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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.

12,753 published reviews in this topic

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: Vanathi and Annamalai not protested against opening of liquor shops Lakshadweep

Publisher’s rating: Altered

The review investigates a social-media image presented as showing Tamil Nadu BJP leaders Vanathi Srinivasan and K. Annamalai protesting the opening of liquor shops in Lakshadweep. It says the image showed them holding a paper reading, in effect, “Modi government, don’t open a TASMAC shop in Lakshadweep,” and identifies a June 13, 2021 post by Hakkim A as one instance of its circulation. The review’s conclusion is that the image was edited, not evidence of a protest about Lakshadweep. To check it, Fact Crescendo says it compared the circulating image with original pictures posted on Vanathi’s and Annamalai’s Twitter accounts. In those originals, the papers instead referred to the Tamil Nadu government and TASMAC: Vanathi’s read “தமிழக அரசே டாஸ்மாக்கை திறக்காதே,” and Annamalai’s read “தமிழக அரசே டாஸ்மாக்கை திறக்காதே” and “TN Govt say No to TASMAC, Dont play with the life of common people.” This comparison supports the finding that the wording in the circulated version had been changed. The review places the original pictures in the context of BJP Tamil Nadu protests against the Tamil Nadu government’s reopening of TASMAC shops as COVID-19 restrictions were eased. It notes that the leaders’ original signs referred to Tamil Nadu, whereas the altered image made them appear to oppose liquor shops in Lakshadweep. Thus, the evidence addresses the specific image and claim: it does not show these leaders protesting the opening of liquor shops in Lakshadweep.

FACTLYPolitics & government

10 new rules by the Indian Railways which are going to be effective from 01 July 2021

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a social-media message listing 10 rules and presenting them as new Indian Railways rules taking effect on 1 July 2021. FACTLY’s review examined that message and found that a similar one had circulated online years earlier, rather than being a new set of rules announced for that date. It reports that versions of the message were being shared “at least since 2015.” The review also describes earlier official responses. News agencies reported in June 2016 that railway officials called the circulated information “totally incorrect and baseless” and objected that it had been published without verification from authorised railway sources. The Ministry of Railways issued a detailed clarification on the viral message in June 2017, according to the review. The review checked specific items associated with the message against earlier railway information: staggered booking times for AC and non-AC Tatkal tickets had been notified in June 2015, and Suvidha trains had already started in 2015. Taken together, the reported circulation history, official clarifications and earlier dates for these measures contradict the presentation of the message as 10 newly effective rules from 1 July 2021.

Pagella PoliticaPolitics & government

«Se togliamo la Basilicata, che non ha particolare estensione di costa e di porti presenti sul suo territorio e il Molise, per lo stesso ragionamento, l’Abruzzo è l’unica regione che si affaccia su due mari, anzi su tre mari, compreso lo Ionio – quindi tra l’Adriatico, il Tirreno e lo Ionio – che non ha un’autorità di sistema portuale»

Publisher’s rating: Nì

The claim combines two distinct assertions made by Abruzzo governor Marco Marsilio during a June 8 regional council meeting: that Abruzzo borders the Adriatic, Tyrrhenian and Ionian seas, and that it lacks its own port-system authority. The review finds the geography wrong but the institutional point correct. It reports that Abruzzo is bordered only by the Adriatic, with about 130 kilometres of coastline; the review also describes Molise as Adriatic-facing and Basilicata as facing the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas. No southern Italian region, it concludes, faces three seas. Marsilio’s press office clarified that he meant Abruzzo was the only region, excluding the “small” Molise and Basilicata, among those facing the three seas to lack its own port authority. The review says Abruzzo does indeed lack a locally based authority, but its ports are not outside the system: Pescara and Ortona belong to the Central Adriatic Sea Port System Authority, based at Ancona. The review traces the arrangement to a 2016 reform that reduced the number of port authorities from 24 to 15 and grouped more than 50 ports; a 2018 decree later created the Strait authority. The review adds context about the ports’ scale. Citing Italian port association Assoporti figures, it reports that Ortona handled just over one million tonnes of goods in 2019—0.2 per cent of the national total and less than one tenth of Ancona’s volume. It says recent figures for Pescara were unavailable. Thus the statement’s institutional core is supported, but its description of Abruzzo’s coastline is not, and the review notes that the ports’ limited freight traffic tempers the broader political argument about their national and European role.

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: misinformation being shared as USA listed Kamaraj was the most honest person in the world

Publisher’s rating: False

The review investigates a social-media image claiming that the United States had published a list of the world’s 50 most honest people and that Kamaraj was ranked first. The image showed Kamaraj and included text describing him as India’s only person on the list and its top-ranked entry. The review says the image was circulating on Facebook and other platforms, including in a post shared by Dhana Elongo on December 15, 2020. To test the claim, the reviewers searched for evidence that such a list existed. They found no indication that the U.S. government had published a list of the world’s most honest leaders. They also searched for lists published by U.S.-based organizations and media, finding rankings of influential, respected, or leading figures, but no list of honest leaders. The review distinguishes these other kinds of rankings from the one asserted in the image. The article notes that Fortune published an annual list of the world’s best leaders and named New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern its top leader for 2021. It also refers to a Wikilist of honest political leaders, which named Marcus Aurelius—not Kamaraj—as its top entry. The review further says that earlier rumors had falsely named Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi as the world’s most honest leader. Its conclusion is that the purported U.S. top-50 list, and the claim that Kamaraj ranked first on it, were unsupported by the searches described.

FACTLYPolitics & government

Sonia Gandhi photo with Ottavio Quattrocchi

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a photograph said to show Sonia Gandhi with Ottavio Quattrocchi, an Italian businessman associated with the Bofors scandal. FACTLY identifies the man in the image as Sonia Gandhi’s son Rahul Gandhi, not Quattrocchi. It says the picture was taken at the Special Protection Group’s raising day function in New Delhi on 08 April 1996, and that it has no connection to Quattrocchi. To check the image, the review says it conducted a reverse image search and found the same photograph in a New Indian Express photo gallery. That gallery’s caption identified the people as Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, and gave the event, date, and New Delhi location; the photo was credited to PTI. FACTLY also notes that another article identified the photograph as showing Sonia and Rahul. This image match and caption provenance support the review’s identification of the man in the viral photo. The review distinguishes the photograph from the separate Bofors-related facts about Quattrocchi: it describes him as an Italian businessman and a key figure in the scandal, but says those facts do not make him the person pictured. Its conclusion is that the image of Sonia and Rahul was being misrepresented as one of Sonia and Quattrocchi.

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: fake news that MK Stalin writes to PM Modi regarding Madurai Airport name change

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerned a report circulated under Thanthi TV’s name that M.K. Stalin had said Madurai Airport would be renamed in December after he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Fact Crescendo review says readers sent the item to its WhatsApp chatbot asking whether it was true, and that the team found people sharing it on Facebook as genuine. It also describes the discussion around naming the airport after Muthuramalinga Thevar, whose supporters had been advocating for that name. The review’s decisive evidence is Thanthi TV’s denial: Fact Crescendo reports that the broadcaster said the item circulating in its name was fake. On that basis, the review concluded that the report attributing the December-renaming statement and letter to Stalin was not authentic. The excerpt does not provide the broadcaster’s archived denial itself or describe further verification, so the conclusion here is limited to the evidence and checking process the review reports.