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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

FACTLYPolitics & government

Video of a politician revealing the failure of PM Ujjwal Yojana scheme in Uttar Pradesh

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns a video said to show a politician describing the failure of the PM Ujjwal Yojana scheme in Uttar Pradesh. The review says the video depicts a family cooking with wood rather than gas, while the politician criticizes gas-cylinder prices. It identifies the speaker as Anupama Rawat, former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat’s daughter and an All India Mahila Congress general secretary—not a politician discussing a scene in Uttar Pradesh. To check where the footage came from, the review reports using reverse image searches of screenshots from the circulating video. It says those searches found a video with similar visuals on Anupama Rawat’s Facebook page. The review further reports that she shared it on 30 January 2022, accusing the government of raising the price of a gas cylinder to 1,000 rupees. The review places the footage in Ranimajra village, in the Haridwar Rural constituency in Uttarakhand. It says Rawat was conducting a door-to-door campaign there on 30 January 2022 and that the video was shot during that campaign. Thus, the footage relates to Uttarakhand, not the Uttar Pradesh setting asserted in the claim.

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: fake news card being shared that seeman asked the sub caste of rahul gandhi

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

Fact Crescendo investigated a social-media card bearing the News 7 Tamil logo that attributed a question about Rahul Gandhi’s caste or sub-caste to Seeman, the chief coordinator of Naam Tamilar Katchi. The review says a reader sent the card to its WhatsApp chatbot asking whether it was true, and that the reviewers also saw people sharing and discussing it on Facebook. The review places the rumor amid attention to Rahul Gandhi’s remarks about Tamil Nadu and Tamil people. It reports that Gandhi spoke in the Lok Sabha during discussion of a motion thanking the President for her address on 2 February 2022, and that he later described himself as Tamil when responding to media questions. The card then purported to show Seeman asking which caste or sub-caste Gandhi belonged to. The decisive evidence described in the excerpt is News 7 Tamil’s denial: Fact Crescendo says the outlet had already rejected the card as fake. The review concludes that the claim was false. The excerpt does not provide the outlet’s denial itself or describe a separate technical examination of the card, so the basis visible here is the publisher’s reported denial, rather than a documented analysis of the image’s production or provenance.

FACTLYPolitics & government

Rahul Gandhi said that his maternal grandfather spent 15 years in jail for the cause of India

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a social-media post asserting that Rahul Gandhi said his maternal grandfather—Sonia Gandhi’s father—spent 15 years in jail for India. FACTLY checked the claim against Gandhi’s speech in the Lok Sabha, where the review says he discussed three relatives: his great-grandfather, grandmother and father. The person Gandhi associated with the 15 years in jail was his great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, not his maternal grandfather. The review describes checking the Aaj Tak video and its accompanying coverage. It reports that the video’s Hindi text used “नाना,” but says the audio has Gandhi saying “great-grandfather” in English in reference to Nehru. It also notes that the Aaj Tak article described the person as his great-grandfather. This distinction matters: the review identifies a mismatch between the news graphic and the spoken words, rather than evidence that Gandhi made the statement attributed to him in the post. As a further check, FACTLY says it consulted Lok Sabha debate documents. Its account is that those documents show Gandhi mentioning Nehru, his grandmother and his father, but not Sonia Gandhi’s father. It also points to other news reports describing the 15 years as time Nehru spent in jail for India’s cause. Taken together, the review’s account of the speech, video and debate documents supports the conclusion that the post attributed the statement to the wrong grandfather.

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: Annamalai not stated that BJP stronger than AIADMK

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a social-media card bearing Annamalai’s photograph and attributed to Thanthi TV. It said that after talks with the AIADMK, Annamalai had declared the BJP stronger and that the AIADMK would contest seats allocated by the BJP. The review reports that the card was shared on Facebook on January 30, 2022. At the time, the BJP and AIADMK were contesting separately in the urban local-body elections after seat-sharing talks failed to produce an agreement. The card therefore placed the alleged statement in the context of those negotiations and the separate contests. Fact Crescendo compared the viral image with a similar card published by Thanthi TV on January 29. The genuine card said that the BJP had asked for seats where it was strong and that a decision would be made after consulting district leaders. The review says the viral card’s Tamil font did not resemble Thanthi TV’s usual news-card font, and reports that the channel’s digital division manager confirmed the viral card was fake. A BJP Tamil Nadu media-division official also reportedly said it was fake. The review further reports that, at a press conference addressing the alliance breakdown, Annamalai had described the AIADMK as a large party and said relations between the parties would continue in the coming days. The publisher says it found no news report of Annamalai saying the BJP was larger or stronger than the AIADMK. Taken together, the comparison with the original card and the reported confirmations support the review’s conclusion that the circulated card had been edited to add the claim, rather than documenting a genuine statement by Annamalai.

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaPolitics & government

මෙරට දේශපානඥයින්ගේ නම් සඳහන් වූ වැසිකිළියක ඡායාරූපයක්?

