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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Crime & justice fact checks

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

6,849 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYCrime & justice

Video of two brave girls resisting eve-teasing from three Muslim goons

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

FACTLY examined a social-media post presenting a video as footage of two girls resisting harassment by three Muslim men at a bus stand. The review describes the video as showing one girl using an acid spray against three men while they harass another girl. Its conclusion is that the clip was staged, not a recording of the claimed incident, and that the asserted connection to the Muslim community was unfounded. To investigate, FACTLY reports conducting a reverse image search of screenshots from the video. That search led to a similar video on the Facebook page ‘Lobo 619,’ which the review says had published it on 29 February 2020 under the title “This was unexpected.” The review also points to a disclaimer visible at the end of the clip. It identifies the footage as “reel life” and says it was made to educate the public, with the characters serving entertainment and educational purposes. The review places the video among awareness content: it says similar videos with different concepts appeared on the same Facebook page, and identifies Lobo as Hyderabad-based comedy artist Mohammad Khayyum. Taken together, the matching visuals, the end-card disclaimer and the described awareness-video context support the review’s conclusion that the clip was scripted. They do not support presenting it as a genuine incident involving Muslim men.

YouturnCrime & justice

மதுரையிலிருந்து திருப்பூர் நோக்கிச்சென்ற அரசுப்பேருந்தை திமுகவினர் சென்ற சொகுசுகார் முந்திச்செல்ல முயன்ற போது வழி கிடைக்காத ஆத்திரத்தில் அரசு பேருந்து ஓட்டுநரின் கையை வெட்டி திமுகவினர் அராஜகம்.

Publisher’s rating: Fake

dpaCrime & justice

Die Polizei sucht aktuell nach einem achtjährigen vermissten Mädchen und bittet die Öffentlichkeit um Hilfe.

Publisher’s rating: Der Inhalt des Postings ist veraltet. Die verschwundene Achtjährige aus Berlin ist bereits am 12. Oktober wieder aufgetaucht. Zuständig war das Polizeipräsidium Oberpfalz. Die bayerische Polizei sucht derzeit nicht im Rahmen einer Öffentlichkeitsfahndung nach einer verschwundenen Achtjährigen.

The claim presents the search as current, but the post and video it refers to concerned the disappearance of eight-year-old Julia during a family hike on Cerchov in the Czech Republic. The Oberpfalz police began searching for her on October 10, and the Facebook post later repeated the headline “ZWEITE NACHT VERSCHWUNDEN: Verzweifelte Suche nach der kleinen Julia.” The original review reports that Julia was found alive on October 12; police withdrew the public search notice that same day and asked for her images and personal data to be deleted. That chronology makes the post outdated: it refers to an earlier search, not an ongoing appeal for help. The review also says that, as of its stated check on November 17, Bavarian police were not conducting a public search for a missing eight-year-old. The claim therefore misrepresents old material as current. The post came from “Polizeipresse - Fahndungen,” which the review says was not an official police Facebook channel. The page lacked the verification mark and an imprint and linked to a nonexistent website. Those details do not change the confirmed outcome of Julia’s search, but they are relevant to whether the post itself should be treated as an official current police appeal.

dpaCrime & justice

Video zeigt Einsatz der Sondereinheit WEGA wegen einer 2G-Kontrolle in Wien.

Publisher’s rating: Die Sondereinheit WEGA wurde nicht zur 2G-Kontrolle in das Lokal bestellt, sondern aufgrund eines Einsatzes der Fremdenpolizei. Bei dieser Gelegenheit wurde anschließend auch die Einhaltung der 2G-Regeln kontrolliert, jedoch nicht von der WEGA.

The video circulated on Facebook was presented as showing Vienna’s WEGA special unit carrying out a 2G check at a local venue. The review examined that specific claim, distinguishing the reason for the unit’s presence from a separate check that took place during the same operation. The Wiener Polizei told dpa and APA that WEGA went to the venue on Friday, November 12, 2021, because of an arrest operation—not to check compliance with 2G rules. The stated concern was that people in the venue might not have lawful residence in Austria. The review reports that police said a 2G check did happen, but only spontaneously after the main operation. WEGA was no longer involved: a Wiener Bereitschaftseinheit carried out that check. Thus, the video’s association with a 2G check does not establish that WEGA was deployed for that purpose or performed the check. The venue’s precise location was clarified in the reporting. Police initially declined to name it; although early media reports placed it in Vienna’s 20th district, AFP’s research identified a venue at Mexikoplatz in the 2nd district, and police confirmed the operation took place in Leopoldstadt. The review also reports that Vienna police described the video as showing WEGA executing an arrest warrant. These details support the distinction between the arrest operation shown and the later 2G check.

dpaCrime & justice

Lors des procès de Nuremberg, même les médias ont été poursuivis et mis à mort pour avoir menti au public.

