Claim: A picture shows Pakistan’s former prime minister and chief of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, lying on a stretcher after being wounded in a shooting incident during a rally he was leading towards Islamabad, Punjab, on 3 October 2022. Fact: The picture is not recent but, in fact, from 2014 when Khan was […]
Claim: Social media posts claims that Sheikh Rasheed, the founder of Awami Muslim League, is unwell and will not be attending Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) long march, which started in Lahore on 28 October 2022. Fact: The claim is misleading. Sheikh Rasheed refuted the claim and shared a video message to say he has joined Imran […]
Claim: A video on social media claims that it shows Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb harassed by Pakistanis in the UK for not wearing a hijab. Fact: The claim is false. Aurangzeb was heckled by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters in London due to political differences, not because of her clothing. On 26 September 2022, a social […]
Claim: Maryam Nawaz played a video of Imran Khan making fun of her at her press conference, calling his insults “golden words”. Fact: The video was doctored. Imran Khan’s remarks were superimposed on top of a different video which Nawaz actually played at the press conference. On 28 October 2022, a digital content creator shared […]
Claim: A Twitter account claims to be a journalist from Nairobi, Kenya. The account posted consistent updates about Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif’s murder in Kenya. Pakistani social media users have been sharing the tweets as real news. Fact: The Twitter account is fake. The user has changed their Twitter username and handle multiple times. The […]
Claim: Awami National Party’s (ANP) leader Ghulam Ahmad Bilour said it’s impossible to defeat Imran Khan and has graciously accepted his loss in the NA-31 Peshawar by-election. Fact: Bilour did not issue any such statement. In fact, he refused to accept the by-election result and accused the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government of “massive rigging”. Fact or […]
Claim: Shehbaz Sharif endorsed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) long march. Fact: A video clip from Shehbaz Sharif’s announcement of the Mehngai Mukao March from March 2022 was shared out of context to imply that he has endorsed PTI’s long march. On 28 October 2022, a content creator shared a video on Facebook claiming to show prime […]
Claim: Imran Khan called for an emergency press conference at 3pm a day before the long march was supposed to begin, at Shahrah e Quaid e Azam, Lahore. Fact: Imran Khan never called for an emergency press conference, and the long march began as scheduled. On 27 October 2022, several social media posts on Facebook […]
Claim: A report by The Associated Press claims an amendment to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018, proposed by the Government of Pakistan, will allow transgender individuals to choose their gender identity on previously-issued official documents and that hardline clerics are opposing the suggested changes. Fact: Five different amendments were put forward by senators […]
Claim: A viral image appearing to be a news update claimed PTI leader Shahbaz Gill said, “I do not wish to maintain political ties with Imran Khan” Fact: Shahbaz Gill did not make such an announcement. He remains a senior PTI leader and close ally of Imran Khan. The image is doctored. On 17 September […]
Claim: Imran Khan pleads for Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Jawed Bajwa’s tenure extension in his interview with journalist Kamran Khan on Dunya News. Fact: Imran Khan did not plead for General Bajwa’s tenure extension. On 12 September 2022, Former Prime Minister Imran Khan appeared in ‘Dunya Kamran Khan Kay Saath’, a talk […]
Claim: A graph shared in a viral tweet shows the rate of inflation in Pakistan along with the level of media outcry about inflation under the PTI government vs the PDM government. It claims that the media disproportionately created an outcry about inflation under the PTI government, as compared to the growing inflation under PDM […]