Skip to main content

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

Dieses Video zeigt aktuelle Demonstrationen in Barcelona.

Publisher’s rating: Das Video zeigt eine Auseinandersetzung zwischen der katalanischen Polizei und Demonstrierenden in Barcelona im Oktober 2019 und ist damit nicht aktuell.

The claim concerns a video presented on social media as current footage from demonstrations in Barcelona. The investigation traced the video’s circulation and location, and concluded that it shows a confrontation between demonstrators and Catalan police in Barcelona in October 2019, rather than current demonstrations. The review reports that a reverse-image search found the video had first appeared on YouTube on 26 October 2019, captioned “Katalanen drängen Bereitschaftspolizei zurück.” [S1] To check where it was filmed, the review examined the lettering visible on police vehicles: “d'esquadra.” A search identified “Mossos d'esquadra” as the Catalan police. The investigators then searched for Barcelona footage from 10–28 October 2019 and found a similar dark video apparently recorded on the same night, as well as videos of the same protests. A French news site’s live blog included an image labeled “Via Laietana”; comparison with Google Street View, including the street sign and bus stop, confirmed the filming location as Via Laietana. [S1] The video’s age matters because footage of Barcelona protests was later recirculated in other contexts. The review notes that the video was also shared in connection with demonstrations after rapper Pablo Hasél’s arrest in 2021. That later reuse does not make the footage current: the review’s publication history and location checks place this video in Barcelona in October 2019. [S1]

dpa Deutsche Presse-AgenturPolitics & government

Der frühere deutsche Reichskanzlers Otto von Bismarck soll die Trennung der Ukraine von Russland gefordert haben.

Publisher’s rating: Es gibt keine Belege dafür, dass Bismarck sich so geäußert hat. Die Otto-von-Bismarck-Stiftung geht davon aus, dass das Zitat nicht von ihm stammt.

The claim concerns a quote attributed to former German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, circulated in connection with Russia’s attack on Ukraine. It says that weakening Russia required separating Ukraine from it and setting Ukraine against Russia. The review reports that it found no evidence Bismarck made this statement: searches for the complete wording, parts of it and Bismarck’s name produced no supporting source, while the Otto von Bismarck Foundation’s quotation collection contained neither the quote nor similar statements about Russia and Ukraine. The review also sought expert assessment from Ulrich Lappenküper, a history professor and managing director of the Otto von Bismarck Foundation in Friedrichsruh. In a response to dpa dated 16 March 2022, he said he saw no indications that Bismarck had made the statement. He also judged its wording inconsistent with Bismarck’s linguistic style, making it unlikely to be his. The review notes that the quote had circulated online for some time and that, although reporting had questioned its authenticity, it found no evidence substantiating the attribution. As historical context, the review points out that Ukraine did not exist as a nation-state during Bismarck’s lifetime. It distinguishes Ukrainian independence movements within the Russian Empire from the later development of a Ukrainian nation-state: the review says that state developed as part of the Soviet Union and formed the basis of today’s Ukraine. This context does not itself establish who first produced the quote, but it underscores the distinction between historical aspirations and the later state invoked in the attributed statement.

dpa Deutsche Presse-AgenturPolitics & government

Nach einer Entscheidung vom 16. März 2022 will Polen die EU verlassen.

Publisher’s rating: Falsch. Polen hat im März 2022 nicht entschieden, die EU zu verlassen.

The claim concerned a Facebook post published in early March 2022 that said Poland would leave the EU and predicted a decision on 16 March. The linked article was about a discussion event on EU–Poland relations scheduled for that day—not, the review reports, an announced Polish government decision. The review says no Polish official or politician took part in that discussion. [S1]

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: altered picture being shared as dmk minister nehru sat on the sofa not in floor

Publisher’s rating: ALTERED

The claim concerns two versions of a photograph showing Tamil Nadu minister K. N. Nehru before Bangaru Adigalar: one depicts Nehru seated on the floor, while another appears to show him sitting on a sofa. The review says social-media posts labelled the floor-seated image “fake” and the sofa version “original.” It identifies a Facebook post by Karthick Dhandapani dated March 13, 2022, and says others were sharing the same picture.

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: this owaisi met mohan bhagwat picture is fake one

Publisher’s rating: ALTERED

The review examined a social-media image presented as showing Asaduddin Owaisi seated beside RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat. It says the post was shared by a Facebook page called “The Muslim Media” on March 13, 2022, amid claims that Owaisi had helped the BJP by splitting Muslim votes in Uttar Pradesh. The review describes the image as being circulated to support that political narrative. To check the image, the reviewers used reverse-image search. They found a photograph matching the scene in which Bhagwat was seated with Mulayam Singh Yadav, rather than Owaisi. The review says that photograph was edited by inserting Owaisi’s image; it notes that papers in Yadav’s hand remain visible in the version being circulated. It also reports that the underlying Bhagwat–Yadav photograph was taken at an event at Vice President Venkaiah Naidu’s residence and had been discussed during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. The review separately cropped Owaisi from the disputed composite and searched for that image. It reports finding the image in coverage concerning Owaisi’s home and traces it to a 2017 meeting between Owaisi and the British High Commissioner to India. Taken together, those image-search findings support the review’s conclusion that the circulated picture combines images from separate sources rather than documenting Owaisi seated with Bhagwat.

FACTLYPolitics & government

Video of Yogi Adityanath making Asaduddin Owaisi silent and making him sit when he interrupted his speech in Parliament

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The video was presented as showing Yogi Adityanath silencing Asaduddin Owaisi and making him sit after Owaisi interrupted Adityanath in Parliament. FACTLY reports that the footage came from a Lok Sabha session on 13 August 2014, but that the viral clip edited together two separate moments from that session. [S1: “The video shared in the post is an edited one. This video was created by editing two different instances from the same Lok Sabha session held on 13 August 2014.”] FACTLY says its reverse-image searches of screenshots traced the footage to that session, and that it compared the clip with a video of the Lok Sabha discussion published on the BJP’s official YouTube channel. At 10:24 in that recording, Adityanath told a female opposition politician to sit down while she interrupted his speech. Owaisi’s interruption occurred later, at 13:24. [S1: “On reverse image search of the screenshots in the video, it is found that the video shows visuals from the Lok Sabha session held on 13 August 2014.”] [S1: “At 10:24 minute of the video, when a female politician from the opposition party was interrupting his speech, the then Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath demanded her to sit down calling her allegations baseless.”] [S1: “At 13:24 minutes of the same video, we can see AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi interrupting Yogi Adityanath’s speech”] The sequence in the unedited recording does not show Adityanath ordering Owaisi to sit. FACTLY reports that the Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker, M. Thambidurai, asked Owaisi to sit at 14:02, after which Owaisi sat down. The viral edit therefore joins Adityanath’s exchange with a different politician to Owaisi’s later exchange, creating the impression that Adityanath made Owaisi sit. [S1: “At 14:02 minutes of the video, when Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Dr. M Thambidurai asked Owaisi to sit down, Owaisi sat down in his seat.”] [S1: “The video shared in the post was created by editing two different instances of the Lok Sabha session held on 13 August 2014.”]

Vishvas NewsPolitics & government

सोशल मीडिया च्या विविध प्लॅटफॉर्म वर एक न्यूज चॅनेल ची ब्रेकिंग प्लेट व्हायरल होत आहे. ह्यात युपी च्या मुख्यमंत्री योगी आदित्यनाथ ह्यांचे चित्र वापरून दावा करण्यात येत आहे कि त्यांनी म्हंटले, आता फ्री राशन मिळणार नाही.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE