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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.

6,853 published reviews in this topic

Pagella PoliticaCrime & justice

«Gli episodi di femminicidio sono triplicati durante il lockdown, raggiungendo l’inquietante media di uno ogni due giorni» (min. 6:40)

Publisher’s rating: Pinocchio andante

The claim concerns Giuseppe Conte’s remarks at a November 24 videoconference event in the Italian Senate, held ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. At minute 6:40, he said that femicides had tripled during lockdown, reaching an average of one every two days. The review distinguishes the two months of Italy’s full national lockdown from a longer period used in Interior Ministry figures: it compared killings in March and April 2020 with those same months in 2019, then examined a separate Ministry interval running from March 9 to June 3, 2020. For March and April, the review reports 12 women killed in 2020, compared with 24 in the same months of 2019. It says the 2020 average was about one killing every five days, not one every two days. The review also notes that these 12 deaths were 44 percent of the 27 homicides recorded in those two months; only one of the 12 was outside a family or intimate-partner setting. These figures do not support a tripling in the period of full national closure. The one-every-two-days figure appears to come from the Interior Ministry’s “Dossier Viminale,” which counted 44 women killed in family or intimate-partner settings over its March 9–June 3 lockdown interval. The review says that interval lasted 87 days and was about a month longer than the actual national lockdown. It estimates 60 such killings across the other 278 days in the dossier’s August 2019–July 2020 year, or about one every 4.6 days. Comparing those averages suggests a substantial increase, but not a tripling, and the review calls the comparison arbitrary because it uses different periods and lacks a matching figure for the same 2019 interval.

Vishvas NewsCrime & justice

కేరళకు చెందిన మహిళా పోలీసులు.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim attached to a viral photograph said the women in it were Kerala police. Vishvas News investigated that specific image and concluded that the women were students, not police officers. It reported that the photograph was taken in 2017 at an Arabic college in Kasaragod district, Kerala. (S1: “ఫోటోలో కనిపిస్తున్న వాళ్లు విద్యార్థినులు, మహిళా పోలీసులు కాదు. ఈ ఫోటోను కేరళలోని కాసర్‌గోడ్ జిల్లాలో ఉన్న ఒక అరబిక్ కళాశాలలో 2017 లో తీశారు.”) To trace the image, the review says it used Google’s reverse-image search and found the same photograph in a 2017 news report. That report identified the group as students pictured with the then Kasaragod district police chief, K. G. Simon. The review then contacted Simon, who confirmed the photograph was taken in 2017 when he attended an event at an educational institution in Kasaragod. (S1: “విశ్వాస్ న్యూస్ గూగుల్ రివర్స్ ఇమేజ్ టూల్ ఉపయోగించి ఈ ఫోటోను శోధించింది. అక్టోబర్ 24, 2017 న ది న్యూ ఇండియన్ ఎక్స్‌ప్రెస్‌లో ప్రచురించబడిన వచ్చిన వార్తా కథనంలో మేము అదే ఫోటోను కనుగొన్నాము.”; “కాసర్‌గోడ్‌లోని ఒక విద్యా సంస్థలో నిర్వహించిన కార్యక్రమానికి తాను అతిథిగా వెళ్లినప్పుడు, 2017లో ఈ ఫోటో తీశారని ఆయన ధృవీకరించారు.”) The review also reports that the students took part in a self-defence workshop called Nirbhaya, organised by local police. In that account, a police officer’s presence in the photograph is explained by the event and does not establish that the women themselves were police officers. The review’s conclusion is that the photograph shows students, not Kerala women police. (S1: “స్థానిక పోలీసులు ఏర్పాటు చేసిన ‘నిర్భయ’ అనే ఆత్మరక్షణ వర్క్‌షాప్‌లో విద్యార్థినులు పాల్గొన్నారు.”; “చిత్రంలో కనిపించే మహిళలు విద్యార్థినులు, పోలీసులు కాదు” అని ఆయన అన్నారు.)

