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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.

12,754 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYPolitics & government

The United Nations will establish a New World Order by 2030 which envisions one government, end of national sovereignty, depopulation and mandatory multiple vaccinations, end of irrigation & grazing livestock, private firms, among other goals

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a document circulating alongside claims about the UN’s Agenda 21 and 2030 Agenda. It alleges that the UN intends to impose a “New World Order,” including one government, the end of national sovereignty, depopulation, mandatory multiple vaccinations, and restrictions on irrigation and livestock grazing. FACTLY’s investigation distinguishes those allegations from the UN agreements they invoke: it describes Agenda 21 as a non-binding resolution agreed to at the 1992 Rio conference, and the 2030 Agenda as a 2015 General Assembly resolution setting 17 goals to be pursued over 15 years. (S1: “UN Agenda 21 refers to a non-binding resolution agreed to at the UN’s 1992 Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro.”; “the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a resolution adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 2015 that is focused on achieving 17 goals within 15 years.”) The review reports that the 23-goal document attributed to the UN was not drafted by the organization and that its goals did not match the agendas it cited. It also says UN General Secretariat sources found no evidence that the organization would establish a one-world government, and that the website presented as an official UN site was operated by a private entity, not linked to the UN. These findings address the document’s provenance and the central claim about a planned world government, rather than merely the existence of UN sustainability goals. (S1: “the document was neither drafted by the UN nor do the goals align with the agendas it references.”; “sources from the UN General Secretariat confirmed that there is no evidence to suggest that the United Nations will establish ‘one world government’ and that the website is impersonated by a private entity and is in no way linked to the official United Nations website.”) On vaccinations, FACTLY explains that the 2030 Agenda supports research and development of vaccines and medicines for diseases primarily affecting developing countries, but does not call for mandatory multiple vaccinations. The review also says a UN spokesperson noted that both Agenda 21 and the 2030 Agenda are not legally binding. Together, this evidence separates the stated purposes and status of the actual UN resolutions from the alleged goals in the circulating document. (S1: “This goal supports research and development of vaccines and medicines for diseases primarily affecting developing countries, according to the U.N. But it doesn’t call for ‘mandatory multiple vaccines’, as claimed in the post.”; “The UN spokesperson also noted that Agenda 21 and the 2030 Agenda are not legally binding.”)

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaPolitics & government

FACT CHECK: නාමල්ගේ ඇඳන් 10000 ව්‍යාපෘතියට සුදර්ශනී බාධා කළා ද?

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerned a social-media post alleging that Namal Rajapaksa said Sudarshani Fernandopulle was obstructing the 10,000-bed project and that action should be taken against her. The investigation describes the project as a 10-day effort to prepare beds for intermediate treatment centres for COVID-19 patients. It checked whether mainstream news outlets had reported the alleged dispute and contacted Rajapaksa’s media office and Fernandopulle directly. The media office said there had been no obstruction by her or any other party, apart from social-media criticism of the project; Fernandopulle likewise said she had not obstructed it. The review says Fernandopulle regarded intermediate treatment centres as useful for providing COVID-19 patients care under medical supervision on hospital premises. That account is relevant to the allegation because she was the named official said to have opposed the project, and she directly denied interfering with it. The investigation also reports that the project’s target was exceeded: a media statement said approximately 16,000 beds had been prepared, rather than 10,000. The review’s conclusion was that the report attributing the accusation to Rajapaksa had been fabricated. It also provides context for how the claim circulated: a photograph of Rajapaksa used with the false post had appeared in a different Lankadeepa newspaper story on April 17. The review does not present that photograph as evidence of the alleged statement; it identifies it as an image taken from another report.

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: Modi not waved his hand at empty ground

Publisher’s rating: Altered

The review examines a social-media video said to show Narendra Modi waving when nobody was present. It places the footage in the setting of an election campaign rally in Jaynagar, West Bengal: the review says Modi had arrived by plane and waved to people gathered there. It also says the BJP published a tweet about the event on its official Twitter account.

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaPolitics & government

FACT CHECK: අනුරකුමාර හා සමන්රත්නප්‍රිය රාත්‍රී සමාජ ශාලාවක හමුවුණා ද?

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerned social-media posts presenting photographs of two men as Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Saman Rathnapriya at a nightclub. The review describes the post as claiming that the pair had gone to a nightclub together, and identifies the pictured men as the central issue in checking that claim. [S1]

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: Altered news card shared as Rajenthra Bhalaji criticized Modi

Publisher’s rating: Altered

The claim concerns a news card attributed to Puthiya Thalaimurai that circulated with the wording that Rajenthra Bhalaji said Modi lacked the personal discipline required of a politician. Fact Crescendo reports that the card was shared on Facebook on May 16, 2021, and that the card itself was marked as having been published on May 14, 2019. The review notes that it described Bhalaji as a minister, and contrasts the claim with reports that he had called Modi “our daddy” while speaking as a minister at a wedding on March 8, 2019. These details raised suspicion but were not the sole basis for the finding. To check the card, the review says it contacted Saravanan, an administrator in Puthiya Thalaimurai’s digital division, who confirmed that the card was fake. It also searched Facebook for the phrase “a politician should have personal discipline” and found what it identifies as the original Puthiya Thalaimurai card. That card said Kamal, not Modi, lacked the relevant qualification. The review concludes that the circulating card had been edited by replacing the reference to Kamal with one to Modi, so the attributed criticism of Modi was not authentic.

