Claim: Multiple social media posts show an ARY News bulletin stating that Former PM Imran Khan will be released in the upcoming week.
Fact: This claim is false. ARY News never reported any such news about Khan’s release.
On 13 May 2026, X user Salar Wazir PTI posted the bulletin where it stated:
بریکنگ نیوز “
عمران خان اسی ہفتے رہا ہو نگے انسانی ہمدردی کی بنیاد پر ہم ان کو رہا کر رہیں ہیں، رانا ثناء اللہ
رانا ثناء اللہ کی سابق اسپیکر قومی اسمبلی اسد قیصر سے ملاقات ، عمران خان کی رہائی کا پیغام پہنچایا اسلام پہنچایا سے ملاقات ،
“[Transalation: Breaking News Imran Khan will be released this week, we are releasing him on humanitarian grounds, Rana Sanaullah .Rana Sanaullah meets former Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser, conveys message of Imran Khan’s release.]”
The visual shows Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on political affairs, Mr.Rana Sanuallah and Mr.Asad Qaiser, a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
Screenshot from X post
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check contacted ARY News to determine the veracity of this visual, as it was shared widely. A producer at the outlet confirmed that if such news had been broadcasted.. After looking into it, he stated:
“It looks fake. No such news has been run in my presence [and] even the font is not ours. It is fake.”
The fabricated visual was compared to an original ARY News bulletin to investigate the discrepancies between the two, highlighted in red, with both screenshots posted below. The ARY News logo is very similar to the one in the manipulated image, however there is an uneven spacing and alignment between the words, as seen in the word “NEWS.” This suggests that a different font was used for every word. Meanwhile, the original logo is consistent in all these aspects, and is much brighter than the one seen in the viral posts..
Soch Fact Check, discovered a similar instance with the yellow color used for the “بریکنگ نیوز” [Breaking News] in the news bulletin board. In comparison, it seems to be slightly darker than the outlet’s normal broadcast, even though the font is the same as the original.
The fade strip between the live footage and the red bulletin panel is visible in the original screenshot featuring US President Donald Trump, where the fade is consistent, smooth and naturally fades into the live broadcast running.However, there is no TV transition layer, or even a semi-transparent gradient in Rana Sanullah’s breaking news bulletin. Genuine live broadcasting templates are continuously in transition, and not in a still boundary or static.
Furthermore, the blue box at the bottom of the screenshots is also not integrated into the broadcast of Rana Sanaullah, and the Urdu font is more delicate. Upon investigation, it seems like an altered ticker was used here.
In conclusion, when the news bulletins are compared based on these details, and given the official statement confirming that no such statement was ever made, we can conclude that the news bulletin was altered.
News clipping from X
News clipping from official ARY News Youtube Channel
Virality
Soch Fact Check found this news on various social media platforms, including14 Facebook posts, 5 X posts, 5 Thread posts, 1 Youtube video and 5 Instagram posts.
This ARY News bulletin in particular had become quite popular due to the resharing by PTI supporters, not only nationally, but also internationally. Facebook groups containing more than 200K people in particular tend to spread such misinformation rapidly.
Conclusion: ARY News did not report that Imran Khan will be released, and the image being shared has been manipulated. An ARY producer also confirmed the same.
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