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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

dpaPolitics & government

Der Schweizer Bundesrat hat mit dem zweiten Ja zum Covid-Gesetz uneingeschränkte Macht bis ins Jahr 2031 und die verschärften Maßnahmen wären mit einem Nein nicht zustande gekommen.

Publisher’s rating: Die Behauptungen sind falsch. Die bis ins Jahr 2031 geltenden Gesetzesartikel sind bereits seit Dezember 2020 in Kraft und waren nicht Gegenstand der Volksabstimmung vom 28. November 2021. Die Zertifikats- und Maskenpflicht konnte der Bundesrat unabhängig vom Abstimmungsausgang erweitern.

המשרוקית של גלובסPolitics & government

הקמת הוועדה הציבורית לשכר חברי הכנסת מקיימת את ההבטחה של יש עתיד להוציא את קביעת השכר מידי חברי הכנסת

Publisher’s rating: מטעה

The review assessed Yair Lapid’s December 7, 2021 Facebook post, which said that lawmakers would no longer set their own pay and presented the re-establishment of a public committee as fulfilment of that promise. Its central distinction is between restoring an advisory committee and changing who has the authority to decide whether its recommendations take effect. The review examined the relevant provisions of the Knesset Law and reported that the committee makes recommendations, while the Knesset’s House Committee may approve them, return them for further consideration, or make another decision about lawmakers’ pay. The review also checked how that arrangement had worked in practice. It describes the public committee’s 2014 recommendation to link lawmakers’ pay to consumer prices rather than average wages, and reports that the House Committee did not adopt that recommendation. It further recounts a 2015 proposal to freeze lawmakers’ pay while the pay-setting system was addressed, which was not adopted as proposed. These examples show why the committee’s existence alone did not remove lawmakers’ ability to reject or alter its proposals. The review notes that Lapid’s post also referred to a bill that would make the committee’s recommendations binding. A representative for Lapid told the review that re-establishing the committee was the first step and passing such a law would be the second. The review therefore distinguished the existing committee from the proposed legal change: without the latter, restoring the committee did not itself ensure that lawmakers could no longer determine their own pay.

dpaPolitics & government

Hier spricht der SPD-Abgeordnete Hartmut Ganzke.

Publisher’s rating: Ein dem nordrhein-westfälischen Landtagsabgeordneten Hartmut Ganzke (SPD) zugeschriebenes Video zeigt tatsächlich den nordrhein-westfälischen AfD-Fraktionsvorsitzenden Markus Wagner.

The claim concerns a video clip presented as showing Hartmut Ganzke, an SPD member of the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament, speaking during a parliamentary debate. The review identifies the clip as an excerpt from the state parliament’s plenary debate in Düsseldorf on 1 December 2021. A Facebook post shared the YouTube video with a caption naming Ganzke and describing his remarks as unusually forthright.

dpaPolitics & government

Ursula von der Leyen veut supprimer le code de Nuremberg.

Publisher’s rating: Ursula von der Leyen ne s’est pas prononcée en faveur de la suppression du code de Nuremberg. De plus, ce code n’est pas juridiquement contraignant et ne peut donc pas être aboli.

The claim concerned Ursula von der Leyen and the Nuremberg Code, and circulated on social media, including in Belgium. The dpa investigation traced it to a press conference on COVID-19 challenges held on December 1, 2021. It reports that some posts went further, alleging that she wanted the code removed to make COVID-19 vaccination compulsory. The review examined the press conference excerpt from 21:45 to 24:00, where a journalist asked about mandatory vaccination. In the exchange described by dpa, von der Leyen said that vaccination mandates were a matter for each member state and not something on which she should make a recommendation. She then said that, in her personal view, it was understandable and appropriate to discuss how to encourage vaccination and potentially consider mandatory vaccination in the EU. The review reports that the Nuremberg Code was not mentioned at any point in the press conference. It also says a spokesperson for von der Leyen confirmed to dpa that she had not referred to the code, much less its abolition. The review also addresses whether the alleged act of abolishing the code was possible: it describes the code as recommended ethical principles, not a legally binding law. It further reports that the code concerns conditions for acceptable human experimentation and that COVID-19 vaccines had been authorized by competent health authorities, so they were no longer considered experimental. These points provide context for the social-media framing, while the press-conference account and spokesperson confirmation directly address whether von der Leyen called for the code’s removal.

dpaPolitics & government

Agenda 21-2030 van de VN met wel heel opvallende punten.

Publisher’s rating: De agenda is niet van de Verenigde Naties, noch het World Economic Forum. De VN heeft inderdaad een Agenda 21 en een Agenda 2030, maar de punten van het op Facebook gedeelde lijstje zijn hier op geen enkele wijze uit af te leiden. Het WEF heeft geen inspraak gehad op de totstandkoming van de twee resoluties.

dpaPolitics & government

Ursula von der Leyen wil de code van Neurenberg afschaffen.