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaCrime & justice

උඩුගම්පොළ පලාත් මාර්ග සංවර්ධන අදිකාරි කාර්යාලයේදී කාන්තාවකට පහරදීම සිදුකර තිබුනේ ප්‍රසන්න රණතුංග ඇමතිගේ දේශපාලන මැරයෙක් ද? Udugampola engineer who attacked his coworker was not affiliated to Minister Prasanna Ranatunga

Publisher’s rating: False

ComprovaCrime & justice

Boulos alugava quartos em prédios abandonados no centro de São Paulo

Publisher’s rating: FALSO: Postagem no Facebook faz referência ao edifício Wilton Paes de Almeida, que desabou em 2018 após um incêndio causado por um curto-circuito, mas o imóvel era ocupado pelo Movimento Luta por Moradia Digna (MLMD), que não tem ligação com o Movimento dos Trabalhadores sem Teto (MTST), do qual Boulos era coordenador

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaCrime & justice

නෙළුම් පොකුණ වටරවුමේ නන්දා මෝටර්ස් ආයතනයට අලාභහානි සිදුකරමින් බලපත්‍රයක් රහිතව රිය පදවා තිබුනේ මෙම තරුණියද?

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The claim concerns the woman pictured in social-media posts said to show the unlicensed driver who crashed into a vehicle showroom near Nelum Pokuna. The review says the crash occurred on the afternoon of November 15 and that the posts linked the pictured woman to allegations that a senior police officer’s daughter had driven the vehicle. The investigation concluded that the identification in those posts was wrong: the woman pictured was not the driver. The review describes comparing images reported from the crash with photographs on Cindy Wickramanayake’s Facebook account, and says videos circulated with the allegations came from her TikTok account. It also reports that Wickramanayake said she had travelled in a vehicle ahead of the one involved in the crash and went over to check on her friends after the collision. The review identifies the driver as 19-year-old Reshani Melisha Ratnayake, and says the police media division confirmed both that she was driving and that she was not the woman shown in the circulating photographs. Thus, the material distinction is between the person depicted in the posts and the person identified as the driver. The review reports that the driver faced proceedings for reckless driving and driving without a licence; it does not identify the woman in the circulated images as the person responsible for the crash.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturCrime & justice

Gegner der Corona-Maßnahmen behaupten immer wieder, die Pandemie sei nur inszeniert. Im Internet kursiert nun ein Video (hier archiviert), das als Beleg für diese These geteilt wird. Darin sieht man einen Covid-Patienten, der beatmet werden muss und von medizinischem Personal in Schutzanzügen behandelt wird. Das Ende des Clips macht auf den ersten Blick jedoch stutzig: Im Hintergrund taucht für einen kurzen Moment ein Mann gänzlich ohne Schutzausrüstung auf. Ist die Szene also gestellt?

Publisher’s rating: Der Ausschnitt zeigt echte Covid-Patienten in einem Krankenhaus. Er stammt aus einer Kurzreportage des italienischen Fernsehsenders Rai 1.

The clip was not a staged scene made to look like hospital treatment. The review traces it to a short report broadcast on Rai 1’s programme «La vita in diretta» on 16 November 2020. That report showed a room for sub-intensive treatment at Amedeo di Savoia Hospital in Turin during the pandemic. The apparent anomaly—the man in the background without protective equipment—was a second patient, not an unprotected member of staff. The report mentions two patients with Covid-19 in the room: one in light clothing and one in darker clothing in the background. The latter remains visible at several points, although the report does not discuss him in detail. The review says his presence was therefore not an accidental appearance. The staff’s protective clothing and the patients’ lack of it are consistent with the scene as described: the reporter and medical personnel wore protective suits and masks, while the patients were already infected. The staff were treating the other patient, introduced as 68-year-old Signore Luciano. He initially wore a breathing mask; during treatment, staff fitted him with a helmet for non-invasive ventilation. The report also displayed warnings about limited intensive-care capacity and pressure on emergency care in Piedmont.