Publisher’s rating: Cela n'a pas du tout été le cas. À l'issue du principal procès des criminels de guerre nazis, qui s'est tenu à Nuremberg (Allemagne) en 1945 et 1946, un seul journaliste - reconnu comme tel - a été condamné à mort et exécuté par pendaison : Julius Streicher. Lors des 12 procès qui ont suivi, il n'y en a eu aucun autre.

The claim concerns the Nuremberg trials and says that media were prosecuted and put to death for lying to the public. The review distinguishes the main trial, held in Nuremberg in 1945 and 1946, from the 12 subsequent trials. It reports that Julius Streicher was the only person identified as a journalist who was sentenced to death and hanged in the main trial; it found no other journalist executed in the later trials. The review also notes that the executions across all 13 trials were for crimes against humanity, rather than establishing the claim that journalists were executed for lying to the public. The evidence does not support treating Streicher’s execution as a punishment for journalism or for lying. The review describes him as the director of the antisemitic Nazi publication Der Stürmer and cites a historian who said Streicher was sentenced as a notorious antisemite and co-responsible for the genocide of Jews. It further reports that proceedings against Nazi press organizations were not completed and that some people received prison sentences, but not capital punishment. The review also addresses two other figures connected to Nazi media. Hans Fritsche, a radio-propaganda official who was tried at Nuremberg, was not sentenced to death. Alfred Rosenberg had edited a Nazi party newspaper, but the cited historian said Rosenberg was executed chiefly for his role as a Nazi ideologue and in occupied Russia, not as a journalist. These distinctions matter: the evidence documents individuals with media roles among those tried, but not a general prosecution or execution of media for lying to the public.

dpaCrime & justice

Pfizer-CEO Albert Bourla wurde vom FBI festgenommen und wegen betrugs angeklagt.

Publisher’s rating: Die angebliche Verhaftung von Bourla lässt sich nicht belegen. Am selben Tag seiner vermeintlichen Festnahmen trat der CEO von Pfizer in mehreren Live-Sendungen auf.

The claim concerned Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla: a Facebook post said he had been arrested in New York and charged with fraud. The report traced the claim to an article by the online outlet Conservative Beaver, which relied on statements attributed to an unnamed FBI agent. The account did not identify the agent or clarify that person’s role in the alleged arrest. The review found no images or video documenting Bourla’s arrest and no other reporting about the supposed event. It also checked two inmate-search resources—the Federal Bureau of Prisons and Westchester Inmate Lookup, relevant because the alleged arrest location was Scarsdale in Westchester County—and found no Bourla record. These checks did not support the arrest claim. The most direct contradiction was Bourla’s documented public appearances on November 5, 2021, the day of the alleged arrest. The review says he appeared on CNN at about 7:30 a.m., on CNBC between 6 and 9 a.m., and on Bloomberg Markets: The Close shortly after 2 p.m. It also reports that Pfizer confirmed to French news channel LCI on November 6 that the arrest story was false; a Pfizer spokesperson gave the same response to PolitiFact.

dpaCrime & justice

Klaus Schwab is opgepakt door Zwitserse politie.

Publisher’s rating: Dit verhaal is onwaar. Klaus Schwab is niet recentelijk gearresteerd door de politie.

The claim concerned a social-media screenshot alleging that Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, had been arrested at his home in Switzerland, supposedly on information from contacts at Europol. The review says the post prompted questions about why mainstream media were not reporting the arrest. Its account identifies a similar earlier claim on the website Conservative Beaver, which alleged Schwab had been charged with fraud and arrested at Europol’s request. The review reports that a spokesperson for Schwab and the World Economic Forum told dpa the story had no basis. An Europol spokesperson separately confirmed to dpa that the story was untrue and that Europol had not requested Schwab’s arrest. These direct responses address both the alleged arrest and the purported Europol involvement. The review also states that, as of 15 November 2021, Schwab was not in prison. It concludes that media organizations were not withholding news of an arrest; according to the evidence reported, there had been no arrest to report.