Claim: A video circulating on social media shows a large fire that broke out at a Pakistani power plant near Guddu, Sindh in July 2022. Fact: The video has been making rounds on social media since 2021 and in fact depicts a fire that broke out by Afghanistan’s largest trade crossing with Iran. On 15 […]
Claim: A new scam blocks and hacks an individual’s phone after a call from the number ‘912250041117’ asks the user to press 1 if they are vaccinated. Fact: The claim appears to be false. In Pakistan, no such number — whether landline or mobile phone — is operational. Numerous international fact-checking organisations have also debunked […]
Claim: A video shared on social media shows passengers escaping a mini bus as the vehicle is washed away by a flash flood following a recent bout of rain in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). Fact: The incident did not occur as a result of the recent spell of heavy rains in KPK. The video in question […]
Claim: An image shared on social media on 14 July 2022 shows a huge crowd at a rally held by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Multan, Punjab, where party chief and former Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed his supporters. A poster with an image of Khan, former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, and Shah Mehmood […]
Claim: Hindus in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province are forced to wear topis — caps typically worn by Muslim men during prayers — when they enter the Guru Gorakhnath temple near Peshawar, the only remaining Shiva temple in the country. Fact: There is no truth to the claim. The Hindu community is free to worship […]
Claim: Former Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan wrote a tweet asking former Prime Minister Imran Khan to call for public protests if it appears that local elections are being rigged to stop people voting for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Fact: The account responsible for the tweet appears to be impersonating Nisar. No such tweet […]
Claim: A Spanish newspaper recently published pictures of “thieves from around the world”, including former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif. Fact: Nawaz Sharif’s picture appeared in a 2016 article by Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia about the Panama Papers. Sharif’s name and photo did not feature in a recent article by the publication about international […]
Claim: A viral photo shows Turkey’s Army Chief General taking orders from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Social media users in Pakistan are sharing the image with captions highlighting civilian supremacy over the military in Turkey and implicitly drawing a comparison with the political climate in Pakistan. Fact: The photo, in fact, shows Turkish Land […]
Claim: A video circulating on social media shows sheep and cattle lying dead in muddy water following heavy rain and flooding in Quetta, Balochistan in July 2022. Fact: The video is, in fact, from 2020 and shows the aftermath of deadly floods in northern Saudi Arabia. On 5 July 2022, a video was shared on […]
Claim: A cartoon circulating on WhatsApp and social media that appears to depict the Pakistani military’s extensive involvement in the country’s political affairs was allegedly published in The New York Times. Fact: The cartoon was created by Indian artist Mujaid Alam and first surfaced online in 2020. It was never published in The New York […]
Claim: An image circulating on Facebook allegedly depicts limestone rocks located near Astola Island, a small island in Balochistan, Pakistan. Fact: The claim is false. The image is from Cabo San Lucas, a resort city at the southern tip of Mexico, where limestone rocks known as “El Arco” have formed over time as a result […]
Claim: Pakistan is a top destination for countries to dump their waste, with most countries opting to dispose of their waste in Pakistan. Fact: According to publicly available information, Pakistan’s relative share in the import of global waste is small. The misinformation appears connected to reports that 40 No Objection Certificates (“NOCs”) were issued to […]