FACTLYCrime & justice

Video of French police assaulting Muslims for not wearing the Mask and spitting on other passengers

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The post presented a metro video as showing French police assaulting Muslims for not wearing masks and spitting on passengers. FACTLY’s review says the incident shown took place in Bucharest, Romania, not France. It identifies the people arrested as violent football supporters and says Romanian police arrested them on charges of assaulting officers managing a crowd at a football match. The review describes how it checked the video: investigators used reverse image searches on screenshots and compared footage of the “Stefan cel Mare” metro station with Bucharest metro imagery. It reports that the train visuals matched Bucharest’s metro trains, and that Romanian news coverage and officials’ social-media posts concerned the same incident. The reported arrests involved supporters who had assaulted police; the review also says police seized illegal weapons from them. The post’s religious and mask-related framing is not supported by the account of the incident in the review. FACTLY says there was no information about the arrested supporters’ religion, and concludes that the video showed neither French police nor an attack on Muslims for not wearing masks.

Vishvas NewsCrime & justice

అలీగర్‌లో తేజ్‌వీర్ ప్రజాపతి 3 ఏళ్ల బాలికపై అత్యాచారం చేసి హత్య చేశాడు.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a social-media video said to show a three-year-old girl in Aligarh who had been raped and killed by Tejveer Prajapati. Vishvas News reports that its investigation found the allegation false: the girl shown in the video died from injuries sustained in a road accident, and there was no rape. The article identifies the circulated post as one shared by Facebook user Ankit Ambedkar on November 7, 2020, and reproduces the allegation attributed to that post. (S1: “కొద్దిరోజులుగా ఒక వీడియో సోషల్ మీడియాలో వైరల్ అవుతోంది. చనిపోయిన అమ్మాయిని ఇందులో చూడవచ్చు. అలీగర్‌లో ఈ అమ్మాయిని అత్యాచారం చేసి హత్య చేశారంటూ పోస్ట్‌లో వైరల్ చేస్తున్నారు.”; “సోషల్ మీడియాలో షేర్ చేస్తున్న వీడియోలో ఉన్న బాలిక రోడ్డు ప్రమాదంలో మరణించింది. బాలికపై అత్యాచారం జరిగిందన్న ప్రచారం పూర్తిగా అబద్ధం.”) To investigate, Vishvas News says it uploaded the video to InVID and searched keywords and video keyframes using Google reverse image search. The article reports that Aligarh Police had publicly addressed the video: police said the girl died in a road accident within the jurisdiction of Akrabad police station, that a case had been registered, and that no rape had taken place. (S1: “మేము ఈ వీడియోను దర్యాప్తు కోసం ఇన్‌విడ్‌ టూల్‌లో అప్‌లోడ్‌ చేశాము. మరియు కీవర్డ్‌లతోనూ, గూగుల్ రివర్స్ ఇమేజ్ సెర్చ్‌లో కీఫ్రేమ్‌లతోనూ శోధించాము.”; “ఈ కేసులో, రోడ్డు ప్రమాదంలో గాయాల కారణంగా బాలిక మరణించింది, దీనికి సంబంధించి అక్రబాద్ పోలీస్ స్టేషన్లో కేసు నమోదైంది, అవసరమైన చట్టపరమైన చర్యలు తీసుకుంటున్నారు. అత్యాచారం వంటి సంఘటన జరగలేదు.”) The article also reports two additional checks against the rape allegation: a video statement from the girl’s mother saying her daughter died in a road accident, and confirmation from Aligarh Crime Branch SP Arvind Kumar that the rape claim was false. These accounts support the distinction central to the review: the girl’s death was real, but the circulating account of rape and murder was not supported by the evidence described. (S1: “వీడియోలో, బాలిక తల్లి తన కుమార్తె రోడ్డుప్రమాదం కారణంగా మరణించిందని చెప్పడం వినవచ్చు.”; “‘ఈ విషయంలో ఇప్పటికే ఒక వివరణ జారీ చేయబడింది. బాలిక రోడ్డు ప్రమాదంలో మరణించింది. ఆమెపై అత్యాచారం చేశాడనే వాదన అబద్ధం.”)

