistan Army helicopter that crashed near Khost in the Harnai district of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province. Fact: The photo has no relation to the 26 September crash but is from a separate incident in 2021. On 26 September 2022, the Facebook page ‘Quetta Time’ posted an image […]
Claim: A law to legalise same-sex marriage is set to be passed in Pakistan under the guise of a transgender act as part of efforts by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which obtain funds from gay and lesbian communities abroad. The claim further adds that “educated khawajasira” do not support the proposed law and that they acknowledge […]
Claim: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin refused to meet Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2022. Fact: There is no truth to the claims as Vladimir Putin and Shehbaz Sharif met on the sidelines of the SCO Summit 2022 on 15 September 2022. Photos and videos from the two leaders’ […]
Claim: A photo apparently shows Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites visible in the sky from Pakistan. Fact: The image is, in fact, two years old and has no link to Pakistan. It was taken as a screenshot from a video posted by a Kosovo-based software developer. On 8 September 2022, Facebook user Umar Farooq posted in […]