Fact Check • 16th March 2023

Photo of US gun control demonstration in 2018 falsely shared as rally for Pakistan's Imran Khan

Photo of US gun control demonstration in 2018 falsely shared as rally for Pakistan's Imran Khan

After Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan defied attempts to arrest him in March 2023, a photo of a huge crowd was shared by pro-Khan social media accounts that falsely claimed it showed supporters gathered outside his house. The picture was actually taken five years earlier at a demonstration in Washington DC calling for tougher gun laws.

"Lahore: Fresh scenes from Zaman Park," reads an Urd

Fact Check • 15th March 2023

Photo of Imran Khan-led rally in 2014 doctored to add gun

Photo of Imran Khan-led rally in 2014 doctored to add gun

A that appears to show a man pointing a gun from a vehicle has been shared thousands of times in posts it shows a supporter of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan at an election rally in March 2023. It circulated online after local media reported that Khan had suspended an election rally in Lahore, Pakistan's second-largest city, following arrests of his supporters. The weapon shown in the photo been digitally inserted into an imag

Fact Check • 15th March 2023

Photo shows volunteers posing for artwork in Germany, not 'captured Pakistani soldiers'

Photo shows volunteers posing for artwork in Germany, not 'captured Pakistani soldiers'

An image of dozens of naked people bent over has circulated in social media posts that falsely claim it shows Pakistani soldiers who were captured in 1971 during a nine-month war that saw then-East Pakistan emerge as an independent Bangladesh. The picture includes text that says it shows . The image in fact shows volunteers posing for a US photographer in Germany in 2006 when he created a sculpture for an ar

Fact Check • 15th March 2023

Imran Khan supporters share old photo in posts about Pakistan rally arrests

Imran Khan supporters share old photo in posts about Pakistan rally arrests

After clashes erupted between police and supporters of Pakistan's ousted leader Imran Khan at a rally in Lahore in March 2023, a photo was shared in posts falsely claiming it showed officers forcing pro-Khan protesters to lie on the ground. However, the photo actually shows police arresting members of a local crime network in Rawalpindi in May 2022.

"Ladies and gentlemen this is occupied Pakistan," reads a tweet posted

Fact Check • 28th February 2023

Pakistan politicians falsely claim foreign minister advocated making rich richer

A video of Pakistan's foreign minister has been shared by opposition politicians falsely claiming it shows him calling to "make the rich richer" at a time when an economic crisis gripped the country. However, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was in fact criticising the idea that everyone benefits from policies that boost the wealth of the country's richest people .

The video was shared on Twitter here by Khurram Sher Zaman, a lawmaker from the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, on February

Fact Check • 22nd February 2023

Old clip of Turkish actor's drama resurfaced to falsely claim he 'helped at quake site'

Old clip of Turkish actor's drama resurfaced to falsely claim he 'helped at quake site'

Days after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria in February 2023, a video of Turkish actor Burak Ozcivit surfaced on social media with the false claim that it shows him helping victims at the scene of the jolt. In fact, the clip was taken from the Turkish TV drama "Kara Sevda", which aired from 2015 to 2017 and featured Ozcivit as the protagonist.

The video was shared here by a Pakistan-based Twi

Fact Check • 10th February 2023

Photo from 2013 Karachi protest falsely linked to Peshawar suicide bombing

An image of a woman giving bangles to security forces has been shared thousands of times in social media posts that falsely claim it was taken after a deadly mosque blast in Pakistan's Peshawar in January 2023. But the photo has been shared online since 2013 after a Karachi protest against alleged vote rigging in the election that year.

The image was published here on Facebook on February 1, 2023 and shared more than 2,500 times.

It appears to show a burqa-clad woman giving bangles to a soldie

Fact Check • 2nd February 2023

Old photos falsely linked to Sweden-Denmark Koran burnings

Following a series of Koran burnings in Sweden and Denmark that caused a diplomatic row with Muslim-majority Turkey, social media posts with more than one million views shared photos they falsely claimed showed the anti-Islam activist responsible . However, the images are unrelated to the Koran burnings and evidence indicated Rasmus Paludan was alive and well, as of February 2, 2023.

