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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.

12,752 published reviews in this topic

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaPolitics & government

FACT CHECK: සජිත්ටත් හූ ප්‍රහාරයක් ?

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The review examines social-media posts suggesting that opposition leader Sajith Premadasa had recently been booed, including a video captioned as showing people booing him when he came to discuss shortcomings in the government. It concludes that the posts were misleading because the videos did not show a recent incident involving him as presented. For the first video, the investigators say they used reverse-video search and identified the event as a protest against government minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara, not Premadasa. The report dates that event to 29 December 2021, when Nanayakkara went to the Eheliyagoda area to launch a water project. It also says the vehicle visible in that footage had the same registration number as a vehicle in the video attributed to Premadasa, linking the clips to the same underlying footage. The review separately examined a second video. It says that footage showed a protest against Premadasa at a meeting in Ratmalana in September 2020—not a recent event. Thus, although one video concerned a genuine protest against Premadasa, its date and setting were omitted from the social-media presentation; the other video concerned Nanayakkara. The evidence described in the review supports its conclusion that the posts gave a misleading impression that Premadasa had been booed in recent days.

FACTLYPolitics & government

Video of Rahul Gandhi admitting in a public meeting that he would settle in London, and he has nothing to do with Hindustan

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a clip presented as Rahul Gandhi saying at a public meeting that he would move to London and had nothing to do with India. FACTLY identifies the footage as an excerpt from Gandhi’s speech in Latur, Maharashtra, in October 2019, rather than a statement about his own plans. The review says that in the longer speech he was referring to Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, who had fled India amid allegations of financial fraud. [S1: “It is actually an excerpt from a longer speech of Rahul Gandhi, which he made in Latur, Maharashtra, back in October 2019.”; “In the original video, Rahul Gandhi made those viral comments in reference to Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi who fled the country over allegations of financial fraud.”] The review describes the relevant passage in its setting: Gandhi starts referring to the two men at about 15:10 in the longer video, and the remarks used in the viral clip follow. In that context, the lines about going to London, children studying in America, and having nothing to do with India are attributed to the fraudsters—not to Gandhi himself. [S1: “At 15:10 of the video, Rahul Gandhi starts referring to them and, in this context, he made those viral comments.”; “At 15:19, we can hear Rahul Gandhi saying, ‘Nothing’s going to happen, I will go to London, my children will go and study in America, I have nothing to do with India’.”] FACTLY says the circulated version combines Gandhi’s comments digitally while omitting the part that identifies whom he is discussing. That missing context changes the apparent subject of the remarks and makes the excerpt misleading. [S1: “These comments of Rahul Gandhi are added together digitally, omitting the part where Rahul Gandhi refers to Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.”; “This proves that the viral video is a digitally edited one.”]

FACTLYPolitics & government

Visuals of Union Cabinet Committee discussion to remove all Sikh Generals from the Indian Army.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video presented as showing a recent Union Cabinet Committee on Security meeting in which the government discussed removing Sikh Generals from the Indian Army. The review’s investigation identifies the footage as showing a real committee meeting, but says the audio was added from a separate discussion. Thus, the visuals do not establish that the alleged discussion took place: the review describes the clip as “created by adding audio of a clubhouse discussion to the visuals” of the committee meeting. To check the footage, the review says it used reverse image searches on screenshots from the video. Those searches identified the visuals as belonging to a Cabinet Committee on Security meeting held on 08 December 2021. The review also notes that news reports about that meeting did not report any discussion of removing Sikh Generals. The evidence therefore distinguishes the genuine meeting images from the claim attached to them, rather than treating the video’s audio as a reliable record of the meeting. The review traces the audio to a Clubhouse discussion and reports that a participant, identified as “Khal,” allegedly made the controversial statement about removing Sikh army personnel. It also cites a clarification from the Press Information Bureau that the government held no such discussion or meeting. Taken together, the reported visual check, the separate audio provenance, and the official clarification support the conclusion that the video is doctored and does not show the claimed committee discussion.

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaPolitics & government

සුසිල් ප්‍රේමජයන්ත ජවිපෙ සමග එක්වෙයි ?

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The review addresses a social-media post featuring Susil Premajayantha and JVP general secretary Tilvin Silva. The post claimed that “Susil joins hands with the JVP” and would receive a powerful ministerial position in 2023. The review says it checked whether mainstream media had reported the story and found no such report: “කිසිදු ප්‍රධාන ධාරාවේ මාධ්‍යයක් මෙවැනි පුවතක් වාර්තා කර නොමැති බවයි.” (No mainstream media outlet had reported such a story.)

