Claim: Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has announced its support for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) candidates in the 8 February 2024 elections, following a statement made in favour of Imran Khan by the party’s chief Saad Rizvi. Fact: Noman Khalid, TLP’s candidate from NA-113 Sheikhupura-I, denied the claim. He said that TLP urges its supporters to vote for […]
Claim: Imran Khan was seen sporting a beard on 30 January 2024, the day he was sentenced to 10 years for “leaking state secrets”. Fact: A beard was edited onto Khan’s face in an image that was originally posted by PTI Central Legal Coordinator Mashal Yousafzai on 1 August 2023. On 30 January 2024, X […]
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: Former Finance Minister Miftah Ismail stated that if the constitutional order and law in Pakistan was fair, Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan would be out of jail and all members of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) would be in jail. Fact: Miftah Ismail did not make any claim of the sort and […]
Claim: An image shows former-MNA, Chaudhry Bilal Ahmed Virk injured in a hospital after being beaten by the police. Fact: The claim is false as the politician had an accident a few days ago, during which he sustained an eye injury. Fact or Fiction? On 24 December 2023, journalist Sabir Shakir posted a since-deleted image […]
Claim: A photo shows the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Qazi Faez Isa, posing with members of the IPP on the occasion of joining the newly-created political group. Fact: The image has been doctored. It originally shows a former lawmaker and ex-member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Ali Nawaz Awan, and not Justice Qazi Faez Isa. […]
Claim: The BBC produced and ran a video report debunking “the entire drama of 9 May”, when protests erupted in Pakistan over Imran Khan’s arrest. The video features footage from the demonstrations, identifies two individuals as state functionaries who fanned the flames, and asks key questions about what transpired that day. Fact: The BBC never […]
Claim: PKR 5,000 banknotes are being discontinued across Pakistan. Fact: Pakistan’s caretaker information minister has not confirmed a ban on the PKR 5000 banknote. However, when a lawmaker suggested that the PKR 5,000 banknotes should be discontinued, the minister indicated that such policy decisions should be made by the next Parliament. On 21 November 2023, […]
Claim: A picture shows US President Joe Biden kneeling in front of George Floyd’s daughter and asking for her forgiveness on behalf of the state. Fact: The picture shows Biden speaking to C.J. Brown, the son of a Detroit store owner, while he was campaigning to become the President of the United States. On 23 […]
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: Two photographs show the jail cell in which Imran Khan is being detained. Fact: The images are, in fact, of cells in the closed-down Ohio State Reformatory and Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary; they were taken in 2021 and 2016. On 11 August 2023, X (formerly Twitter) user @p4pakipower1 posted a picture (archive) apparently of a […]
Claim: A viral image shows Sahar Ata Bandial, the daughter of Pakistan’s former top judge, Umar Ata Bandial. Fact: The image does not show Sahar Bandial but Shiffa Z. Yousafzai. On 13 September 2023, the X (formerly Twitter) user @Drsamina19 posted a picture (archive) claiming it shows Sahar Ata Bandial, the daughter of former Chief […]