Claim: The Banco Central de la República Argentina (BCRA), or the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, has or is set to issue banknotes featuring the face of Argentine professional footballer Lionel Messi following the victory of the country’s national team in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Fact: The press department of the […]
Claim: Videos on social media show Argentina captain Lionel Messi hugging his mother after his team won the Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022. Fact: The claim is misleading because the woman in the video is not Messi’s mother, Celia Maria Cuccittini, but the Argentina football team cook, Antonia Farías. On 19 December 2022, a video […]
Claim: A social media video shows Muslims offering prayer in Qatar stadium during FIFA World Cup 2022. Fact: The claim is false. The video has been circulating since 2019 and shows Muslims offering iftar prayers at an arena in Russia’s city of Kazan. On 22 November 2022, a Facebook user shared a video with an […]
Claim: A screenshot circulating online shows a tweet from Elon Musk stating that Imran Khan has the largest number of fake followers on Twitter. The screenshot also shows a fake follower audit claiming that Imran Khan has 60.8% fake followers. Fact: The screenshot is false, Musk did not tweet any such claim. A screenshot of […]
Claim: A photo shows Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo posing happily next to a TV screen that shows Argentina’s captain Lionel Messi . It appears that Ronaldo is cheering for Messi. Fact: The photo does not show Ronaldo cheering for Messi; the image is doctored. The original photo shows Ronaldo watching Portugal’s UEFA Nations League match […]
Claim: Imran Khan said “I know Daily Mail did not genuinely apologize” with regards to the Daily Mail apology to Shahbaz Sharif. Fact: The false quote has been edited onto a Geo Headline template. Geo has neither published this statement nor has Imran Khan made such a statement. On 8 December 2022, the Daily Mail […]
Claim: Pakistan is shutting down its consulate in Kandahar, Afghanistan, to protest against the Taliban government. Fact: The official Twitter account of the Consulate General of Pakistan, Kandahar, was hacked on 2 December 2022. The hacked account tweeted the false claim that the consulate would shut down for two days to protest against the Taliban […]
Claim: A video shows a cat dangling from a spectators’ deck in a Qatar stadium and later saved by fans standing below during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Fact: The video is unrelated to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and is, in fact, from the United States, where fans caught the cat in […]
Claim: Portugal striker and footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a deal to join Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr. Fact: Ronaldo denied that he agreed to join Al Nassr following Portugal’s World Cup win against Switzerland in the FIFA World Cup on 7 December 2022. Fact or Fiction? On 6 December 2022, the Facebook page Origination Pakistan […]
Claim: Social media video shows football fans singing a pro-Palestinian song in a Qatar stadium during the FIFA World Cup 2022. Fact: The claim is false. The video is not from FIFA 2022 but is actually from a 2019 football match that took place in Morocco. On 27 November 2022, Twitter user Brig Ashfaq Hassan […]
Claim: A video shows Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif listening to a man in a UK court reading out accusations of misappropriation of British taxpayers’ money and government aid, which was intended for the 2005 flood victims. The allegations were originally revealed in a Daily Mail article in 2019, following which the PML-N leader filed […]
Claim: Viral social media messages claim that applications for Canada’s visa lottery program are open. It says that the Canadian Government has increased the number of visas issued to people through visa lottery by 500% in 2022. The viral message is accompanied by a link to sign up for the visa lottery. Fact: The claim […]