Claim 1: China initiated a war with India, ordering its military to seize control of Ladakh. Following the recent attack in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, a video (archive) was shared on YouTube featuring an image of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, along with a clip of Imran Khan. It included […]
Claim: A video circulating widely on social media claims to show the final moments of Indian naval officer Lieutenant Vinay Narwal and his wife before Narwal was killed in the Pahalgam attack on 23 April. Fact: The video does not feature Lieutenant Vinay Narwal and his wife. It actually shows another couple, Ashish Sehrawat and […]
Claim: A video shows vehicles bumping over a pothole-ridden road in Karachi. Fact: The video is not from Karachi or even Pakistan. The Mandarin text visible on the vehicles in the footage suggests that it was likely filmed in China. X user @AmirHQureshi shared a video (archive) showing cars, buses, and trucks speeding over potholes, […]
Claim: A rally was held in China in support of Imran Khan. Fact: The absence of credible news reports, along withl inconsistencies in the video, suggest that it is not from China and neither does it show a political rally. In fact, it likely shows a Christmas parade in Germany. A video (archive) shared on […]
Claim: China’s ultra high-speed maglev train is “coming soon” to Pakistan and will reduce the travelling time between Islamabad and Karachi to 1.5 hours. Fact: There are no reports in any reputable media outlet about the maglev being launched in Pakistan. The T-Flight train is still in the development and testing phase and has not […]
Claim: Two images show Chinese military tanks entering India. Fact: The first image shows Russian military personnel conducting adaptive training for a joint military drill with Chinese forces in August 2021, while the second image shows the Chinese military disengaging from the India-China border in Ladakh in February 2021. Images of military tanks entering India […]
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: 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 […]
Claim: A video shows Dubai authorities destroying a temple — likely the BAPS Hindu Mandir — after heavy rains lashed the UAE in April 2024 over concerns that the place of worship led to the catastrophe. Fact: The viral clip does not show a temple in the UAE being destroyed; in fact, the video predates […]
Claim: An image on X shows China’s recent military drills near Taiwan. Fact: The photograph is by Reuters’ photographer Carlos Garcia Rawlins, and it shows Taiwan’s navy conducting a drill as a display of power in January 2024. On 24 May 2024, X user @Osint613 posted (archived) posted, “…the drills with China surrounding Taiwan are […]
Claim: A video shows former prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif receiving a grand welcome on his recent “unofficial” visit to China. Fact: Although Sharif went on a trip to China in April, the video is from his trip to Beijing in July 2013, when he held the premier’s office. Fact or Fiction? On […]
Claim: Pakistan is in the final stages of signing a billion-dollar-plus defence sale to a Middle Eastern country. Fact: The claim is false. Unlike other deals with Myanmar, Nigeria and Argentina in the past, there is no reported and verified news that a deal has been initiated, and no Middle Eastern stakeholders have formally […]