"The person who burned the Koran in Sweden has been killed and sent to hell, while the Ghazi has been detained,"

Fact Check • 25th January 2023

Pakistan politicians falsely claim minister 'criticised his own govt' for nationwide power cut

Pakistan politicians falsely claim minister 'criticised his own govt' for nationwide power cut

Social media accounts supporting Pakistan's main opposition party have shared a video of government minister Ahsan Iqbal with a false claim that it shows him criticising his own party's ruling coalition for a nationwide power breakdown in January 2023. The video in fact shows Iqbal two years earlier -- when his party was in the opposition -- speaking about the government led by then-prime minister Imr

Fact Check • 23rd January 2023

Pro-Imran Khan accounts share old clip of India's Modi criticising Pakistan in misleading posts

Pro-Imran Khan accounts share old clip of India's Modi criticising Pakistan in misleading posts

Social media accounts supporting the party of Pakistan's ex-leader Imran Khan have shared footage that they misleadingly claim shows Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticising the government that succeeded him. The footage, which racked up , shows Modi speaking in April 2019 when Khan was in power, not after he was ousted two years later.

The video was shared by Pakistani opposition lawmaker Az

Fact Check • 17th January 2023

Video shows Pakistani protest against taxes in 2017, not government policies in 2023

Video shows Pakistani protest against taxes in 2017, not government policies in 2023

A video has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times alongside a false claim that it shows protests in Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region against a range of government measures in early January 2023. While there were genuine demonstrations in the region in January, the video actually shows scenes from protests against taxation measures that were imposed in 2017.

The video was shared here on Twitter on Januar

Fact Check • 17th January 2023

Clip does not show Pakistan inflation protest -- it was taken from 2020 posts about blasphemy demo

Clip does not show Pakistan inflation protest -- it was taken from 2020 posts about blasphemy demo

A video has been viewed thousands of times in Facebook and Twitter posts with the false claim that it shows a protest in Pakistan against rising inflation in January 2023. In fact, it shows scenes from a protest in the country's megacity Karachi against alleged blasphemy in September 2020.

The video was shared here on Twitter alongside the false claim on January 9, 2023.

It has been viewed more

Fact Check • 15th January 2023

Photo of hunter with Pakistan's national animal doctored to show US diplomat

Photo of hunter with Pakistan's national animal doctored to show US diplomat

A doctored image has been repeatedly shared in Urdu-language tweets and Facebook posts that falsely claim it shows the " posing after hunting Pakistan's national animal, the markhor goat. The original photo has appeared in multiple reports about an American man who supposedly paid tens of thousands of dollars to hunt the markhor in Pakistan. This photo had been digitally altered to insert the image of the US consul gen

Fact Check • 5th January 2023

Video shows Saudi football tournament in 2019, not Qatar World Cup

A video has been viewed more than a million times in social media posts falsely claiming it shows a man on a drone waving a flag with the Islamic proclamation of faith at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022. The video was in fact filmed in Saudi Arabia during the local King's Cup football tournament in May 2019.

The video was viewed more than 1.4 million times in a Facebook post shared on November 22.

The Urdu-language caption reads: "During the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, a person on a drone waved a

Fact Check • 6th December 2022

Video shows fans at football match in Morocco in 2019, not at Qatar World Cup

Video shows fans at football match in Morocco in 2019, not at Qatar World Cup

An old clip of football fans singing a pro-Palestinian song has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times in posts that falsely claim it was filmed during the World Cup in Qatar. The clip circulated as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict made its presence felt at the first World Cup on Arab soil, but it was in fact filmed at a football match in Morocco in 2019.

The clip has been viewed over 240,000 times since it was s

Fact Check • 23rd November 2022

Video shows Muslims offering prayers in Russian stadium, not at Qatar World Cup

Video shows Muslims offering prayers in Russian stadium, not at Qatar World Cup

A video has been viewed more than one million times in social media posts that falsely claim it shows people praying in a stadium during the Qatar World Cup. In fact, the video has circulated online since 2019 and shows Muslims offering iftar prayers at an arena in Russia's Kazan city.

The video was shared here on Twitter by Pakistani politician Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar on November 21, 2022.

