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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

Photos of PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah visiting brothels in India

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a social-media collage said to show Narendra Modi among four women at a brothel and Amit Shah entering Sonagachi, a Kolkata red-light area. FACTLY’s review says it checked the images using reverse image searches and compared them with earlier versions and other published material. Its conclusion was that both images had been altered or misleadingly presented: “The photos shared in the post are morphed ones.”

FACTLYPolitics & government

Video of Prime Minister Modi being criticised in Nepal Parliament

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a video circulating on social media as footage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi being criticised in Nepal’s Parliament. The review found that it instead shows Jagat Singh Negi, Congress MLA for Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur constituency, speaking in the Himachal Pradesh state assembly. It reports that Negi criticised Modi and his policies, but that the legislature shown was not in Nepal. [S1: “The video actually shows Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur constituency Congress MLA Jagat Singh Negi’s speech in the state assembly.”] The review describes how it checked the footage: a reverse-image search of screenshots led to a longer version on YouTube, titled “Jagat Singh Negi lambasted the BJP in the House.” That video was uploaded on 17 March 2021. Searches using relevant keywords then led to a Facebook post by the Indian National Congress’s Himachal Pradesh unit, which identified the speaker as Negi. [S1: “Reverse image search of the screenshots of the video led us to a lengthier version of the video in a post on YouTube video titled ‘Jagat Singh Negi lambasted the BJP in the House’. The video was uploaded on YouTube on 17 March 2021.”] The review adds that Negi shared the same video on his Facebook page on 18 March 2021, and that a news report also identified him as the speaker and the footage as a speech in the Himachal Pradesh legislature. These identifications connect the circulating clip to a different country and legislative setting than the claim described. [S1: “The same video was also shared by Jagat Singh Negi on his Facebook page on 18 March 2021.”]

dpaPolitics & government

Dupond-Moretti pris en photo devant le palais Vivienne.

Publisher’s rating: La photo est une photo d’archive. Elle a été prise en octobre 2019 et non en avril 2021. Éric Dupond-Moretti était non loin des studios de « C à vous ». Le 22 octobre 2019, il intervenait sur le plateau de l'émission, en costume foncé et chemise blanche.

The claim attached the photo of Éric Dupond-Moretti to Palais Vivienne, a Paris venue associated with clandestine dinners, and presented it as evidence that he had been there without a mask. The review says the image was not taken at that venue: it was an archival photo from October 2019, taken near the studios of the television program “C à vous.” It identifies the date as 22 October 2019, when Dupond-Moretti appeared on the program wearing a dark suit and white shirt. The review notes that the photo’s lack of a mask was consistent with its 2019 date, before the first reported coronavirus cases in December 2019. (S1: « Sur la photo partagée (capture d’écran d’un tweet de Juan Branco), des détails sont apportés : « Dupond-Moretti sans masque, et face à la même entrée où l'on voit, sur le même compte, de nombreuses personnes en habit de soirée aller et venir. » »; « La photo est une photo d’archive. Elle a été prise en octobre 2019 et non en avril 2021. »; « Le 22 octobre 2019, il intervenait sur le plateau de l'émission, en costume foncé et chemise blanche. »; « En octobre 2019, on ne parlait pas encore du coronavirus. Les premiers cas ont été rapportés en décembre 2019. ») The review describes several checks supporting that identification and location. On the TPMP television set, magician Vincent Schoepff, who appears in the original photo, said it was taken on 22 October 2019 at 18:08:54. The reviewer also compared the clothing in the image with a dated “C à vous” excerpt, and used Google Maps to compare the locations: the program’s Mediawan offices at 46 Avenue de Breteuil, rather than Palais Vivienne at 36 Rue Vivienne. These details support the review’s conclusion that the photo was mislocated and misdated in the social-media claim. (S1: « le magicien qui figure sur la photo originale, Vincent Schoepff, explique que la photographie n’a pas été prise devant le Palais Vivienne »; « Il précise que le cliché a été pris « le 22 octobre 2019, à 18h08 et 54 secondes ». »; « Un extrait vidéo de C à vous, daté du 22 octobre 2019, montre qu’Éric Dupond-Moretti était habillé comme sur la photo de Vincent Schoepff »; « une recherche sur Google Maps permet de démontrer que la photographie a été prise devant les studios de C à vous (bureaux de Mediawan, 46, Avenue de Breteuil à Paris) et non devant le Palais Vivienne (36, rue Vivienne à 75002 Paris). »)

Deutsche Presse-AgenturPolitics & government

Im "Spiegel" standen diese Aussagen über Karl Lauterbach von dessen angeblichem Bruder.

