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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

Vishvas NewsPolitics & government

পশ্চিমবঙ্গের মুখ্যমন্ত্রী মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়ের একটি পুরানো ছবি ভুয়ো দাবি নিয়ে ভাইরাল হচ্ছে। এই ছবিতে মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়ের ডান পাতায় ব্যান্ডেজটি বাঁধা অবস্থায় দেখা যাচ্ছে। ইউজাররা এই ছবিটি মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়ের সাম্প্রতিক চোটের সাথে যুক্ত করে ভাইরাল করছেন।

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

FACTLYPolitics & government

Photo of a massive protest in Bangladesh opposing the PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The image was circulated as showing a mass protest in Bangladesh against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, which was scheduled for 26 March 2021. FACTLY’s review identifies the photograph as showing hundreds of Muslims marching, but says it was not connected to Modi’s visit: it depicts a protest in Dhaka in October 2020 against French cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. To check the photograph’s history, the review says it conducted a reverse image search and found a similar image in an article that identified it as a protest in Dhaka. It also reports finding the same photograph in an Irish Times gallery. That reporting described thousands of demonstrators marching toward the French Embassy in Dhaka in protest over French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments on the cartoons. The review further cites a BBC article about the Dhaka protest. According to FACTLY’s account, the BBC reported that thousands of Muslims took part in a rally calling for a boycott of French products in Bangladesh, in response to Macron’s statement about not giving up the cartoons published in Charlie Hebdo. Taken together, the review’s described image search and reporting connect the photo to the 2020 protest, not to Modi’s 2021 visit.

dpaPolitics & government

In Duitsland worden horecavergunningen niet meer verlengd in Nederland gaan ze hetzelfde doen

Publisher’s rating: De bewering is fout. In sommige Duitse deelstaten kan een vergunning inderdaad verlopen als de horecagelegenheid een jaar dicht is geweest. Maar de gedwongen sluiting door de coronamaatregelen gelden als een uitzondering. In Nederland is er een gelijkaardige automatische overmachtsregel van toepassing.

The claim concerned Facebook posts saying that hospitality businesses in Germany would lose their permits because they had been forced to close for a year, and that the same would happen in the Netherlands. The review found that the one-year rule exists, but that the claim omitted an important exception: pandemic-forced closure was treated as a valid reason for extending the period or as force majeure. The review therefore said businesses would not simply lose their permits because of the COVID measures. [S1: “Meerdere Facebookgebruikers (hier gearchiveerd) beweren dat de vergunningen van horecagelegenheden in Duitsland niet meer verlengd zullen worden. De reden? Het feit dat ze al een jaar (gedwongen) gesloten zijn. In Nederland zou hetzelfde staant te gebeuren.”] [S1: “Maar de gedwongen sluiting door de coronamaatregelen gelden als een uitzondering. In Nederland is er een gelijkaardige automatische overmachtsregel van toepassing.”] The review explains that paragraph 8 of Germany’s hospitality law allows a permit to expire after a year without activity, but also allows the deadline to be extended for an important reason. It notes that businesses providing takeaway or delivery were not in the same position as venues that had ceased activity. The closures of some German bars, clubs and discos had begun on 16 March 2020, but rules differed among federal states: Rheinland-Pfalz automatically extended the deadline by a year, while Baden-Württemberg required an application. [S1: “In paragraaf 8 van de Duitse horecawet staat dat de vergunning vervalt als er een jaar lang geen activiteit plaatsvond. Maar die termijn kan worden verlengd als er een belangrijke reden is. De coronamaatregelen gelden als belangrijk reden. Het verlopen van de vergunning geldt niet voor bedrijven die bijvoorbeeld gezorgd hebben voor een afhaal- of bezorgdienst.”] [S1: “Een aantal horecagelegenheden in Duitsland (het gaat hier vooral om bars, clubs, en discotheken) is gesloten sinds 16 maart 2020.”] [S1: “In sommige deelstaten, zoals in Rheinland-Pfalz, is de vervaltermijn automatisch verlengd met een jaar. In andere deelstaten moet dan weer een aanvraag ingediend worden om de vergunning te verlengen. Dat is onder andere het geval in ondere andere Baden-Württemberg.”] For the Netherlands, the review says a permit under the Drank- en Horecawet could also expire after a year without use, but that the pandemic restrictions and forced closure could not be attributed to the permit holder and constituted force majeure. Its conclusion was that the restrictions did not by themselves permit authorities to withdraw hospitality permits. [S1: “In Nederland is de situatie gelijkaardig: een vergunning op basis van de Drank- en Horecawet kan vervallen als er een jaar geen gebruik werd gemaakt van de vergunning. Maar ook hier heeft dat niet als gevolg dat horecagelegenheden hun vergunning kwijtgeraken. De coronamaatregelen en de gedwongen sluiting kan een vergunninghouder niet worden toegerekend en levert daarom overmacht op. Op grond van de coronamaatregelen in Nederland kan dus niet zomaar worden overgegaan tot het intrekken van vergunningen.”]

