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 […]
Claim: Video clips uploaded on Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok show raining worms in China. Fact: The videos actually show catkins and not worms. Catkins are a cylindrical flower from poplar trees which appears to be wriggling in the rain, giving the appearance of worms. From 11 March 2023, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok were flooded with […]
Claim: The tallest skyscraper in China -fourth tallest building in the world- caught fire, leaving six hundred people dead. It was the biggest fire since 9/11. An additional claim in social media posts argues that the fire was an American conspiracy plan. Fact: No casualties from the incident were reported. Furthermore, the building is not […]