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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

War & conflict fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about war & conflict. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

5,840 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYWar & conflict

Aerial view of nuclear attack on Earth

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerned a video presented on social media as footage of a real nuclear attack on Earth, recorded from space. FACTLY’s review examined that specific viral clip and concluded that it was not footage of a real incident. The review identifies the visuals as a scene from the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. [S1: “A purported video of a nuclear attack on earth recorded from space is being shared on social media as a real incident.”; “Fact: Visuals show a clip from the video game ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’, and not a real incident.”] To check the clip, the review says it searched online using relevant keywords and found an extended version of the video on YouTube. According to the review, that version was uploaded on 1 April 2020; its title and description identified the scene as from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. [S1: “We searched the internet with relevant keywords and found that the extended version of the video was uploaded on YouTube on 01 April 2020.”; “As per the title and description, this scene is from a video game called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 initially released in 2009 and Campaign Remastered in 2020.”] The review further points to the viral segment appearing at about 1:07 in the longer YouTube video. That provenance supports its conclusion that the shared visuals came from game footage, rather than documenting a real nuclear attack. [S1: “Viral clip can be from 1:07 minutes in the YouTube video.”; “To sum it up, a clip from a video game is shared as real incident of nuclear attack on earth.”]

FACTLYWar & conflict

Video of physical scuffle between Indian and Chinese soldiers at the LAC near Tawang sector in December 2022.

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim is that a video of Indian and Chinese soldiers fighting at the Line of Actual Control near Tawang shows the December 2022 clash. FACTLY says it checked the circulating footage by searching for similar video using relevant keywords, then comparing the footage with an earlier YouTube upload. The review reports that the YouTube video was posted on 23 June 2020 and its title and description identified the footage as a brawl during a border dispute in May 2020. FACTLY says the two videos match, so the footage predates the Tawang incident. For the timing of the claimed event, the review cites Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement that the Tawang face-off occurred on 09 December 2022. His account describes a physical scuffle after PLA troops tried to transgress the LAC in the Yangtse area. This chronology makes the 2020 video inconsistent with the claim that it depicts the 2022 clash. FACTLY qualifies its conclusion: it says it could not independently verify the exact time and location of the incident shown in the viral video. Its finding is that the video was already online in 2020 and is not related to the recent Tawang clash—not that it independently established where or when the earlier footage was filmed.

Folha de S.PauloWar & conflict

Vídeo de homens fardados e helicóptero militar circula no Kwai com legenda afirmando que há tropas chilenas e bolivianas nas fronteiras com o Brasil, e que haveria “estado de alerta” na Venezuela e na Colômbia.

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The review examines a Kwai post showing men in military uniforms walking toward a helicopter. Its caption asserted that Chilean and Bolivian forces had been identified at Brazil’s borders and that an alert extended to Venezuela and Colombia. The review says the post’s wording was imprecise; comments suggested a more specific implication that neighboring armies were preparing to invade Brazil. The post had more than 127,000 views by December 9, according to the article. [The source quotes the caption and describes the comments and view count.]

FACTLYWar & conflict

Visuals of Israeli forces assaulting an unarmed girl and such videos are never reported in the western media

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The review examined a social-media post that presented footage of an unarmed girl being beaten by armed, uniformed men as a recent assault by Israeli forces, and asserted that Western mainstream media had not reported the visuals. It traced the footage to an incident in Jerusalem in February 2022, rather than a recent event. The account says Palestinians gathered at Damascus Gate on 28 February to mark al-Israa wa al-Miraj, and that police dispersed the crowd with stun grenades and water cannons amid alleged stone- and bottle-throwing. To identify the clip, the investigators searched for the incident, found an Al-Jazeera English video report containing footage from the viral video, and followed the clip’s credited source, Baraah Abo Ramouz, in further searches. They report finding the same video in February and March 2022 news reports and social-media posts, as well as on Abo Ramouz’s Facebook page. The review identifies Iman Kiswani as a 15-year-old Palestinian arrested that day and says the video was from the incident; it also reports that an 11-year-old girl was injured by a stun grenade and hospitalized. These are distinct details in the account, not a basis to conflate the two girls. The assertion that the incident went unreported is contradicted by the review’s finding that the footage and incident were covered by media, including the Associated Press. The review therefore treats the post as misleading because it presents old footage as recent and says the incident was not reported, despite the video’s identified 2022 setting and reported coverage.