Vishvas NewsPolitics & government

BJP did announce in it’s manifesto to change Tamil Nadu’s name as Dakshina or Nitchala Pradesh

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned viral images said to show the BJP’s 2021 Tamil Nadu election manifesto promising to rename the state. One version named “Dakshina Pradesh”; another said “Nitchala Pradesh.” The review reports that it found the manifesto image had been altered, rather than showing an authentic party announcement. To check the images, Vishvas News says it searched for reliable reporting confirming the proposal and located an original BJP Tamil Nadu post showing a manifesto image about agriculture and farmers. It also says the full 2021 Tamil Nadu manifesto was available for comparison. The review reports finding no authentic source confirming the renaming claim. The review additionally contacted Sudhakar Reddy, identified as BJP National Co-incharge for Tamil Nadu. Reddy denied that the party had announced a name change and said the manifesto poster had been edited and circulated with false claims. Taken together, the reported comparison with the original party material, lack of corroborating sources, and the party representative’s denial support the review’s conclusion that the viral manifesto claim was false.

FACTLYPolitics & government

Video of PM Narendra Modi revealing his formula to fool the poor people of this country

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The post presented a clipped video as showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi revealing a tactic to deceive poor people while speaking at an election meeting in West Bengal. The original review checked that specific attribution and setting. It reports that the footage was a segment cut from a longer video, and that the fuller recording changes the meaning of the quoted words: Modi was describing what he called the Congress party’s formula for remaining in power, not his own formula. The review says the statement was made at a public meeting in Bokhakat, Assam, rather than at a West Bengal election event. To investigate, the reviewers searched using relevant keywords and found a video with similar visuals on the BJP’s official YouTube channel. They identified it as footage of Modi addressing a public meeting in Bokhakat on 21 March 2021, and said the visuals in the post appear at 35:19. In the fuller recording, the words continue beyond the portion circulated in the post: Modi adds that this was the Congress party’s formula for staying in power. The review says the clip removed that second part, making the quote appear to refer to Modi’s own approach. The review also points to a Hindustan Times article for context, reporting that Modi had characterized the formula as an old Congress Party strategy. Taken together, the cited full-video context and the different location contradict the post’s presentation of the clip. The supplied review does not provide the Hindustan Times article itself, so that contextual reporting is described only as the review summarizes it.

dpaPolitics & government

Politie in Turijn kiest de kant van de burgers tijdens een manifestatie.

Publisher’s rating: De video en foto die worden gedeeld zijn niet genomen in Turijn in 2021. De foto dateert van 2013 en werd genomen in Thailand. De video toont Turijnse politieagenten, ook in 2013.

The claim concerned a demonstration in Turin on 21 March 2021: posts said police had sided with the protesting public and circulated a photograph of police equipment on the ground and a video of officers removing their helmets as demonstrators applauded. The review confirms that a demonstration against coronavirus measures took place in Turin that day, but says police did not side with the demonstrators; a clash occurred and one officer was injured. (S1: “In de Noord-Italiaanse stad Turijn vond op zaterdag 21 maart 2021 wel degelijk een manifestatie tegen de coronamaatrelegen plaats.”; “Het kwam zelfs tot een schermutseling tussen politie en demonstranten, waarbij één agent gewond raakte.”) The evidence shared to support the claim did not show the events of March 2021. The review traces the video to a protest by the Forconi movement in Turin in December 2013, when officers in riot gear removed their helmets and demonstrators applauded. It says the Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano’s longer video shows the same group of officers as the Facebook clip, establishing the clip’s earlier provenance. (S1: “Op een actie van de protestbeweging Forconi, vergelijkbaar met de Franse Gele Hesjes, in Turijn in december 2013 namen een groep politieagenten in oproeiuitrusting hun helmen af.”; “In een video van de Italiaanse krant Il Fatto Quotidiano is vanaf 0:13 dezelfde groep politieagenten te zien als in de video gebruikt op Facebook.”) The photograph was also from a different place and time: the review identifies it as a picture taken in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2013, not Turin in 2021. It reports that an archived image showed the photograph and its date, although the original Thai website was no longer accessible. Together, the video’s comparison with the longer 2013 footage and the archived photograph’s provenance show why the circulated media do not establish the claim about the 2021 Turin demonstration. (S1: “Deze foto werd niet afgelopen weekend in Turijn genomen, maar bijna 8 jaar geleden in de Thaise hoofdstad Bangkok.”; “De website is niet toegankelijk, maar een gearchiveerd beeld toont duidelijk de foto en datum.”)