Publisher’s rating: Der Artikel stammt nicht vom «Spiegel». Bei dem Sharepic handelt es sich wahrscheinlich um einen Satirebeitrag.

The claim concerns a Facebook sharepic headed «Jetzt spricht Lauterbachs Bruder» (“Now Lauterbach’s brother speaks”), presented in the style of a Spiegel Online report. It alleges that Karl Lauterbach suffered a serious head injury at a festival. The text says a “severely decayed tooth” was driven into his brain in a fall. The investigation addressed this specific sharepic and whether it was a Spiegel article, rather than a separate report about Lauterbach. (S1: “In einem Facebook-Post mit der Überschrift «Jetzt spricht Lauterbachs Bruder» wird behauptet, Lauterbach habe auf einem Festival eine schwere Kopfverletzung erlitten”; “«Durch den Sturz bohrte sich wohl ein stark verwester Zahn in sein Hirn», heißt es in dem Text, der wie eine Meldung der Nachrichtenseite «Spiegel Online» gestaltet ist.”) The review reports that the investigators found no such article on Spiegel’s website and that the sharepic’s format differed from the site’s actual headline format. It also notes several spelling and sentence-structure errors in the text. These observations challenge the appearance of the image as a genuine Spiegel report. (S1: “eine derartige Meldung gibt es auf der Seite aber nicht. Auch erscheinen Schlagzeilen-Meldungen der Nachrichtenseite in einem anderen Format. Der Text enthält zudem mehrere Rechtschreib- und Satzbaufehler.”) The investigation also sought comment from the Spiegel publishing company. A spokesperson told dpa that Spiegel had no article titled «Jetzt spricht Lauterbachs Bruder». The review further points to the allegation about a portion of Lauterbach’s brain being removed as so exaggerated that it signals the post’s satirical character. The supplied account supports the conclusion that the sharepic was not a Spiegel article; it does not independently establish who created or shared it. (S1: “Eine Sprecherin des Spiegel-Verlags teilte der Deutschen Presse-Agentur auf Anfrage mit, «dass es einen Artikel «Jetzt spricht Lauterbachs Bruder» bei uns [also dem Spiegel] nicht gibt»”; “Die Behauptung, wegen des vermeintlichen Sturzes sei Karl Lauterbach ein Teil seines Hirns entfernt worden, ist derart übertrieben, dass spätestens an dieser Stelle des Textes deutlich werden sollte: Es handelt sich wahrscheinlich um einen satirischen Beitrag.”)

dpaPolitics & government

C'est la maison de Poutine à Sotchi en Russie.

Publisher’s rating: La maison n’est pas celle de Vladimir Poutine : elle n’existe pas. Elle a été imaginée par Roman Vlasov. Le designer architectural précise à la dpa qu’il ne s’agit pas d’une propriété existante du chef d’État russe, mais bien d’une construction imaginaire : « C'est ma vision de la maison du président de mon pays, Vladimir Poutine. »

The claim concerns two images captioned as a house belonging to Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Russia, and designed by Roman Vlasov. The review says the images are computer-made 3D renderings, not photographs of a real residence: Vlasov confirmed to dpa that he created them and directed the agency to his Instagram page for more information. The review describes the house as an imagined design rather than an existing property. The key evidence is Vlasov’s own explanation. The review quotes his Instagram description of the images as “the house of Putin or a story about what his villa could look like,” and his email to dpa stating that this was his vision of the president’s house and that he had “nowhere written that this house is his property.” That distinction directly addresses the caption’s assertion of ownership: the designer presented a speculative concept, not a verified home of Putin. The review also notes that the images’ realistic appearance and their placement in a lush setting could make the house seem real. It says Design Boom presented Vlasov’s work as artistic, while a YouTube video description used the misleading headline “Putin’s house in Sochi” but described it as a conceptual house imagined by the architect. The review’s evidence therefore identifies the images as fictional architectural visualizations and explains how a misleading caption could turn that concept into a claim of actual ownership.