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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

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaPolitics & government

විපක්ෂනායක සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස මහතාගේ නිවසේ ඡායාරූපයක් ද?

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The review investigates a social-media photo presented as the home of opposition leader Sajith Premadasa. Posts accompanying it described a supposed “small” home with 13 rooms and 14 bathrooms, and claimed a monthly electricity bill of 400,000 rupees. The investigation focused on whether the building in that specific image was his residence; it did not independently verify those claims about rooms, bathrooms or electricity costs. Fact Crescendo reports that a reverse-image search found the same photo on Tripadvisor, where a visitor to Crescat Apartments had uploaded it in 2018. The review then compared the building and its surroundings with other images, including a 2019 photo taken from the apartment complex and Google Street View imagery from 2015. It reports that these comparisons showed the building was the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM), in Colombo 03—not the residence asserted in the post. The review says SLITHM told it that four tourism-related institutions were housed in the building, that it did not provide accommodation to students or the public, and that about six staff members stayed there. It also reports that a secretary to Premadasa’s office said he lived in a home in the Royal Park residential complex. The publisher expressly limited its conclusion to the identity of the building shown in the circulated photograph, noting it could not independently verify whether Premadasa had other homes or the post’s claims about the home’s features and bills.

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: dmk mp senthilkumar not made this comment about k n nehru

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a social-media news card attributed to Thanthi TV. It purported to quote DMK MP Senthilkumar saying K. N. Nehru should resign after Nehru was seen sitting on the ground during a meeting with Bangaru Adigalar. The review says the card circulated amid criticism of Nehru for sitting on the ground: “அமைச்சர் தரையில் அமர்ந்தது பற்றி விமர்சித்து வருகின்றனர்.” It describes the card’s alleged quote as “கே.என்.நேரு பதவி விலக வேண்டும்” and says it was presented as a comment by Senthilkumar. The investigation checked the card’s appearance against Thanthi TV’s usual news cards and reviewed the outlet’s published cards. It reported that the design and Tamil font differed from Thanthi TV’s usual style, and that no card about Senthilkumar’s alleged statement appeared in the outlet’s review. The review also says a Thanthi TV digital official confirmed that the outlet had not published the card and that it was fake: “அந்த நியூஸ் கார்டு நாங்கள் வெளியிட்டது இல்லை. போலியானது என்று உறுதி செய்தனர்.” The review further examined a Twitter post by Senthilkumar dated March 13, 2022. It says the post did not name Nehru or call for his resignation: “அதில் எந்த இடத்திலும் கே.என்.நேரு பெயரை குறிப்பிடவில்லை. அவர் பதவி விலக வேண்டும் என்று குறிப்பிடவும் இல்லை.” The post instead referred to self-respect and religious visits in general, according to the text reproduced in the review. On that basis, the investigation concluded that the circulating card was not authentic and did not establish that Senthilkumar made the claimed statement.

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaPolitics & government

‘කලු මාමා’ ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණට උදවුකරන බවට පැවසුවාද?

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The claim concerned a social-media post attributing a political statement to Wilson Kodituwakku, known as “Kalu Mama,” the caretaker of the elephant Nedungamuwa Raja. The post said Kodituwakku wanted to help the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and referred to its leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake becoming president. The review identifies the claim as having circulated after Raja’s death. [S1: “විල්සන් කොඩිතුවක්කු නොහොත් ‘කලු මාමා’ නැදුන්ගමුවේ රාජාව බලාකියා ගත් හස්ථිපාලකවරයා වේ.”] [S1: “මම ජේ.වී.පී එකට උදවු කරන්න ආසයි.”] The review says it examined statements Kodituwakku made to media after Raja died, including videos of his remarks and a video attributed to the Temple of the Tooth’s media division. It reports that those materials did not contain the alleged political statement. The only specific remark from the reviewed videos highlighted in the article was that he did not intend to continue the job of caring for elephants. [S1: “නැදුන්ගමුවේ රාජාගේ වියෝවෙන් පසු කළු මාමා සඳහන් කළ ප්‍රකාශයන් දැක්වෙන වීඩියෝ මෙතනින්, මෙතනින් සහ මෙතනින්.”] [S1: “ආයෙ මේ රස්සාව කරන්න හිතනේනෙ නෑ”] The article also reports that the Temple of the Tooth’s media division told the investigators Kodituwakku had not made the attributed statement. Its conclusion is that the social-media post’s claim that he wanted to support the JVP, alongside the related statement about Dissanayake becoming president, was false. [S1: “ඔවුන්ද පවසා සිටියේ එවන් ප්‍රකාශයක් නැදුන්ගමුවේ රාජාගේ හස්ථිපාලකවරයා වන ‘කලු මාමා’ විසින් සිදු නොකළ බවයි.”] [S1: “සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ඔස්සේ සංසරණය වූ සටහන් වල දැක්වෙන ප්‍රකාශයන් අසත්‍ය වේ.”]

