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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

BBC Reality CheckPolitics & government

"They [Labour] failed to do anything at all about social care... they did nothing at all for 13 years in office"

Publisher’s rating: There was not a wholesale reform of social care under Labour, but saying it did "nothing at all" is not correct.

The review distinguishes between Labour failing to achieve a wholesale reform of social care and doing nothing at all. It reports that a 2010 House of Commons Health Committee report criticised Labour’s failure to reform social-care funding, while also finding that the government had made better use of its time in office on reforming how care was delivered. The review gives examples of those changes: people gained more control over how money was spent on their care through personalised budgets, and the government began integrating health and social care. The review also identifies institutional and policy steps during Labour’s time in office. It says the Care Quality Commission was set up in 2009 as the independent regulator of health and social care services. In 2010, Gordon Brown’s government published plans for a National Care Service, but those plans were not implemented after he left Downing Street. On funding, the review cites the King’s Fund for a 53% rise in adult social-care funding between 1997 and 2008. Taken together, the examples support the distinction at issue: funding and aspects of care delivery changed, even though funding reform and a comprehensive new service were not completed.

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: Misinformation that Rs 13450 crore worthy house built up for Modi

Publisher’s rating: Partly False

The review investigated a social-media post claiming that a house for Prime Minister Narendra Modi was being built for Rs 13,450 crore. The post paired that claim with an image captioned as the “poor mother’s son’s house.” The review says the image was a model of the new Parliament building, not the Prime Minister’s house. To check the cost claim, the review reports searching Google and finding news reports about a planned group of 51 buildings in Delhi. Those buildings included the Prime Minister’s residence complex, the Vice President’s residence complex, an SSG security-force building and government offices. The reported Rs 13,450 crore was for construction of all 51 buildings—not just the Prime Minister’s residence. The review also says the group included ten eight-storey government office buildings, intended to accommodate 100,000 government employees. For the image, the review says it used reverse-image search, which returned news reports identifying it as the new Parliament complex. Its conclusion is that both the cost attribution and the identification of the image as the Prime Minister’s house were false or misleading: Rs 13,450 crore covered the wider set of 51 buildings, and the image showed the new Parliament building.

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: Narayanan Thirupathy not condemned the free bus ride announcement for women

Publisher’s rating: False

The review investigates a screenshot purporting to show BJP spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy condemning Tamil Nadu’s announcement that women could travel free on government city buses. The screenshot claimed that women had been moving to two-wheelers and that making them take buses again would set them back. The review says the post was shared on social media, including by Sheik Abdul Kadar on May 10, 2021. Its conclusion is that Thirupathy did not publish the criticism: the screenshot came from a fake account using his name. To check the attribution, the review says it examined Thirupathy’s Twitter account and did not find the post there. It also found a post from him saying that a fake tweet in his name was being circulated, then located the account from which the screenshot originated. The review distinguishes the accounts by their handles and name spellings: Thirupathy’s account was @Narayanan3, while the account that posted the screenshot was @narayatirupati. It reports that the two accounts used the same profile and cover images, a detail that could make the false account appear authentic. The review concludes that the viral post was not evidence that Thirupathy opposed the free-bus announcement. It attributes the post to the fake account and says Thirupathy had confirmed that the account was fake.

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaPolitics & government

FACT CHECK: ජාතික වෘත්තීය සමිති මධ්‍යස්ථානය විසින් ආරක්ෂක අංශවල අයිතිවාසිකම් සුරක්ෂිත කිරීමට වෘත්තීය සමිති පිහිටුවීමේ උත්සාහයක?

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The review investigated a letter circulated on social media and WhatsApp claiming that the National Trade Union Centre (NTUC) intended to establish a union representing security personnel and was taking applications. The review says it contacted the NTUC to ask whether it had issued the letter. Its account identifies the document in question as a purported NTUC announcement about protecting the rights of security personnel working to defeat the coronavirus crisis. [S1: “සමාජ මාධ්‍ය සටහන් : මෙහි සඳහන් කර තිබුණේ, කොරෝනා ව්‍යසනය පරාජය කිරීමට මහත් කැප කිරීමකින් කටයුතු කරන ආරක්ෂක අංශවල අයිතිවාසිකම් සුරක්ෂිත කිරීමට ජාතික වෘත්තීය සමිති මධ්‍යස්ථානය අදහස් කරන බවත්”] According to the review, the NTUC called the notice entirely false. Its general secretary, Janaka Adhikari, described it as an edited fake announcement and said the organisation had no intention of forming such unions. The review also reports Adhikari’s explanation that the NTUC knew it had no right to establish trade unions inside the security services. [S1: “ඔවුන් සඳහන් කළේ, මෙය සම්පූර්ණ අසත්‍ය සටහනක් බවයි. මෙම සටහන සම්බන්ධයෙන් වැඩිදුර අදහස් දැක්වූ ජාතික වෘත්තීය සමිති මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ ප්‍රධාන ලේකම් ජානක අධිකාරී මහතා සඳහන් කළේ, මෙය සංස්කරණය කරන ලද ව්‍යාජ දැන්වීමක් බවයි.”] The review gives document-specific reasons for treating the letter as fabricated: it displayed an old NTUC address, used a signature that Adhikari said was not that of K. D. Lalkantha, and was dated the 8th despite using an older letter format. The review says Lalkantha also told it that the letter was fake. These are the checks and findings reported in the supplied excerpt; it does not include copies of the correspondence or further independent verification. [S1: “ජාතික වෘත්තීය සමිති මධ්‍යස්ථානය මේ වන විට වෙනත් ස්ථානයක පවත්වාගෙන යන බවත් මෙම ව්‍යාජ ලිපියේ දැක්වෙන්නේ පැරණි ලිපිනය බවත්”] [S1: “කේ.ඩී ලාල්කාන්ත මහතා ද මෙම ලිපිය ව්‍යාජ ලිපියක් බව අපට දන්වා සිටියා.”]

