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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

FACTLYPolitics & government

Union government has decided to establish a permanent bench of the Supreme Court in Bangalore

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a decision by India’s Union government to establish a permanent Supreme Court bench in Bangalore. FACTLY’s review says the government had not approved such a proposal. It reports that, in a written parliamentary reply about proposals for a court of appeal in four parts of the country, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said the matter was “sub-judice before the Supreme court,” citing a 2016 writ petition.

dpaPolitics & government

Les autorités belges « vont chercher à éliminer le plus de conducteurs possible », en imposant de nouvelles règles de validité des permis de conduire.

Publisher’s rating: L’auteur du message se fourvoie, en indiquant notamment qu’à chaque renouvellement du permis de conduire (il parle d’un délai tantôt de 15 ans, tantôt de 5 ans pour les voitures, ce qui est faux), une visite médicale sera obligatoire.

The claim comes from a message about Belgian driving permits. The message says permits issued before 2013 would remain valid until 2033, that new permits would have different validity periods, and that a medical examination would be required at every renewal. It presents these rules as a way to eliminate as many drivers as possible. The review says the message confuses Belgian rules with French ones and examines what Belgian authorities and rules provide instead. (S1: “Les permis datant d'avant 2013 resteront valables jusqu'en 2033. En effet, les nouveaux auront une limite de validité. 15 ans pour les permis A et B, 5 ans pour les autres types de permis. À chaque renouvellement, une visite médicale sera obligatoire !”; “Il confond la situation qui prévaut en Belgique – un arrêté royal daté du 23 mars 1998 la précise - et celle qui prévaut en France”) For car drivers with older paper permits, the review reports that replacement with a card-format document is not required before 2033. It says the local administration in Fauvillers confirmed that bank-card-format car permits have a ten-year administrative validity—not the five- or fifteen-year periods stated in the message. (S1: “les personnes qui ont obtenu un permis « B », pour la conduite d’une voiture, et disposent dans ce contexte d’une ancienne autorisation sur papier, ne seront pas obligées de remplacer leur document par un « modèle carte bancaire » avant 2033.”; “Les permis format carte bancaire pour les voitures ont une validité administrative de dix ans», et non de cinq ou de quinze”) The review also distinguishes ordinary car-permit renewal from the medical checks described in the message. It says examinations every five years apply to specified group 2 vehicle categories and drivers of vehicles used for paid transport, rather than to everyone exchanging a paper permit for a card. It identifies the covered categories as including trucks, buses and coaches, as well as professional taxi drivers. (S1: “En outre il n’est pas question d’une « visite médicale obligatoire à chaque renouvellement » du permis.”; “Cet examen médical, obligatoire tous les cinq ans, est réservé aux conducteurs d’un véhicule appartenant « à la catégorie du groupe 2 (C1, C, C1E, CE, D1, D, D1E ou DE)” ; “Il ne concerne, donc, que les chauffeurs professionnels de taxi, de camions, d’autobus et d’autocars”)

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaPolitics & government

Explainer: එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයේ මාධ්‍ය අංශයට නව ප්‍රධානියෙක්?

Publisher’s rating: Explainer

The report examined claims circulating in Tamil-language social media and news coverage that S. Ananthakumar, the UNP’s Ratnapura district organiser, had been appointed head of the party’s media division. It says the claim was prompted in part by reports in mainstream media and that a post on Ananthakumar’s Facebook account shared a Virakesari report describing such an appointment. The review’s central distinction is between heading the party’s media division and serving as a media coordinator in Ratnapura. To check the claim, the publisher says it contacted UNP deputy leader Ruwan Wijewardene and the party’s media division, and examined a party statement and the appointment letter. Wijewardene said reports that Ananthakumar had become head of the media division were false: the appointment was as Ratnapura district media coordinator. The party media division also said no one had been appointed to a media-chief position and described media coordination as operating through a central unit under Wijewardene’s supervision. The letter dated August 3 appears to have contributed to the confusion. Its wording, as quoted by the review, says Ananthakumar would handle media work across constituencies from August 1 for necessary party organisational work. The review says that wording could have led to reports that he was appointed media chief, but records the party’s repeated clarification that the party had no such position. Thus, the reviewed evidence supports a Ratnapura media-coordinator appointment, not the claimed appointment as head of the UNP media division.