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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Politics & government fact checks

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

12,740 published reviews in this topic

dpaPolitics & government

Die Bundesregierung ist zurückgetreten.

Publisher’s rating: Da ist eine Falschmeldung. Die Bundesregierung ist nicht zurückgetreten. Alle Minister und der Kanzler sind weiter im Amt.

The dpa review examined a viral video claiming that Germany’s governing coalition, then made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP, had officially resigned. The clip showed images of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Finance Minister Christian Lindner, while a voice said the coalition had decided to step down. The review reported that the TikTok version had 1.2 million views and that a shorter version was also circulating on Instagram. To check the supposed announcement, the review traced a news ticker displayed in the longer video to the Münchner Merkur’s live ticker from December 4 and 5, 2023. It found that the ticker covered the government’s budget crisis, but reported that it contained no announcement of a resignation. The review also searched other major news outlets, naming Der Spiegel, Die Welt and Tagesschau, and found no reports that the coalition had resigned; it found opposition calls for resignations instead. The video itself also undercut the claim. At the start, its voice presented a resignation as officially established; later, after discussing an assessment by the Federal Audit Office mentioned in the ticker, the speaker speculated that this might be a reason for the coalition to resign. The review described that later remark as a wish or opinion, not an official declaration. It further reported that Scholz and other cabinet ministers continued to appear publicly in office after the video was uploaded on December 5, 2023. Taken together, the cited ticker, media search, the video’s own wording and the ministers’ subsequent public activity do not support the claim that the federal government had resigned.

dpaPolitics & government

Menigte scandeert 'fuck Joe Biden' .

Publisher’s rating: De audio van de beelden werd bewerkt. In werkelijkheid zongen en dansten supporters mee met een populair dancelied tijdens een American footballwedstrijd.

The claim concerns a video that appears to show a crowd in a sports stadium chanting “Fuck Joe Biden.” The investigation says the slogan was not audible in the real event: the circulated clip had been edited, and supporters were actually singing and dancing along to a popular dance track. The article identifies that track as “Tsunami,” an EDM song by DVBBS and Gorgeous. [S1] To check the footage, the article points to an archived version of the original video on X and says the unaltered audio can be found there. It reports that the original sound reveals the crowd singing along to the song, rather than chanting the political slogan. This comparison of the shared clip with the original footage is the central evidence described in the investigation. [S1] The article also identifies the setting through banners visible in the crowd, which showed the website armynavygame.com. It says the footage came from the Army–Navy American football game at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts on December 9, 2023. That event-specific identification links the original video to the setting shown in the clip and supports the conclusion that the apparent chant resulted from altered audio. [S1]

youturnPolitics & government

நேற்று பார்லிமெண்ட்டில் நுழைந்து அசாம்பவிதம் செய்த மைசூர் மனோரஞ்சன் ஒரு இடதுசாரி மாணவர். இது அவர் மா கம்யூனிஸ்ட் கட்சியின் மாணவ அமைப்பான SFI கூட்டத்தில் பேசிய காட்சி…

Publisher’s rating: false

Factcrescendo Sri LankaPolitics & government

General Shavendra Silva and his wife travelled on a private jet, spending public money during a time of economic crisis in Sri Lanka !!

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The claim concerns a specific trip by General Shavendra Silva and his wife, which social media posts presented as private-jet travel paid for with Sri Lankan public funds during the economic crisis. The review says the image did show Silva and his wife travelling on a special jet, but disputes the claim about who paid for the journey. [S1: “Social media posts allege that General Shavendra Silva and his wife travelled on a private jet, spending public money during a time of economic crisis in Sri Lanka.”; “While the social media posts correctly identified General Shavendra Silva’s travel on a special jet”] According to the review, Silva travelled from Dehradun to Delhi to attend the Indian Military Academy’s passing-out ceremony as its chief guest. Sources close to Sri Lanka’s Defence Ministry said the Indian Air Force provided the jet and that the Sri Lankan government did not fund the trip. Silva gave the same account when contacted by the review. [S1: “The sources clarified that the Sri Lankan government did not fund this trip.”; “General Shavendra Silva attended the passing out ceremony of the Indian Military Academy as the chief guest. The Indian Air Force provided the jet for this purpose.”; “General Shavendra Silva stated that it was the Indian Air Force that arranged the private jet journey from Dehradun to Delhi and back as he was the Chief Guest of the passing out parade.”] The review also reports corroboration for the event and the travel explanation: an Indian Military Academy statement supported Silva’s attendance as chief guest, and a post from the Additional Directorate of the Indian Army confirmed his attendance. It cites Daily Mirror reporting that the Indian Air Force arranged the transport under its protocol for VIPs attending the parade. On the evidence described, the jet travel itself is not disputed, but the allegation that Sri Lankan public money paid for it is contradicted by the accounts presented. [S1: “A statement from the Indian Military Academy supports the claim that General Shavendra Silva attended the passing-out ceremony as the chief guest.”; “A tweet from the Additional Directorate of the Indian Army related to public affairs confirms General Shavendra Silva’s attendance at the event.”; “the ‘Indian Air Force, in accordance with standard protocol for VIPs, facilitated General Silva with a jet for his travel to participate in the Passing Out Parade.’”]

