Claim: A video circulating online shows US President Donald Trump speaking in Urdu, pledging to act against the Pakistan Democratic Movement. Fact: The video is doctored. Deepware and audio analyses revealed manipulated audio frequencies and deepfake characteristics. Following Trump’s victory in the 2024 US Presidential election, X user @Tabii_DxB shared a clip (archive) of Trump […]
Claim: A video shows PTI protesters swimming across a river to reach Islamabad amid road blockades. Fact: The video was first shared online on 1 September 2023, disproving the claim that PTI protesters swam across a river to attend the 24 November 2024 protest at D-Chowk. On 25 November, the Instagram account Dialogue Pakistan, which […]
Claim: A PTI protester in a shroud, apparently pretending to be dead, was photographed using a phone. Fact: The image does not show a PTI protester. The image, originally shared in 2022, shows a child dressed as a corpse for Halloween. On 23 November, X user @LegiMian shared an image (archive) of a shrouded person […]
Claim: A viral video shows Islamabad Police officers marching and chanting slogans in favour of Imran Khan. Fact: The original video, which surfaced on 21 November 2024, has been overlaid with doctored audio. On 25 November 2024, Facebook user ‘Khan Pti’ posted (archive) a video showing Islamabad Police officers chanting slogans in favour of cricketer-turned-politician […]
Claim: A video shows Maryam Nawaz allegedly departing for Geneva from Lahore Airport with people chanting, “Maryam kay papa chor hain” [“Maryam’s father is a thief”]. Fact: The claim is false. The video shows Maryam Nawaz arriving in Lahore from London in September 2023, not departing for Geneva. The audio in the clip was doctored […]
Claim: In July 2024, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva urged the Government of Pakistan to tax the rich and provide subsidies to the poor. She also stressed that the global lender has never asked the country to increase the prices of basic utilities. Fact: Georgieva has not made such a comment in July 2024. A visual […]
Claim: The Government of India has released an official photo of the Saudi army chief meeting his Indian counterpart during his visit to the country in July 2024; The image hung in the background, which shows a Pakistani general signing the Instrument of Surrender that ended the 1971 war between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, was […]
Claim: A social media video shows PML-N member Khawaja Saad Rafique making a statement against PM Shehbaz Sharif. Fact: Rafique did not make a statement against Shehbaz Sharif in a recent press conference. The original clip is from 2022. It has been doctored to include Shehbaz Sharif’s name, whereas it shows Khawaja Saad Rafique taunting […]
Claim: Nawaz Sharif has admitted in an X post to being defeated in the 2024 general elections in Pakistan, saying he respects the public mandate and has advised his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, not to accept the chief ministership. Fact: The post was made by an imposter account. The X handle of Nawaz Sharif’s official account […]
Claim: Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that there is no possibility of any conspiracy in the presence of Army Chief General Asim Munir, in any case, Nawaz Sharif will be Pakistan’s next premier. Fact: Sharif’s statement has been misconstrued. He did not say that Nawaz Sharif will become the next prime minister because […]
Claim: A picture shows the father of PML-N leaders Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif, standing handcuffed after being arrested for stealing a buffalo. Fact: The picture actually shows the late Kashmiri separatist leader Maqbool Bhat, who was arrested in 1976 and executed on 11 February 1984. On 27 January 2024, Facebook user ‘Kamred Aslam Khaskheli’ […]
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 […]