FACTLYPolitics & government

Sikhs raising pro Khalistan slogans on the day of Prime Minister’s visit to Punjab

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a video of Sikhs on motorcycles raising pro-Khalistan slogans, which social media posts said showed an incident on the day Prime Minister Modi visited Punjab. FACTLY’s review compared the viral footage with material already online and found that the same visuals appeared in a YouTube upload dated 27 December 2021. The Prime Minister’s Punjab visit, which the review says ended abruptly amid security issues, was on 05 January 2022—after that upload. This chronology shows that the video existed before the event it was said to depict. [S1] The review also describes the earlier video’s accompanying description: it identified the footage as Punjab youth organising a Kesari march for Shahidi Jodh Mela on 26 December 2021. FACTLY reports using that description to search for the event and says it found news articles describing the mela as marking the martyrdom of Guru Gobind Singh’s two sons, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh. The review thus gives an earlier-event context for the footage rather than treating it as evidence of activity on the Prime Minister’s visit. [S1] There is an important qualification: FACTLY says it could not independently verify the video’s occasion and location. Its conclusion about the claim rests on the video’s prior online appearance and its earlier accompanying description, not on independent confirmation of where or why the footage was recorded. The review says the pre-visit provenance nevertheless establishes that the video had nothing to do with the later visit. [S1]

המשרוקית של גלובסPolitics & government

חוק ההתנתקות לא מחייב את הממשלה לפנות את הישיבה בחומש

Publisher’s rating: לא נכון

The claim concerns whether Israel’s Disengagement Law bars only permanent residence at the Homesh yeshiva, or also temporary entry. The review examined comments by Housing Minister Ze’ev Elkin in a December 29, 2021 radio interview. Elkin argued that the law prohibited permanent residence in the evacuated area, but that a yeshiva did not amount to permanent residence. The review checked that interpretation against the law’s text and the military order implementing it.

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: Tamil Nadu government not reduced the retirement age to 58

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a social-media news card, styled to look as if it came from Puthiya Thalaimurai, saying the Tamil Nadu government had put a reduction in government employees’ retirement age to 58 into effect and would issue an order on January 5, 2022. Fact Crescendo reports that the card was shared on Facebook on January 1, 2022. The review noted that the stated effective date came before the date on which the card said an official order would be issued, and reported finding no news that the state government had made such an announcement. [S1: “தமிழக அரசு ஊழியர்களுக்கு ஓய்வு வயது 58 ஆகக் குறைப்பு அமல்..! 05-01-2022 முதல் அரசாணை வெளியீடு”] [S1: “ஒரு திட்டம் அமலுக்கு வந்து ஐந்து நாட்கள் கழித்து அரசாணை வெளியிடப்படும் என்ற தகவல் குழப்பத்தை ஏற்படுத்தும் வகையில் உள்ளது. தமிழ்நாடு அரசு இப்படி எந்த ஒரு அறிவிப்பையும் வெளியிட்டதாக செய்தியும் இல்லை.”] The review also checked the card’s appearance and the outlet’s own social-media page. It said the Tamil font did not look like the one Puthiya Thalaimurai usually used and that the card lacked a background design. More decisively, the review reports that on January 2, 2022, Puthiya Thalaimurai posted a denial, identifying the card as fake and saying it was not a story published by the outlet. Fact Crescendo says the card it examined had also been marked “FAKE NEWS.” [S1: “இந்த தமிழ் ஃபாண்ட் புதிய தலைமுறை வழக்கமாக பயன்படுத்தும் தமிழ் ஃபாண்ட் போலவும் இல்லை. பின்னணி டிசைன் இல்லை.”] [S1: “போலியாக இந்த செய்தியைப் பரப்புகிறார்கள். இது புதிய தலைமுறையில் வெளியான செய்தி அல்ல”] [S1: “நாம் ஆய்வுக்கு எடுத்துக்கொண்டது போன் நியூஸ் கார்டு மீது “FAKE NEWS” என்று எழுதியிருந்தனர்.”] The evidence presented addresses the circulated card, not a general account of retirement-age policy. The review’s conclusion is that the card was fabricated and that it did not establish that the Tamil Nadu government had reduced the retirement age to 58. Its account of the outlet’s denial and the card’s contradictory order date are the stated grounds for rejecting the claim. [S1: “இதன் மூலம் தமிழ்நாடு அரசு ஊழியர்களுக்கு ஓய்வு பெறும் வயது குறைக்கப்பட்டது என்று பகிரப்படும் தகவல் தவறானது என்று உறுதி செய்யப்படுகிறது.”]