Publisher’s rating: Ursula von der Leyen heeft zich niet uitgesproken over de Code van Neurenberg. Aangezien de code geen legale basis heeft, kan deze ook niet afgeschaft worden. Von der Leyen heeft ook niet de autoriteit om vaccinatie verplicht te maken.

The claim concerned Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and articles shared on Facebook alleging that she wanted to abolish the Nuremberg Code so vaccination could be made compulsory. The review traced those claims to her press conference on 1 December 2021, which concerned COVID measures. It reports that a dpa spokesperson confirmed she had not discussed the code, let alone its abolition. The review describes the relevant exchange as a journalist’s question about vaccination requirements. Von der Leyen said that this was a matter for EU member states, not the European Commission. She expressed the view that discussion about encouraging vaccination and possibly making it compulsory could and should take place. The review says the Nuremberg Code was neither named nor referred to during the press conference. The review also explains why the code does not establish a basis for abolishing it or for requiring COVID vaccination. It describes the code as ethical principles for medical experiments, drawn up in 1947, and says it does not apply to the COVID vaccination programme because the vaccines were not experimental. The review further states that the code itself has no legal status, and that von der Leyen lacked authority to make vaccination compulsory.

FACTLYPolitics & government

Video of Yogi Adityanath humiliating Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya during a public meeting

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review examined a social-media video described as showing Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath harshly scolding someone at a public meeting. The specific claim was that the person being scolded was Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. The review identifies the incident as occurring on 28 November 2021, during the closing ceremony of the Sansad Khel Spardha Mahakumbh in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. The review says it used reverse image search to find similar footage and posts identifying the person as BJP leader Vibhrat Chand. It also reports finding a journalist’s post naming him as Vibhrat Chand Kaushik, then locating an Aaj Tak article that identified the person scolded as Kaushik, a BJP leader from Gorakhpur district. Thus, the investigation’s identification of the man contradicts the claim that he was Maurya. The review further says that footage of the incident was available on the Uttar Pradesh government’s official YouTube channel, and that Kaushik had shared images connected with the event. It concludes that the person in the video was Vibhrat Chand Kaushik, not Keshav Prasad Maurya. The supplied excerpt reports these checks and findings; it does not include the underlying posts, article, or video for independent inspection.

dpaPolitics & government

Mark Drakeford wist niet dat zijn microfoon nog aanstond

Publisher’s rating: De premier van Wales zei dit niet in de veronderstelling dat zijn microfoon uit stond. Dit zijn een paar seconden uit een documentaire van de Welshe tv-omroep S4C. Drakeford was zich er zeker bewust van dat er een cameraploeg was. De uitspraak deed hij in de context van een roerige dag in december 2020, waarop moest worden bepaald hoeveel huishoudens bij elkaar mochten komen tijdens kerst.

The claim concerned a short video in which Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford comments on whether “should” means a regulation or advice, then reacts after someone off camera says people are already asking. The review identifies the clip as an excerpt from S4C’s documentary Prif Weinidog mewn Pandemig, rather than an accidental hot-mic recording. It says the documentary showed a behind-the-scenes discussion with a staff member and that Drakeford knew a camera crew was present and his words could appear in the film. The documentary was broadcast on 21 September 2021. The exchange took place amid a Welsh government discussion in December 2020 about Christmas gatherings. In a longer version of the footage, Drakeford’s 16 December speech explains that the governments of the UK would issue joint holiday guidance, and that Wales advised limiting gatherings to two households. The review notes that the legal limit had not yet changed at that point: three households could still legally meet, despite the government’s advice. Later that day, the law was changed to allow two households. The short clip therefore omitted both the documentary setting and the policy discussion that explains Drakeford’s remark. The review’s account is that he was addressing the distinction between advice and law during a recorded discussion—not speaking in the mistaken belief that his microphone was off.

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaPolitics & government

FACT CHECK: ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ හා එහි තරුණ සංගමය සම්බන්ධ නොමඟ යවන සුළු සටහන්!

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The review examined two posts linking the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and its youth wing to recent events. One presented a photograph in a way that suggested it showed JVP politician Sunil Handunnetti taking part in a current activity. The other announced a December 7 protest outside the Pakistani diplomatic mission in Colombo against the killing of Priyantha Kumara, and was presented as associated with the JVP youth organization. To check the photograph, the publisher says it used Google Reverse Image Search and found that it was from flood relief work in May 2017, not a recent event. It reports that the image showed Handunnetti, wearing a life jacket, distributing cooked food and dry rations to people affected by flooding in the Tihagoda area of Matara. The review also says the same photograph appeared on Handunnetti’s Facebook account and in a photo collection from that period. On the protest claim, the review reports that a JVP Youth spokesperson said neither the JVP nor its youth wing had organized a protest at the Pakistani High Commission on December 7. The spokesperson also said the Facebook page promoting the protest was not connected to those organizations and was a fake page misusing the JVP Youth name. The evidence therefore supports the review’s conclusion that the posts were misleading: the photograph was old, and the purported organizational connection to the protest was denied by a JVP Youth representative.