Claim: Ansar Abbasi said the hike in petrol prices is a great decision and the public will now perform religious prayers instead of roaming in markets.
Fact: The claim originated from a satirical tweet, which was eventually disseminated as real news.
On 16 April 2023, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member Shehbaz Gill retweeted a statement attributed to journalist Ansar Abbasi. Gill later deleted the tweet, but the archive version can be seen here.
The Urdu language tweet translated into English reads, “After hike of Rs 10 in petrol prices, millions of young people will read Taraweeh instead of roaming in the markets. This is a good decision, senior journalist Ansar Abbasi.”
The claim was made after the government announced an increase in the price of petrol by Rs 10 per litre.
Fact or Fiction?
The tweet was posted by a parody account named @geonewsparodyy. The name and bio of the Twitter account clearly state that it is a parody account.
Screenshot of parody account bio
Even though the tweet was satire, a number of users continued to believe it to be true and shared it as an authentic statement.
Virality
The satire tweet was shared as an authentic statement here, here, here, here, and here on Facebook.
On Twitter, it is retweeted as a true statement here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: Ansar Abbasi did not say that hike in petrol prices is a good decision. The tweet was published as satire by a parody account that some people believed to be true.