FACTLYPolitics & government

Advertisement in the Hindustan Times shows PM Modi missing

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

FACTLY examined a social-media image that appeared to show a “PM Modi was missing” advertisement on the front page of Hindustan Times. Its review says the image was an edit, not an authentic newspaper page: the advertisement was inserted into the 7 May 2021 edition by replacing a different item. The date identifies the edition being checked, not when the review was published. [S1]

Deutsche Presse-AgenturPolitics & government

Die Grünen sagen "Nein danke" zu Kreuzfahrten, Feuerwerk, Grillen, Autofahren, Einfamilienhäuser, Fleisch und Flugreisen verbieten.

Publisher’s rating: Die Grünen wollen weder Kreuzfahrten noch Flugreisen, weder Autofahrten noch Einfamilienhäuser, weder Grillen noch Fleisch verbieten. In einigen Fällen spricht die Partei sich jedoch dafür aus, mehr zu regulieren.

The claim came from a widely shared Facebook graphic asserting that the Greens wanted to outlaw seven things. The review examined that claim against the party’s draft 2021 federal-election program and other evidence it identifies, including party statements, proposals and interviews. It distinguishes a general ban from proposals to regulate particular activities or change how they are provided. The draft program was still a draft at the time, with a vote on it scheduled for June 2021. On cruises and air travel, the review finds no proposed general ban. The draft calls for sustainable tourism and climate-neutral air traffic; the party also supported limiting travel to especially sensitive destinations, reducing long-haul flights, and making short-haul flights unnecessary by expanding rail service. Those are limits or policy goals, not an announced prohibition on all cruises or flights. The review likewise says the draft did not address detached houses, and cites Anton Hofreiter’s explicit statement that the Greens did not want to ban people’s homes. The claims about grilling and meat also overstate the evidence: the review traces the grilling allegation to a fabricated Hofreiter quotation, and says the party did not propose banning meat. It notes the 2013 proposal for one vegetarian-only day per week in public canteens, while saying that proposal was absent from the 2021 draft. Fireworks are the important qualification: the national draft did not discuss them, but Berlin Greens proposed in 2019 banning private New Year’s fireworks while offering more public displays. That local proposal does not establish a general party plan to ban fireworks everywhere.

FACTLYPolitics & government

Benjamin Netanyahu thanks PM Modi, RSS and all Indians in a social media post

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a social-media post attributed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that purportedly thanked Narendra Modi, the RSS and Indians for supporting Israel during the Israel–Palestine conflict. FACTLY says it checked Netanyahu’s Twitter timeline for such a message and found no post thanking those people or groups. Instead, it found a message thanking 25 countries for supporting Israel and its right to self-defence; the review says that message had the same time and date as the post being shared, but did not mention India. [S1: “When we searched through the Twitter timeline of Benjamin Netanyahu, there was no post thanking PM Modi, RSS, or Indians amidst the ongoing conflict with Palestine. The only post that thanked 25 nations for supporting Israel and their right to self defence against terrorist attacks was found on his Twitter timeline. It has the same time and date as mentioned in the post but does not mention India.”] The review further identifies the underlying message as a post dated May 15, 2021, and quotes its text thanking people for standing with Israel and supporting its right to self-defence. That wording and the listed flags provide the comparison: the original post’s text, as reproduced in the review, does not name India, Modi or the RSS. The review therefore concludes that the shared version was edited to add those references. [S1: “However, there was a post thanking 25 countries across the world ‘for resolutely standing with Israel and supporting our right to self-defense against terrorist attacks’ with the same exact time (3:47 am) and date (May 16, 2021) as mentioned in the post.”] [S1: “Thank you for resolutely standing with 🇮🇱 and supporting our right to self defense against terrorist attacks.— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) May 15, 2021”] The review also notes a separate, later development that could be confused with the claim: on May 18, the State of Israel’s official Instagram account thanked people in India and the United States who supported Israel. This was not identified as a Netanyahu post. The review distinguishes that account’s Instagram Stories from the purported post and says the article was updated on May 19 to include this information. [S1: “However, the State of Israel’s official Instagram account through their Instagram stories on 18 May 2021 has thanked the people of India and US who had supported Israel in these times.”] [S1: “Update (MAY 19, 2021):This article was updated to include the State of Israel’s Instagram Stories thanking the people of India and US who had supported Israel.”]