Claim: Javed Akhtar Khan Lund claims that he won from the national assembly constituency NA-184 and provincial assembly constituency PP-286, Dera Ghazi Khan I. Fact: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate, Abdul Qadir Khan won from NA-184 DG Khan-I while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed candidate Ali Muhammad is the runner up. Javed was not declared winner […]
Claim: On 6 February 2024, front pages of multiple Pakistani newspapers announced Nawaz Sharif as the next prime minister, claiming he was voted in by the people’s choice. Fact: The front page is an advertisement and not a news piece. Since the 2024 general elections in Pakistan are underway, it cannot be said that Nawaz […]
Claim: Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that there is no possibility of any conspiracy in the presence of Army Chief General Asim Munir, in any case, Nawaz Sharif will be Pakistan’s next premier. Fact: Sharif’s statement has been misconstrued. He did not say that Nawaz Sharif will become the next prime minister because […]
Claim: Analyst Michael Kugelman said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif is “a top candidate to be the next premier not because he’s wildly popular – he certainly is – but more so because he’s played his cards right”. Fact: The BBC misquoted Kugelman in an article. In his original comment to the […]
Claim: Mohammad Zubair confessed that his meetings with General Qamar Bajwa and Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed led to the establishment of the PDM. Fact: Zubair has denied making any such statement. On 1 January 2024, the political discussion forum, Siasat.pk, posted (archive) a visual on X (formerly Twitter) with the following text, “پی ڈی ایم […]
Claim: A video shows Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President, Maryam Nawaz dancing. Fact: The video is a deepfake altered by replacing the dancer’s face with Maryam Nawaz’s to create the impression that she is the one dancing. It actually shows Indonesian model, Jihane Almira Chedid. How are deepfakes created? An article published by […]
Claim: Khawaja Asif had ink thrown on him as a warning ahead of Nawaz Sharif’s return on 21 October. Fact: The video is more than five years old and does not show a recent attack on Khawaja Asif. On 29 September 2023, the Facebook user ‘پھول نگر واچ’ posted a video (archive) showing Khawaja Muhammad […]
Claim: A picture shows Nawaz Sharif walking with the judge, Humayun Dilawar. A similar post claims the image depicts Sharif walking with the late judge, Arshad Malik. Fact: The man walking alongside Nawaz Sharif is journalist Kousar Kazmi, not Dilawar or Malik, the latter of whom has passed away. On 18 August 2023, Soch Fact […]
Claim: A social media user shares a video clip of Mahira Khan and states a longer video contains sensitive content. Fact: The video, which is actually behind-the-scenes footage shot by a makeup artist, shows Mahira Khan having a light-hearted conversation with her team and stating that she’s hungry. On 8 August 2023, Twitter user @ssgviews […]
Claim: The Prime Minister’s Youth Programme (PMYP) has launched a programme in collaboration with the German Academic Exchange Service for Pakistani students to get the chance to study at universities in Germany on scholarship. Fact: The DAAD’s Islamabad office has said they do not “have any ongoing collaboration linked to the PMY Programme” at present. […]
Claim: A video shows Rana Sanaullah engaging in sexual activities with another man. Fact: The video, which can be traced as far back as at least 2019, does not show Rana Sanaullah and has been wrongly linked to the Pakistani interior minister. On 1 June 2023, Facebook user ‘Hammad Abbasi’ posted a video (archive) that […]
Claim: A video claims to show Khawaja Asif facing the first public backlash as a man throws ink on his face during a speech after “calling teachers dacoits”. Fact: The video does not show the public’s reaction to Khawaja Asif “calling teachers dacoits”. The clip is, in fact, from 2018 and is not related to […]