Deutsche Presse-AgenturCrime & justice

In sozialen Medien und in Chatgruppen verbreiten sich kontroverse Twittermitteilungen, die angeblich von der Berliner Polizei stammen. In dem kursierenden Screenshot eines Tweets heißt es (hier archiviert): «Wir haben nun einen Schussbefehl von der Bundesregierung erhalten und diesen Zeitnah umsetzen, falls sich die Demonstranten nicht zurückziehen. #b1811» (sic!) In einem zweiten Tweet-Screenshot heißt es (hier archiviert): «In Absprache mit dem Gesundheitsminister werden heute neben Wasserwerfern Typ 1 auch neue Wasserwerfer (Typ 2) eingesetzt, deren Einsatzmittel eine Mischung aus Tetrabenzoldihydrochlorid (auch als Chemtrails bekannt) und neuartigen RNA-Impfstoffen enthalten.» Der Account mit dem Namen «@PolizeiBerlin_E» trägt einen blauen Verifizierungshaken.

Publisher’s rating: Die Tweets sind gefälscht. Das teilte die Berliner Polizei mit. Tweets lassen sich über den Quellcode relativ leicht manipulieren.

The investigation examined two screenshots circulating as posts from the account @PolizeiBerlin_E: one purported to announce a government order to shoot demonstrators, and the other claimed that water cannons would use a mixture involving “Chemtrails” and RNA vaccines. The setting was the Berlin protest on November 18, 2020, against government coronavirus policy, near the Bundestag and Brandenburg Gate. The source reports that several thousand people protested and that police used water cannons. [S1: “In Sichtweite des Bundestages am Brandenburger Tor haben nach Polizeiangaben am 18. November mehrere Tausend Gegner der staatlichen Corona-Politik protestiert”] The decisive evidence was a statement from Berlin police on its verified account: it said both circulating messages were fake and not tweets from its account. The source also compared the timestamp shown on the purported shooting-order tweet—1:07 p.m. on November 18—with the police account’s actual post at that time. That post said former assembly participants were gathering at a police cordon and were being told to leave; it did not announce a shooting order. The investigation says this real post apparently served as the basis for the fake. [S1: “Auf ihrem verifizierten Account teilte die Polizei Berlin mit, dass beide Tweets nicht echt sind”] [S1: “Zu diesem Zeitpunkt twitterte die Polizei jedoch: «An unserer Absperrung in der Yitzhak-Rabin-Straße sammeln sich ehemalige Versammlungsteilnehmende, statt den Ort zu verlassen. Wir fordern sie mit Durchsagen zum sofortigen Gehen auf. #b1811»”] The source further explains why a blue verification mark in a screenshot does not establish that the displayed text is authentic: it says tweet content can be manipulated through source code, allowing words to be attributed to even verified accounts. It advises skepticism toward screenshots containing unusual or scandalous claims. The excerpt does not describe a separate technical examination of either screenshot; its account of the police denial and the comparison with the contemporaneous police post are the specific checks it reports. [S1: “Tweets lassen sich über den Quellcode relativ leicht manipulieren. So kann man selbst Accounts, die verifiziert wurden, jegliche Äußerung in den Mund legen.”]

YouturnCrime & justice

ட்ரம்பின் ஆட்சிகாலத்தில் கறுப்பின அமெரிக்கர் ஒருவர் வெள்ளையின அமெரிக்க போலீசாரால் கழுத்து நெரித்து பகிரங்கமாக கொலை செய்யப்பட்டமை அமெரிக்கா மட்டுமன்றி முழு உலகிலும் பெரும் அதிர்வலைகளை உண்டாக்கியது. குறித்த இறந்த கறுப்பின நபரின் மகளான அச்சிறுமி முன் மண்டியிட்டு மன்னிப்பு கோரும் அமெரிக்க புதிய அதிபர். மன்னிப்பதை விட, மன்னிப்பு கேட்பதே மிகப் பெரிய விடயம் எனவே பராட்டவேண்டியவர்தான்.

Publisher’s rating: Fake