Claim: A viral message warns Pakistani people against conducting any online transactions as ATMs will remain closed for the next two to three days after a ransomware cyberattack in the country. It advises people not to open a video clip called the “Dance of the Hillary,” which is a virus that wipes one’s mobile phone […]
Claim: South Korean car manufacturer Kia has launched a vehicle named “Khan” to honour Imran Khan. Fact: The claim is false. The vehicle in question is not manufactured by Kia but by KG Mobility, also a South Korean company, which has confirmed that the SUV’s name is a reference to the Mongol Empire, not Imran […]
Claim: Pictures show overloaded clouds that fell to the ground in Mithi in Sindh’s Tharparkar. Fact: The claim is false as it is scientifically impossible for clouds to fall on the ground. Multiple experts have explained that the white blobs are likely some kind of industrial waste, wastewater with chemicals or just pollution, meaning that […]
Claim: The Economist digitally removed a flag of Palestine from its August 2024 cover story on the protests over government jobs quotas in Bangladesh. Fact: The claim is false. The Economist neither altered the image nor did it use artificial intelligence (AI) to remove the Palestinian flag. The magazine appears to have chosen another picture […]
Claim: A video shows Bangladesh’s defence minister and its former army chief hung on a bridge amid the student-led protests in August 2024. Fact: The clip does not show Bangladesh’s defence minister and its former army chief, but two unidentified individuals in the Baipayl area of its capital Dhaka. In fact, the defence ministry portfolio […]
Claim: A picture shows Kamala Harris and Jeffrey Epstein posing together. Fact: The image is doctored. It actually shows Harris with her husband, Douglas Emhoff. On 22 July 2024, Facebook user ‘April Lynn’ posted (archive) a visual containing a photo allegedly showing US Vice President Kamala Harris and the late Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire financier […]
Claim: A man in Faisalabad took his clothes off to protest the increasing prices of electricity across the country. Fact: The photos are from 2017. News reports from that time did not link the man’s action to rising electricity prices. On 5 July 2024, Dr Shahbaz Gill — an aide to former prime minister and […]
Claim: Fiverr has been banned in Pakistan. Fact: Fiverr has not been banned, nor has it suspended its services in Pakistan. The platform briefly flagged some Pakistani freelancers’ accounts in August 2024, owing to the ongoing Internet slowdown, but a company spokesperson has confirmed that most of them “have now returned to normal”. On 15 […]
Claim: A video shows Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari kissing a man. Fact: The video is doctored; Bokhari’s face was superimposed onto an unrelated video of two people who have not been identified. On 25 July 2024, YouTube channel Roaster Boy 💀 posted (archive) a video allegedly showing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and Punjab’s […]
Claim: A picture shows a US-flagged ship that was attacked by Yemen’s Houthis in July 2024. Fact: The picture does not depict a US-flagged ship. In fact, it is an old image of the Kharg, an Iranian navy vessel, that sank after catching fire in June 2021. On 9 July 2024, X (formerly Twitter) account […]
Claim: A video shows a man garbed in a niqab getting caught red-handed for attempting to kidnap a child. Fact: The clip is scripted and was created by Indian YouTuber Ankur Jatuskarn in 2023. It has been debunked several times before. On 3 July 2024, X (formerly Twitter) account @EuropeInvasionn posted (archive) a video showing […]
Claim: Photos show the moment Chinese President Xi Jinping suffered a stroke. Fact: There are no verifiable reports that President Xi suffered a stroke during the Chinese Communist Party’s third plenary session. Two of the accompanying photos are from March 2024; one of them shows his reaction after drinking from a cup and the second […]