Publisher’s rating: Satire

The review investigates a photograph shared with claims that a toilet had been opened for public use by politicians. One version attributed the opening to then-minister Johnston Fernando; an older version of the same image, circulating from 2018, credited former minister Ajith P. Perera. The review says Fernando’s media coordinator denied that the purported event took place and described the image as an edit intended to insult the minister. Perera also responded to the older claim, calling it false. The publisher reports that it could not find an unedited original photograph. It nevertheless examined the circulated image using Error Level Analysis (ELA), a technical method it describes as checking whether different parts of an image show differing error levels. The review says its analysis found different error levels in both versions, which it treats as evidence that the images had been edited. That supports the conclusion that the circulated photographs were manipulated; it does not establish what the unedited photograph originally showed. The article also supplies context that could be obscured by the captions: it reports that around 3,000 toilets were built in Ratnapura District under a sanitation and water-supply improvement project, after about 20,000 requests for toilet facilities. This is presented as broader reporting on sanitation work, not as evidence that either politician opened the particular toilet shown in the edited photograph.

Vishvas NewsPolitics & government

आता पंतप्रधान नरेंद्र मोदी ह्यांच्याबद्दल एक बातमी सोशल मीडिया वर व्हायरल होत आहे. ह्यात इंडिया टीव्ही ची ब्रेकिंग प्लेट दिसत आहे ज्यात मोदी ह्यांचे चित्र लागलेले आहे आणि त्यात लिहले आहे: मैं जाटों के घर से लस्सी मांग कर लाता था- नरेंद्र मोदी। खाली लिहले आहे: मैं 20 वर्ष से जाटलैंड में रह रहा हूं- नरेंद्र मोदी।

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: dmk minister I Periyasamy not made this announcement

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a news card circulating on social media that attributed to Tamil Nadu Cooperation Minister I. Periyasamy an announcement that gold pledged for unpaid cooperative-bank loans would soon be auctioned. The card also asserted that auction notices had already been issued in some districts on the Chief Minister’s instructions. The review says the card was shared by a Facebook account on January 29, 2022, and appeared to be presented as a publication by Junior Vikatan. [S1: “கூட்டுறவு வங்கிக்கடன் நகைகள் ஏலம். கூட்டுறவு சங்கங்களில் கடன் பெற்றுத் திருப்பிச் செலுத்தாதவர்களின் நகைகள் விரைவில் ஏலம் விடப்படும். தமிழக முதல்வரின் அறிவுறுத்தலின்படி ஏற்கனவே சில மாவட்டங்களில் ஏல அறிவிப்பு வெளியிடப்பட்டது.”; “இந்த பதிவை Sugan Appu என்ற ஃபேஸ்புக் ஐடி கொண்ட நபர் 2022 ஜனவரி 29ம் தேதி பதிவிட்டுள்ளார்.”] Fact Crescendo Tamil investigated whether Junior Vikatan had published the card and whether the alleged announcement could be found in recent reporting. It reports that it searched for such a news report but found none, then examined Junior Vikatan’s Facebook news cards from January 26, 2022. The review says it found no card featuring Periyasamy and observed differences in the Tamil font and background design compared with Junior Vikatan’s usual cards. [S1: “இது தொடர்பாக தேடிய போது நமக்கு அப்படி எந்த ஒரு செய்தியும் கிடைக்கவில்லை.”; “ஜனவரி 26, 2022 அன்று வெளியான நியூஸ் கார்டுகளை அதன் ஃபேஸ்புக் பக்கத்தில் பார்த்தோம். ஆனால் நமக்கு ஐ.பெரியசாமி படத்துடன் கூடிய எந்த நியூஸ் கார்டும் கிடைக்கவில்லை.”; “தமிழ் ஃபாண்ட், பின்னணி வடிவமைப்பில் வேறுபாட்டைக் காண முடிந்தது.”] The review also says it contacted the person responsible for Junior Vikatan’s digital division, who confirmed that the card was fake and that the publication had not issued it. On the basis of that confirmation and its comparison of the card with the publication’s cards, the review concludes that the card attributing the auction announcement to Periyasamy was fabricated. This addresses the authenticity and attribution of the specific card; the excerpt does not describe an independent examination of auction notices in individual districts. [S1: “அவரும் இந்த நியூஸ் கார்டு போலியானது. நாங்கள் இதை வெளியிடவில்லை என்று உறுதி செய்தார்.”; “இதன் அடிப்படையில் கூட்டுறவு வங்கியில் அடகு வைக்கப்பட்ட நகைகள் ஏலம் விடப்படும் என்று ஐ பெரியசாமி கூறியதாக பரவும் நியூஸ் கார்டு போலியானது என்று உறுதி செய்யப்படுகிறது.”]

dpaPolitics & government

Onze voltallige politiek en Klaus Schwab willen geen vliegvakanties, vermaak buiten de deur of restaurantbezoekjes meer.

