Claim: Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry described Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, the late Pakistani nuclear scientist, as “fake,” a “joker,” and one of the “fake heroes” of Pakistan in 2012. Fact: Chaudhry did in fact tweet that Dr Qadeer was “fake,” a “joker,” and one of the “fake heroes” of Pakistan in 2012; however, the minister […]
Claims: 1. The Kalash Valley is an area in Pakistan where women openly commit adultery in public 2. The Kalasha are fire-worshippers and their primary religion is the worship of fire and statues; they dance and sacrifice animals during religious festivities; their religion does not include notions of prophets or holy books 3. NGOs are […]
Claim: PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz Sharif described Prime Minister Imran Khan as her “hero” in a 2008 Twitter post Fact: The tweet in the screenshot being circulated is from 27 September 2008 but Maryam Nawaz Sharif did not join Twitter until January 2012. Therefore, the image must be doctored. On 5 October 2021, an Instagram account […]
Claim: Pakistani soldiers were martyred during the Panjshir conflict in Afghanistan. Fact: The proof posted on social media by former Indian Army officers was, in fact, a picture of Pakistani actors in a military movie. On 10 September, various former officers of the Indian Army posted updates from Afghanistan on their social media, sharing a […]
Claim: Kane Williamson, the captain of New Zealand’s cricket team, called New Zealand Cricket’s (NZC) decision to cancel the team’s tour of Pakistan “shameful”. Fact: Williamson did not use the word “shameful,”but he did call the decision “a shame.” On 17 September, New Zealand’s cricket board announced that it was canceling their team’s tour of […]
Claim: Facebook page Shura e Nazar shared footage of a plane exchanging missile fire with a target on the ground with the caption “last night, a Pakistani drone crashed in the mountains of Panjshir.” Fact: Soch Fact Check found the footage in question is in fact a screen recording from the video game Arma 3. […]
Claim: Ayesha Akram called Prime Minister Imran Khan during a televised live event in which he was taking calls from citizens. Fact: The video has been doctored. Footage of a television broadcast from several months ago has been overlaid with another voiceover to depict a phone call from Akram. Background On 14th August, TikToker Ayesha […]
Claim: Zahir Jaffer’s time as a student at Therapy Works ended in 2018, when he was removed from his Level 4 certification due to incomplete coursework. He was also not allowed to see clients at Therapy Works. Fact: Jaffer’s peers confirmed that he was enrolled in the Level 4 certification program but did not complete […]
Claim: A Pakistani tabloid claims that author Fatima Bhutto demanded that Zahir Jaffer be given privileges in jail. Fact: Bhutto, in fact, criticised the Pakistani penal system for giving Zahir Jaffer privileges in jail. On 6 August, a tabloid news outlet called The Snazzy Report shared a post on Instagram that claimed author and columnist […]
Claim: Pakistani authorities hunted and killed a werewolf in Balochistan. However, some social media posts claim the mythical creature was found in Punjab’s Sialkot and Kashmir. Fact: Pakistani authorities did not kill a werewolf. The images being shared on social media feature an animatronic sculpture created by SFX artist Joseph-Rob Cobasky. [Content warning: Pictures in […]
Claim: Two mass Covid-19 vaccination centres in Karachi and Lahore are experiencing a shortage of the vaccine. Fact: The claim is half true, half false. Karachi’s Expo Centre has run out of stock of the CanSino Bio and Sinopharm vaccines. Only AstraZeneca and Sinovac are available, while Sinopharm is only available for those returning for […]
Claim: Minister Fawad Chaudhry called for the imposition of either governor’s rule of Article 148 in Sindh. Fact: Chaudhry ruled out the possibility of the governor’s rule, calling it undemocratic, and asked the Supreme Court to enforce Article 140A in Sindh. Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry addressed the media in Karachi on […]