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: Fake news that crores worthy cake was presented to MK Stalin from Dubai

Publisher’s rating: False

The review examines a social-media claim that a cake presented in connection with MK Stalin was ordered by him, specially made in Dubai, and worth Rs. 2.50 crore. It places the claim in the aftermath of Stalin taking office as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on May 7, 2021, when messages and criticism about him circulated online. The review says the cake claim was a criticism based on false information. [S1: “தமிழ்நாடு முதலமைச்சராக, திமுக தலைவர் மு.க.ஸ்டாலின் கடந்த மே 7, 2021 அன்று பதவியேற்றுக் கொண்டார். இதையொட்டி, சமூக வலைதளங்களில் அவரது பெயரில் நிறைய வாழ்த்துச் செய்திகளும், விமர்சனங்களும் சமூக வலைதளங்களில் பகிரப்பட்டன. இதில் ஒரு விமர்சனம்தான் மேலே நாம் கண்ட தகவல். ஆனால், அது ஒரு போலியான தகவலை அடிப்படையாகக் கொண்டதாகும்.”] To establish the cake’s origin, the review reports that it was made by Cake Square, a Chennai-based business. It says the bakery had shared information on Facebook before delivery and later posted a denial after claims spread that a Dubai cake-maker had designed it. The review thus distinguishes the actual bakery’s account from the viral Dubai-origin story. [S1: “குறிப்பிட்ட தலைமைச் செயலக வடிவிலான கேக்கை வடிவமைத்தது, சென்னையை சேர்ந்த Cake Square என்ற நிறுவனமாகும். குறிப்பிட்ட கேக்கை டெலிவரி செய்யும் முன்பாக, சம்பந்தப்பட்ட பேக்கரி சார்பாக, ஃபேஸ்புக்கில் தகவல் பகிரப்பட்டிருக்கிறது. Archived Link இதற்கடுத்தப்படியாக, சமூக வலைதளங்களில் தொடர்ச்சியாக, இது துபாயை சேர்ந்த கேக் தயாரிப்பாளரால் வடிவமைக்கப்பட்டது என்று கூறி தகவல் பரவியதை அடுத்து, இதுபற்றி சம்பந்தப்பட்ட பேக்கரி மறுப்பு தெரிவித்து, ஃபேஸ்புக்கில் பதிவிட்டுள்ளது.”] On the buyer and price, the review identifies the person who ordered and collected the cake as Dr. Malathi, a DMK Krishnagiri East district functionary. It reports that her Twitter post was included as supporting evidence, and states that the cake cost Rs. 30,000, not Rs. 2.50 crore. These details contradict both the claimed Dubai provenance and the viral price. [S1: “இந்த கேக்கை ஆர்டர் செய்து, வாங்கி வந்தவர் திமுக.,வின் கிருஷ்ணகிரி கிழக்கு மாவட்ட நிர்வாகி டாக்டர்.மாலதி ஆவார். இந்த கேக்கின் விலை ரூ.30,000 மட்டுமே; ரூ.2.50 கோடி கிடையாது. மாலதியின் ட்விட்டர் பதிவை கீழே ஆதாரத்திற்காக இணைத்துள்ளோம்.”]

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: Bangladesh picture being shared as Mamata govt attacking bjp cadres

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerns a photograph of an injured young woman circulated in May 2021 as evidence that Mamata Banerjee’s government was attacking people in West Bengal. Fact Crescendo’s review says that, after the 2021 state election, reports of clashes between BJP and Trinamool Congress supporters were circulating and images were being shared in that political setting. It identifies this particular photograph, however, as unrelated to those events: the review says it was taken in Bangladesh, not West Bengal. To investigate the image’s origin, the review reports conducting a reverse-image search with Google. That search led to a tweet dated November 4, 2020, describing violence against a Hindu family in the Aman Bazar police-station area of Chittagong, Bangladesh. The review then says it searched for news coverage and found reports, including one from Bangladeshi outlet Desh1. According to the review’s account of the Desh1 report, a land-grabbing group injured members of the family over an attempt to seize their property. The injured woman in the photograph was the homeowner’s daughter-in-law. The review concludes that the image documents a Bangladesh incident and was misrepresented as showing a current political attack in West Bengal. Thus, the photograph does not substantiate the claim about Mamata Banerjee’s government.