Publisher’s rating: De afbeelding waar deze claims op gebaseerd zijn is een diagram dat inderdaad in het boek The Great Reset staat. Er worden daarentegen verkeerde conclusies aan verbonden. Het boomdiagram laat de potentiële gevolgen zien van meer tijd thuis doorbrengen. Het is niet wat Klaus Schwab wil, maar wat hij in juli 2020 verwachtte dat er zou kunnen gaan gebeuren. Het is dus geen plan om mensen hun vliegreizen of restaurantbezoekjes af te nemen en beschrijft geen doelen of wensen van Schwab.

The post attributes a list of restrictions—including no flying holidays, entertainment outside the home, or restaurant visits—to Klaus Schwab, and presents them as what “our entire political class” wants. The review traces those claims to a diagram in Schwab and Thierry Malleret’s book, The Great Reset. It explains that the diagram’s title is “Potential implications of spending more time at home,” not a list of political goals or wishes. The review says the diagram maps possible behavioral changes associated with spending more time at home: dark blue indicates behaviors that might increase, while light blue indicates those that might decrease. Its example is working from home: more home working could lead people to adapt their homes, while demand for traditional workplaces and commercial property could fall. The review therefore reads the graphic as a set of possible knock-on effects, not instructions to stop traveling or dining out. It also points to the surrounding chapter, which describes the effects of lockdowns on industries and the possible length of their recovery, and says Schwab expressed concern about the economic effects on communities. The book appeared in July 2020, so its statements about the future were forecasts, not evidence of a plan. The review concludes that the diagram does not establish that Schwab wants these activities ended; it also rejects the claim about unanimous political support.

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaPolitics & government

රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා ලෝකයේ දූෂිතම අගමැතිවරුන් අතර 05 වන ස්ථානයේ?

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The post under review claimed that former Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was among the world’s five most corrupt prime ministers. Fact Crescendo says it traced the post to January 2019 and checked whether an official ranking existed at that time. Its investigation reports finding no ranking of the world’s most corrupt prime ministers issued by a recognized international body, official news site or organization. It also says Wickremesinghe’s name was not included in the political figures identified in the Panama Papers, or in a separate list circulated online as a 2022 ranking. The review describes why that 2022 list was not reliable confirmation: the website presenting it attributed the list to a BBC survey, but the investigation says Indian websites reported that the supposed BBC list was unofficial. The review further reports that Transparency International’s website did not name Wickremesinghe among corrupt politicians. On the evidence presented, the specific claim that he held fifth place in a recognized global ranking was unsupported: the review found no such official ranking and no named list substantiating the post. This does not establish a broader judgment about his conduct; the article addresses the claimed ranking and its purported sources.

המשרוקית של גלובסPolitics & government

דינה זילבר הפגינה בעד "ממשלת השינוי" 3 חודשים לאחר פרישתה

Publisher’s rating: לא נכון

The claim, made by MK Amichai Chikli, was that former deputy attorney-general Dina Zilber appeared at a demonstration supporting the emerging Bennett–Lapid government three months after leaving office. The review identifies Zilber as the person Chikli meant and checks both the timing and whether she was actually demonstrating. It reports that she left her post in December 2020, while demonstrations near Kfar Hamaccabiah in Ramat Gan took place in June 2021—about six months later, not three. (S1: “זילבר כיהנה כמשנה ליועמ"ש למשפט ציבורי-מינהלי עד לדצמבר 2020. המגעים להקמת ממשלת בנט-לפיד התקיימו החל ממאי 2021”; “הדבר אירע כחצי שנה לאחר פרישתה מהתפקיד, ולא שלושה חודשים כפי שטען שיקלי.”) To assess whether Zilber joined the protest, the review says it found no media reports of her participation, but did find a short video posted on Twitter on June 2. The clip shows her walking near the protest; the review says it does not show her joining demonstrators or expressing support. The investigation also checked where she lived and contacted her: her home was on a nearby street, and she said she was on her way home, not attending the demonstration. (S1: “בסרטון, שעלה ב-2 ביוני, נראית זילבר הולכת ברחוב לצד אישה נוספת, בסמוך להפגנה בכפר המכביה”; “זילבר לא נראית בו חוברת למפגינים או מביעה בהם תמיכה בדרך כלשהי”; “היא מסרה לנו כי לא השתתפה בהפגנה, אלא אכן הייתה בדרכה לביתה הנמצא בקרבת מקום.”) Chikli told the review that he had accepted the claim because it had been written that Zilber came to the protest and she had not denied it. He did not provide additional sources when asked, and later acknowledged he did not know she lived nearby. The review therefore found that the video established proximity, not participation; its timing also contradicted the claimed three-month interval. (S1: “ח"כ שיקלי לא ענה לנו על השאלה לגבי המקורות לקביעתו”; “בהמשך הוא אף אישר כי לא ידע שהיא מתגוררת בסמוך למקום”; “מהסרטון לא עולה כי היא משתתפת בה.”)