Vishvas NewsPolitics & government

അതിൽ പറയുന്നു:” പ്രശ്നത്തിൽ ഇടപെടരുതെന്നും അല്ലാത്തപക്ഷം ഗുരുതരമായ പ്രത്യാഘാതങ്ങൾ നേരിടേണ്ടിവരുമെന്നും പുട്ച്ചിൻ ഇന്ത്യക്ക് മുന്നറിയിപ്പുനല്കിയിട്ടുണ്ട്.”

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

dpaPolitics & government

Vladimir Poutine a écrit une lettre aux citoyens du monde.

Publisher’s rating: Cette lettre, qui a été reprise de nombreuses fois sur les réseaux sociaux, n'a pas été écrite par le président russe Vladimir Poutine. Il s'agit en fait d'un texte rédigé par un blogueur. Ce dernier explique dès le début de sa lettre qu'il souhaite proposer un autre point de vue que celui qu'on peut voir dans les médias sur Vladimir Poutine.

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaPolitics & government

දොළවත්ත සහ විදුර වික්‍රමනායක ගැන තීරණයක් ගත යුතු බවට ඇමති කංචන පැවසුවාද?

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerns a report attributed to Fisheries State Minister Kanchana Wijesekera that Dolawatta and Vidura Wickramanayaka should face an inquiry after attending a political event. The review says the allegation appeared in a Dinamina newspaper article dated 5 March 2022 and was shared on Facebook by Vidura Wickramanayaka. It attributes to that article a claim that Wijesekara called for an investigation at a party press conference on 4 March.

dpaPolitics & government

Oekraïense vrouw vraagt waarom ze moeten evacueren. Soldaat zegt: Wees gewoon blij dat we je niet neerschieten.

Publisher’s rating: De video wordt verkeerd vertaald en zo met een onjuist verhaal gedeeld. De vrouw vraagt in werkelijkheid het tegenovergestelde, namelijk: "komt er geen evacuatie?". De soldaat antwoordt dat ze komen waarschuwen zodat er niet op de mensen wordt geschoten terwijl ze vluchten. De scène speelde zich af in de Oekraïense stad Marioepol, waar meermaals de humanitaire corridor – waardoor burgers konden vluchten – niet werd gerespecteerd. De vluchtroute werd daardoor een gevaar voor de vluchtelingen.

The post’s Dutch caption says the woman asks why people have to evacuate and that the soldier replies, “Just be glad we’re not shooting you.” The investigation examined that video and translated the exchange. It reports that the woman instead asks, “So there’s no evacuation?” The soldier replies that they came to warn people so they would not be shot while fleeing, then asks whether she can hear what is happening. The source says the soldier does not threaten to shoot her. The investigation identifies the scene as Mariupol. It describes the image as blurry but says the name “Mariupol” can be made out in an orange box in the corner. It also compares another version of the video shared in Russian-language posts, where the text in the orange banner is clearer and identifies the footage as from 5 March. The source reports that the exchange was translated by Deutsche Presse-Agentur; it also notes that the NOS broadcast the fragment on 5 March with Dutch subtitles, rendering the soldier’s final question as “don’t you hear what’s going on?” The source places the conversation amid attempts to arrange a civilian evacuation corridor from Mariupol. It says evacuation was postponed after the rules were violated on 5 and 6 March, and reports that the city administration said Russian forces continued bombing despite the agreed ceasefire. That context helps explain the warning about people being shot while fleeing, but does not support the caption’s claim that the soldier threatened to shoot the woman.

Vera FilesPolitics & government

Ferdinand Marcos Sr. did not steal from the Filipino people

Publisher’s rating: False

Research from related reporting—not the original Vera Files review—directly bears on the claim about Ferdinand Marcos Sr. The CNN report describes the history invoked by a later Philippine flood-control corruption scandal and states that Marcos Sr. ruled from 1965 until his ouster in 1986. It says his regime “engaged in widespread corruption, stealing an estimated $10 billion from public coffers.” That account contradicts the claim that Marcos Sr. did not steal from the Filipino people. The excerpt offers an estimate and a broad characterization of the regime, but it does not identify the underlying records, calculations, or investigations supporting the $10 billion figure. The supplied related reporting therefore supports the claim’s contradiction, but does not provide enough detail to independently assess how that estimate was derived.

FACTLYPolitics & government

Video report showing Yogi Adityanath’s complaint that his calls were not answered by government officials

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

FACTLY examined a circulating video presented as showing Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath complaining that government officials were not answering his calls. Its review found that the clip was old and had been cut from a longer recording, changing whose calls were at issue. The longer video was uploaded by R9 News on 26 September 2020, and FACTLY says the viral version uses a 12-second excerpt beginning at 1:13.