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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.

12,741 published reviews in this topic

dpaPolitics & government

Le chef de l'UE déclare que les personnes qui refusent les cartes d'identité numériques du WEF seront exclues de la société.

Publisher’s rating: Non, cette allégation provient d'un site web bien connu pour fabriquer et répandre de fausses informations. Dans ce cas-ci, les propos d'Ursula von der Leyen sur la transition numérique et l'intelligence artificielle ont été déformés.

The allegation concerned remarks by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the G20 summit in India in early September 2023. Viral posts claimed she said that citizens who refused the World Economic Forum’s digital identity project would be excluded from society. The review traced the rumour to a September 11 article on The People’s Voice, but reports that the claim appeared only in that article’s headline and introduction, without supporting argument in its body. The article pointed to a post von der Leyen published on X on September 10. According to the review, she wrote that “the future is digital,” but did not refer to the WEF in that post. The review also examined her address at the G20’s “One Future” session: it says she discussed Europe’s vision for digital transition, called for regulation of artificial intelligence, and encouraged interoperable, open and trusted digital public infrastructure. The European Covid certificate was cited in the speech as an example. The decisive point is that the review found no statement in the post or speech about excluding people, or imposing consequences on those who declined to use digital infrastructure. It distinguishes those remarks from debate over the EU’s proposed digital identity wallet: critics raised privacy and data-security concerns and sought assurances that use would remain voluntary. The review says the WEF connection and the alleged threat were unsupported by tangible evidence.

Projeto ComprovaPolitics & government

Lula recebe homenagem em prédio em Nova York

Publisher’s rating: Postagem engana ao sugerir que a projeção da frase "The world needs Lula" (o mundo precisa de Lula, em tradução livre) no Chrysler Building, em Nova York, seja atual. Na verdade, a projeção foi feita em outubro de 2022, antes do segundo turno das eleições para presidente no Brasil, por um grupo de ativistas brasileiros, norte-americanos e ingleses.

FACTLYPolitics & government

A video shows a Canadian official declaring a ban on RSS in Canada

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The video concerns a press conference held amid Canada–India diplomatic tensions and revelations about the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The claim under review says a Canadian official appears in the video announcing that Canada has banned the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The review distinguishes an announcement of an existing government decision from a call for the government to take action: it reports that the speaker advocated a ban, but did not declare one. The review identifies the speaker as Stephen Brown, CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), and describes the NCCM as an independent, non-governmental organisation—not a government department. It says the press conference was organised by the NCCM and the World Sikh Organization of Canada. Brown called for a ban on the RSS and made three other demands in light of the Nijjar assassination revelations; that advocacy is the context omitted when the clip is presented as a government announcement. To check the clip, the reviewers searched for the NCCM reference heard in Brown’s speech, which led them to the organisation’s YouTube channel and a longer version of the same speech. They also searched the Canadian Ministry of External Affairs website for an official announcement and reported finding no credible information about a ban there, and no news reports backing the claim. The evidence described therefore supports the distinction at the heart of the claim: the footage shows an organisation’s CEO calling for a ban, not a Canadian official declaring that one had been imposed.

Factcrescendo Sri LankaPolitics & government

එක්සත් ජාතින්ගේ මහා මණ්ඩලයේ දී ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා සැසිය අමතන අවස්ථාවක් ද?

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerned a social-media photograph presented as showing Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe addressing the UN General Assembly, with the nearly empty hall supposedly illustrating that attendees had left rather than listen. The review distinguishes that image from the separate question of how many people attended Wickremesinghe’s actual speech: it reports that he delivered his address at the UN headquarters in New York on September 21, 2023, and says the circulated photograph shows someone else. To identify the image, the review says it examined the person shown and then ran a reverse-image search. It reports that the photograph was taken during German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s address to the Assembly’s 78th session, and identifies photographer Michael Kappeler. The review also says the photograph appeared on DW’s website and in German news reports, and notes that Scholz spoke on September 19. These details link the circulated image to a different speaker and occasion, not to Wickremesinghe’s address. The review separately checked material from Wickremesinghe’s own speech. It reports that the UN’s YouTube channel had a full video of his address, although the review did not find a shot of the audience in that video. It then points to photographs posted by Sri Lanka’s President’s Media Division, including a view from the rear of the hall. The review describes some vacant seats in those images, but says a considerable number of people were listening. It also notes that the preceding and following leaders’ addresses were not held in fully occupied halls either; that context does not make Scholz’s photograph an image of Wickremesinghe.

FACTLYPolitics & government

The cobbler and potter seen with Narendra Modi in both these photographs is the same individual.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns two photographs showing Narendra Modi with a cobbler and with potters, and alleges that the same individual appears in both. FACTLY places the photographs at the inauguration of the Yashobhoomi Convention Centre in New Delhi on 17 September 2023, where Modi interacted with craftsmen. Its account says the photographs came from that event and that the people pictured were two different individuals. To check the identification, FACTLY reports conducting reverse image searches on the photographs and locating video of the inauguration published on ANI News’s YouTube channel. The review says the video shows Modi meeting both a potter and a cobbler. It then compares the man seated at the Prime Minister’s extreme right in the potter interaction with the cobbler who appears earlier in the video, and reports that observing them shows they are not the same person. FACTLY therefore concludes that the two photographs feature distinct individuals, rather than one person shown in two occupations.