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: Khursheed Shah has apologised for the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) “mistake” to join hands with Nawaz Sharif and remove Imran Khan’s government from power. Fact: The PPP parliamentarian did not apologise for ousting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s (PTI) government. Instead, he apologised for forming a coalition with the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) government. PDM is a […]
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: A picture shows Imran Khan sleeping on the floor of a jail cell. Fact: The image was taken during the 2011 sit-in organised by Imran Khan against drone strikes in Pakistan. It has been doctored to include the prison bars. On 7 August 2023, the Facebook page ‘Peshawar Zalmi Confessions’ posted a picture (archive) […]
Claim: An image shows Imran Khan walking out of jail with inmates and prison guards in the background. Fact: The image is not real but generated by artificial intelligence. On 29 August 2023, Instagram user @talhamalik.pti posted a picture (archive) showing Imran Khan — Pakistan’s former prime minister and the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) […]
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: In a parliamentary speech, which was termed his ‘farewell address’ on 9 August 2023, former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed that over the past 16 months, his PDM government did not incarcerate any political opponents or subject them to harassment. Fact: The claim is misleading. Several prominent PTI figures, political opponents of PDM, were […]
Claim: A viral image shows that the FIA raid in Shaukat Khanum Hospital recovered 260 million dollars in foreign currencies including dollars, pounds, and riyals. Fact: The viral image is from a raid of a Mexican drug lord’s luxury home in March 2007. On 3 September 2023, a Twitter (now X) user (@Drsamina19) shared an […]
Claim: A photo of a news headline saying Bushra Bibi will engage in an 11-day religious ritual to remedy the PTI’s political situation and that PTI sources believe that a solar eclipse may affect Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s political position. Fact: The photo of the news headline was doctored before it was shared by PML-N leader Hina […]
Claim: A picture shows Imran Khan sporting a beard ahead of a court appearance. Fact: The image is digitally manipulated; Khan originally appeared clean-shaved in the picture in question. On 22 August 2023, the Instagram account @iloveimrankhan._ posted (archive) an image showing Imran Khan — the former prime minister and chief of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf […]