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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.

12,751 published reviews in this topic

dpaPolitics & government

Mark Rutte, Hugo de Jonge, Wopke Hoekstra, Carola Schouten en Kajsa Ollongren hebben geen eed afgelegd.

Publisher’s rating: De desbetreffende ministers zijn technisch gezien nooit ontslagen geweest, want de koning heeft hun ontslag nooit aanvaard. Daarom was er voor hen geen nood om de eed of belofte opnieuw te doen. Ministers kunnen ook niet vervolgd worden voor het overtreden van de eed. Ze kunnen wel vervolgd worden voor ambtsdelicten.

The claim concerns Mark Rutte, Hugo de Jonge, Wopke Hoekstra, Carola Schouten and Kajsa Ollongren, who did not take an oath again at the swearing-in of cabinet Rutte IV on 10 January 2022. The review says the video circulated at a gathering showed some ministers not repeating the oath, and that speakers there argued the previous cabinet’s resignation meant their earlier oaths no longer counted. The fact-check distinguishes not taking a new oath from never having sworn one: “Mark Rutte, Wopke Hoekstra, Carola Schouten, Kajsa Ollongren en Hugo de Jonge legden deze eed niet af. Aangezien zij minister in de vorige regering waren, hoefden ze hun eed niet te hernieuwen.” (S1) The explanation turns on whether these ministers had actually ceased to hold office. Wim Voermans, a professor of constitutional and administrative law at Leiden University, told dpa that a minister remains in office until dismissed. The review reports that the king did not immediately accept the cabinet’s offered resignation, but held it under consideration; at the new cabinet’s swearing-in, he did not accept the resignations of the ministers who continued under Rutte IV. Thus, the five were still ministers and had no need to renew their oaths. The review contrasts their situation with Sigrid Kaag, whose earlier resignation had been accepted and who was replaced. (S1) The review also provides the prior-oath history: Hoekstra, Schouten, Ollongren and De Jonge had taken an oath or affirmation when cabinet Rutte III was sworn in in 2017; Rutte had done so in 2010 and had remained prime minister continuously. It further explains that taking an oath is not what legally establishes someone as a minister: Voermans said appointment and dismissal are determined by signed royal decrees. Finally, the claim’s suggestion that not repeating an oath shielded the ministers from prosecution is not supported. The review says ministers cannot be prosecuted for violating the oath itself, but can be prosecuted for official offences under the relevant 1855 law. (S1)

Vishvas NewsPolitics & government

एका रॅली चे चित्र सोशल मीडिया वर व्हायरल होत आहे, ज्यात खूप गर्दी दिसते. यूजर्स हा फोटो आता इम्रान खान च्या समर्थानात आताच झालेल्या रॅली चे असल्याचा लोकं दावा करत आहे.

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The viral photograph was shared as showing a recent rally in support of Imran Khan. Vishvas News investigated that specific image and concluded it was not from a recent rally: it showed a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally held in April 2018. The review says the image was circulated with a false claim about its timing. To trace the photograph, the review says it used Google reverse-image search. It found the image on PTI Lahore’s official Facebook page, where it was identified as a rally at Minar-e-Pakistan on 30 April 2018, and on Imran Khan’s official Facebook page, where it had been posted on 29 April 2018. The review also reports finding the photograph in a Tribune.com story about a PTI rally in April 2018. As an additional check, Vishvas News contacted 24 News HD reporter Mohammad Qamran. The review reports that he said the picture was not current and dated from 2018. Taken together, the review’s described image-search results, dated posts and reporter’s comment support its conclusion that the viral photograph was from the earlier PTI rally, not the claimed recent event.