SBT NewsPolitics & government

Governo viaja com 1300 pessoas e faz turismo com dinheiro público

Publisher’s rating: ENGANOSO

The review examined a post by federal deputy Kim Kataguiri that used a headline reporting 1,337 Brazilian COP28 registrants to suggest that the Lula government was paying for a large-scale trip with public money. The event was the UN climate conference in Dubai, held from November 30 to December 12. The review’s central distinction is between everyone counted as part of Brazil’s delegation and the smaller group whose costs were covered by the federal government. [S1] The article’s account says the delegation included people from outside the federal administration, including representatives of other branches of government, state and municipal officials, private organizations, and civil society.

FACTLYPolitics & government

Telangana CM Revanth Reddy announced that he would auction of temple lands to raise funds for the Muslim Declaration and other Muslim welfare schemes in the state

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The allegation concerned viral screenshots attributed to NTV and Way2News. They purported to report that Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy would sell or auction temple land to raise money for Muslim welfare, including the Congress party’s Muslim Declaration. The review says the screenshots made this claim, but concludes that Reddy did not announce such a plan. (S1: “A screenshot of a news bulletin purportedly broadcast by NTV is being shared on social media claiming that Revanth Reddy, the newly appointed Chief Minister of Telangana, announced his intention to sell temple lands for the welfare of Muslims in the state.”; “A few users shared a screenshot of a Way2News report claiming the same that Revanth Reddy is going to auction temple lands to raise funds for the Muslim declaration of the Congress party.”; “Revanth Reddy did not make any such announcement regarding raising funds for Muslim welfare schemes by auctioning temple lands.”) The investigation describes checking for reports confirming the announcement and searching NTV’s official YouTube channel for the purported broadcast. It says neither search yielded confirmation. The review also reports that NTV Digital Manager Chilukuri Srinivas Rao said the screenshot attributed to NTV was fake, while Way2News said the circulating item using its logo had not been published by the outlet. These checks address the provenance of both screenshots as well as whether the alleged announcement was reported. (S1: “When we searched to check whether Revanth Reddy had made any such announcement about raising funds for Muslim declaration or any other Muslim welfare schemes by auctioning temple lands, we could not find any news report confirming this. Also, we could not find any such news broadcast on the official YouTube of the NTV.”; “NTV Digital Manager Chilukuri Srinivas Rao through a tweet confirmed that the viral screenshot attributed to the NTV news channel is fake”) The review reproduces Way2News’s clarification, which explicitly disavows the viral report. It also notes that Congress leaders petitioned cybercrime police over a fabricated television screenshot. Taken together, the outlet clarifications and the reported searches support the finding that the screenshots do not substantiate the claim that Reddy announced an auction of temple lands for Muslim welfare. (S1: “This is not a #Way2News story. Some miscreants are spreading misinformation using our logo and the 'attached post' has gone viral. We confirm that this has not been published by us.”; “A team of Congress leaders also submitted a petition to the Cyber Crime police urging the authorities to take action against the persons, who had morphed, fabricated, and made a television screenshot purportedly showing Revanth Reddy making comments that could promote enmity among the religions.”)

FACTLYPolitics & government

Video depicting Mohan Yadav, the recently appointed Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, warning Muslims about making anti-national slogans

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The post identified the person in a video warning that people who raised slogans such as “Pakistan Zindabad” on Indian soil would face consequences as Mohan Yadav, newly sworn in as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister. FACTLY’s investigation says the video instead shows Rameshwar Sharma, a BJP MLA representing Bhopal’s Huzur constituency. It concludes that the video was wrongly linked to Yadav and that the statements were Sharma’s. (S1: “In the video, the individual can be heard saying that anyone raising slogans like ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ on Indian soil will face severe consequences and be dealt with firmly.”; “The person featured in the video is identified as Rameshwar Sharma, the BJP MLA representing the Bhopal Huzur assembly constituency.”) The review describes how it checked the attribution: a Google search using relevant keywords led to news reports identifying Sharma and connecting his remarks to allegations about anti-national slogans in Ujjain. It also says it compared images of Sharma and Yadav, and reports that the comparison showed the speaker was Sharma, not Yadav. The supplied text does not name the news reports or provide details of the image-comparison process, so it does not allow those steps to be assessed further. (S1: “A Google search using pertinent keywords yielded news articles connected to the viral video.”; “A comparison of images between Rameshwar Sharma and Mohan Yadav makes it clear that the individual making these statements against Muslims in the video is BJP MLA Rameshwar Sharma, not the newly elected chief minister.”) The review places Sharma’s remarks in the context of an August 2021 Muharram procession in Ujjain. It reports that organizers later released a video in which people could be heard shouting “Qazi Sahab zindabad,” while police released a 10-minute clip of the same event in which the review says both that slogan and “Pakistan zindabad” could be heard. It further says police booked 16 people on sedition charges in connection with the incident, and describes Sharma’s remarks as a reaction to it. This chronology supports the review’s distinction between the 2021 video and Yadav’s appointment as chief minister in December 2023. (S1: “In August 2021, reports surfaced that during the Muharram procession in Ujjain, ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans were raised by miscreants.”; “Following this the Ujjain police then released a 10-minute clip of the same event in which people can be heard shouting ‘Pakistan zindabad’ and ‘Qazi Sahab zindabad’.”; “Rameshwar Sharma’s controversial remarks in the viral video are a reaction to the aforementioned incident.”)