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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.

5,848 published reviews in this topic

BBC Reality CheckWar & conflict

Photo of attack by Tigray forces on Bahir Dar in the Amhara region

Publisher’s rating: The photo being used is actually of an explosion in China's port city of Tianjin in 2015 at a warehouse containing hazardous chemicals.

The claim concerns a photo circulated as evidence of an attack by Tigray forces on Bahir Dar, in Ethiopia’s Amhara region. The BBC’s review says the same photo was also used to claim an attack on Asmara, Eritrea’s capital. Its central correction is that the image does not depict either claimed attack: it shows an explosion in Tianjin, China, in 2015, at a warehouse containing hazardous chemicals. The review places the photo among misleading images shared during the escalating Ethiopia conflict, including images from other places and from before the conflict. This matters because a genuine photograph of an explosion can still mislead when it is given a false location, date, or event description. Here, the mismatch is specific: the image’s documented setting is Tianjin in 2015, not Bahir Dar during the conflict. The excerpt does not describe the BBC’s precise verification method for this particular photo or provide the original image’s photographer or publication. It therefore supports the correction about the image’s subject and provenance as stated by the review, but does not provide further details about how that identification was established.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturWar & conflict

Nach dem Terroranschlag am 2. November 2020 in Wien trafen aus vielen Teilen der Welt Solidaritätsbekundungen ein. Zahlreiche Staats- und Regierungschefs sprachen Österreich ihr Mitgefühl aus und auch die eine oder andere Sehenswürdigkeit erstrahlte aus Solidarität in den Farben Österreichs: rot-weiß-rot. Auch der Pariser Eiffelturm, behaupten einige Facebook-User (hier archiviert).

Publisher’s rating: Das ist falsch. Der Eiffelturm erstrahlte nach dem Anschlag in Wien nicht in Rot-Weiß-Rot.

The claim concerned a photo shared on Facebook as showing the Eiffel Tower lit in Austria’s red-white-red colors in solidarity after the Vienna attack of 2 November 2020. The review reports that a spokesperson for Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz confirmed on Twitter on 3 November that the image was fake. It also cites the Austrian ambassador in France, who said the Eiffel Tower company had confirmed that the tower had not been illuminated in those colors that day. The French embassy in Vienna separately told Austria’s APA news agency on 4 November that the image was an old photograph, not one from the previous day. The review describes two further checks of the image and its timing. A reverse-image search produced no other matches, so the image’s origin could not be established that way. The review also compared the Facebook photo with webcam images: parts of the tower’s upper section were covered at the relevant time, but that covering was not visible in the circulating photo. These details support the review’s conclusion that the image did not depict the tower as it appeared after the attack. The review notes that the picture had been posted by the “Paris France Official” social-media page with a message describing it as solidarity with the victims. It says the image might instead date from 2016, when, according to the review, social-media users could get the tower lit in their country’s colors during the European Football Championship by generating sufficient engagement. That possible earlier origin is not established: the review says the image’s source remains unclear.

APA - Austria Presse AgenturWar & conflict

Bild- und Videomaterial von bewaffneter Person in Gasse wurde im Zuge des Terroranschlags in Wien aufgenommen.

Publisher’s rating: Die Aufnahme stammt aus Wien und zeigt den Attentäter.

The claim concerns footage of an armed person in an alley, said to have been recorded during the Vienna terror attack. The APA review says it assessed viral videos associated with the attack, and for this particular clip reports that it could be verified as originating in Vienna. It explains that information about where shots were fired—near Schwedenplatz or in Seitenstettengasse—helped establish the video’s location. [S1: “Zu überprüfende Information: Bild- und Videomaterial von bewaffneter Person in Gasse wurde im Zuge des Terroranschlags in Wien aufgenommen.”; “Mit der Information, dass die Schüsse in der Nähe des Schwedenplatzes bzw. in der Seitenstettengasse gefallen sind, konnte das Video schnell verifiziert werden.”] The review describes three location clues: a yellow sign, a green sign, and the pattern of the street paving. It says these features provided decisive indications for checking the video. The conclusion in the review’s assessment is that the recording is from Vienna and depicts the attacker. [S1: “Vor allem drei Merkmale liefern entscheidende Hinweise: ein gelbes Schild, ein grünes Schild und das Muster des Straßenpflasters.”; “Einschätzung: Die Aufnahme stammt aus Wien und zeigt den Attentäter.”] The article also distinguishes this clip from other viral material it discusses: some videos concerned different events or locations, including a purported arrest that it identifies as Barcelona, while other videos were separately assessed as scenes in Vienna. Those separate assessments do not change which footage the alley-video claim concerns. [S1: “Zu überprüfende Information: Video zeigt Festnahme des Attentäters durch Wiener Polizei. Einschätzung: Das ist falsch. Das Video stammt aus Barcelona.”; “Zu überprüfende Information: Ein Video zeigt Szenen am Schwedenplatz zur Zeit des Anschlags. Einschätzung: Das ist richtig.”]