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaPolitics & government

“දැන් ඇති !! ඉල්ලා අස්වෙන්න ”, රත්තරන්ටත් ආණ්ඩුව එපා වෙයි? (VIDEO)

Publisher’s rating: Missing Context

The review investigates social-media posts presenting a video of former minister Rohitha Abeygunawardhana as a recent call for the government to resign. The posts also suggested that the president and prime minister were at odds. The review reports that it traced the footage to a press conference in May 2019, shortly after the Easter attacks, when Abeygunawardhana was criticizing the government then in power—not making the alleged recent statement about the government of 2022. [S1: “රෝහිත අබේගුණවර්ධන හිටපු අමාත්‍යවරයා, 2019 වසරේ දී එවකට පැවති යහපාලන ආණ්ඩුව විවේචනය කල අවස්ථාවක වීඩියෝවක් වර්තමාන ආණ්ඩුව විවේචනය කරන අවස්ථාවක් ලෙස සමාජ ජාල හරහා පැතිරෙනවා.”; “2019 වසරේ මැයි මාසයේ , එනම් පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරය සිදුවී සති කිහිපයකට පසුව”] According to the review, the original 2019 remarks called on then-prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his government to resign and hold a general election, in response to disorder in the country. The circulating version had removed the portion identifying the political parties in the original footage, making the old remarks appear to refer to current leaders and circumstances. This editing is the key context that changes how the clip appears to support the posts’ claim. [S1: “රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ හිටපු අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයාට සහ ඔහුගේ රජයට රට තුල පැන නැගුණු අරාජික තත්ත්වය නිසා, ඉල්ලා අස්වී මහ මැතිවරණයක් පවත්වා, ජනතාවට කැමති පාලක පිරිසක් තෝරා ගැනීමට අවස්ථාව සලසා දෙන ලෙසයි.”; “2019 වසරේ පළවී තිබු මුල් වීඩියෝවේ දේශපාලන පක්ෂ පිලිබඳ සඳහන් වන කොටස ඉවත්කර”] The review also distinguishes the old clip from a separate, more recent parliamentary speech. It says Abeygunawardhana spoke on April 19 about responsibility across parliament, the need for political change, and constitutional ways forward; the review says it did not find him making the specific claim that the current president and prime minister were divided and the government should resign. Its conclusion is therefore about the misleading presentation of the 2019 video, not a denial that he discussed political change in the later speech. [S1: “අප්‍රේල් 19 වන දින) පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ පැවැත්වූ කතාවක්”; “වත්මන් අගමැතිවරයා සහ ජනාධිපතිවරයා අතර කිසිදු සමගියක් නැති බවත්, ඔවුන් මාවත් දෙකක ගමන් ගන්නා බවත්, එම නිසා ආණ්ඩුව ඉල්ලා අස්විය යුතුයි යනුවෙන් රෝහිත අබේගුණවර්ධන පවසන ආකරයක් අපට මෑතක දී දැකගන්නට ලැබුනේ නැහැ.”]

FACTLYPolitics & government

Recent picture of slums covered up during UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s visit to Gujarat

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns a specific photograph said to show slums screened by curtains during UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s visit to Gujarat. The review’s central distinction is between the photo’s actual occasion and a similar arrangement reported during Johnson’s visit: it says the image was taken in March 2021, when Narendra Modi visited the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, while similar white curtains were arranged along roads from Ahmedabad to Sabarmati during Johnson’s later visit. The existence of similar curtains at the later event does not establish that this particular photo was taken then. (S1) To investigate the image’s origin, the review reports conducting a reverse image search. It says that search found the same photo in an Ahmedabad Mirror tweet dated 12 March 2021. The tweet’s description identified Parikshit Nagar slum residents looking from behind covers blocking their view of the route to Sabarmati Ashram, and said Modi was expected to begin the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence Day celebrations. Ahmedabad Mirror credited the image to journalist Asik Banerjee. This earlier publication and event description support the review’s conclusion that the circulated photo predates Johnson’s Gujarat visit. (S1) The review therefore separates two facts that can be conflated by the post: a photograph from Modi’s 2021 visit and reports of similar curtains during Johnson’s visit. Its conclusion is that the image is old, not that no slums were screened during Johnson’s visit. It also notes that slums had been hidden with walls during former U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2020 visit to India, a separate episode from the photograph at issue. (S1)