"Beautiful moment duri

Fact Check • 22nd November 2022

Video shows Koran recital at stadium ceremony one year before Qatar World Cup

Video shows Koran recital at stadium ceremony one year before Qatar World Cup

A video has been viewed millions of times in social media posts that falsely claim it shows a Koran recital at the opening ceremony of the Qatar World Cup at the Al Bayt Stadium. While other footage from the ceremony shows a World Cup ambassador genuinely recited a verse from the holy text at the ceremony, the posts share a clip from a different Qatari stadium inauguration in October 2021.

The video shows a man leadi

Fact Check • 15th November 2022

Old video resurfaces in misleading context following Istanbul blast in November 2022

Old video resurfaces in misleading context following Istanbul blast in November 2022

Social media posts with hundreds of thousands of views have reshared an old blast video in a misleading context, shows a deadly bomb attack in a shopping avenue in Turkey in November 2022. The clip, however, shows a suicide bombing that targeted the same avenue in Istanbul in March 2016.

"We strongly condemn the suicide bombing in Turkey," reads an Urdu-language Twitter post shared on November 13, 2022.

"Thos

Fact Check • 10th November 2022

Original placard shows plea for Pakistan army chief's predecessor not to retire

Original placard shows plea for Pakistan army chief's predecessor not to retire

A doctored photo of a sign that appears to show Pakistan's army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa asking people to stop telling him to retire has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on social media. The image -- which appeared to fool some people online -- circulated amid speculation about who would replace Bajwa, who has served as head of the military since 2016. The image has in fact been manipulated from an

Fact Check • 8th November 2022

Video of Imran Khan walking in hospital predates assassination attempt

Footage of Pakistan's ex-prime minister Imran Khan walking inside a hospital has been viewed tens of thousands of times in posts that falsely claim it was filmed shortly after he was shot in an assassination attempt, suggesting the attack was a hoax. However, the video actually shows Khan visiting a hospital in 2021, more than a year before the attack, while he was still the premier.

The 11-second video shows Khan, who is dressed in scrubs, talking to staff as he walks around a hospital.

"Imra

Fact Check • 7th November 2022

Photo shows python that ate porcupine in 2015, not Indonesian woman in 2022

Photo shows python that ate porcupine in 2015, not Indonesian woman in 2022

A photo of a snake is circulating in Facebook posts that falsely link it to reports that a python swallowed a woman whole in Indonesia. While local media genuinely reported that a woman was eaten by a python in Indonesia's Jambi province, the photo shows a snake that died after it swallowed a porcupine at a game park in South Africa in 2015.

The photo of a snake with a bulging stomach was shared on Facebook on October

Fact Check • 27th October 2022

Video shows Pakistani writer criticising activists, not Pakistan PM's niece over dead journalist tweet

False posts viewed hundreds of thousands of times have shared a video they claim shows a Pakistani soap opera writer criticising politician Maryam Nawaz -- niece of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif -- after she tweeted a controversial remark about a Pakistani journalist who was shot dead by police in Kenya in 2022. However, the video shows a speech that the writer Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar gave in 2020 where he spoke against a female academic and women's rights activists.

The video was shared here on

Fact Check • 25th October 2022

Video shows anti-terror drill at German airport, not 'attack on Chinese citizens in New York'

Video shows anti-terror drill at German airport, not 'attack on Chinese citizens in New York'

False posts viewed tens of thousands of times have shared a video they claim shows the Chinese victims of a mass shooting at a train station in the US city of New York. However, the video actually shows an anti-terror drill conducted by German police at the Cologne Bonn airport in 2018.

The 30-second video -- viewed more than 29,000 times -- was shared here on Twitter on October 20, 2022.

It appears

Fact Check • 20th October 2022

Documentary on Pakistani PM's alleged corruption is produced independently, not by Netflix

Documentary on Pakistani PM's alleged corruption is produced independently, not by Netflix

Misleading posts viewed hundreds of thousands of times claim that a documentary on alleged corruption by Pakistan's prime minister is an "upcoming Netflix series", but a producer for the film told AFP it is independently produced. A Netflix spokesperson also said the company has not been involved in production.

The video was shared here on Twitter on October 17, 2022, and has been viewed more than 300,00