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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

dpaPolitics & government

Fin février 2021, les roumains ont manifestés en masse pour la démission du gouvernement.

Publisher’s rating: La photographie a été prise à Bucarest lors de protestations contre le gouvernement sur la place de la Victoire au centre de la ville. Cependant, l'image date de 2017.

The claim attached a photograph of a large crowd in Bucharest to protests in February 2021 seeking the Romanian government’s resignation. The investigation identifies the scene as Victory Square, in front of the Romanian government’s headquarters, but dates the photograph to 5 February 2017—not to the claimed 2021 demonstrations. It says that half a million people reportedly took to the streets across Romania on that 2017 date, including nearly 250,000 in Bucharest.

FactCheck.orgPolitics & government

H.R. 1446 “creates delays for law-abiding citizens" to acquire a firearm that "could be indefinite."

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The claim concerned H.R. 1446, the Enhanced Background Checks Act, and an objection made at a House Republican press conference. Rep. Hudson argued that the bill “creates delays for law-abiding citizens, could be indefinite to acquire a weapon.” The review calls that characterization misleading and explains how the bill’s waiting periods would work for background checks that remain unresolved. Under the existing rule described in the review, a licensed dealer could transfer a firearm after three business days if the check was still incomplete. H.R. 1446 would extend the initial period to a minimum of 10 business days. If the check remained incomplete after that, the prospective buyer could petition for a final eligibility determination. The excerpt ends while quoting the bill’s further provision, so it does not provide the complete text of that provision or establish the final deadline after a petition. The review’s qualification is that the longer wait applies when a check is incomplete, not to every firearm purchase. It reports that about 90% of NICS checks in 2018 were completed in minutes. For cases needing further investigation because of incomplete criminal-history records, the dealer would have to wait at least 10 business days rather than three before the next step. Thus the cited evidence supports a longer potential wait for unresolved checks, but does not establish that delays for law-abiding purchasers would generally be indefinite.

BuzzFeed JapanPolitics & government

「アメリカのバイデン大統領が記者会見する姿は合成」

Publisher’s rating: 誤り

The claim concerns footage of President Joe Biden speaking to reporters before departing the White House aboard Marine One. The questioned moment shows his hand overlapping what appears to be a microphone windscreen; the review says this was presented online as evidence of a composite or fake interview. The footage had been published by The Hill and ABC News on March 17, and the hand-and-microphone moment occurs about four seconds into it. [S1: “話題を呼んでいるのは、政治専門誌「The Hill」やテレビ局「ABCニュース」が3月17日に公開した動画だ。バイデン氏が専用ヘリコプター「マリーン・ワン」でホワイトハウスを離れる前に、記者の囲み取材に応じた様子を伝えている。「合成」との指摘を集めているのは、動画の4秒あたり。手前にあるように見えるマイクの風よけカバーに、バイデン氏の手が重なる場面だ。”] The review examined whether the apparent overlap showed that the footage was fabricated. It reports that other media captured the same press scrum from different angles: Getty Images published photographs, Reuters distributed a side view, and The Washington Post published another-angle video. It also identifies a Voice of America reporter who said he was holding the lighter-colored fuzzy microphone in front of Biden at the scene. [S1: “たしかに一見、不自然な映像に見えるが、会見の様子はThe HillやABCニュースだけではなく、様々なメディアによって報じられている。大手フォトエージェンシーのGetty Imagesには、他のアングルから撮影した囲みの様子が公開（写真上）されている。手前に大きなマイクがあることがわかる。また、ロイター通信は横から撮影した様子（写真下）を配信しており、記者団から距離を取って立つバイデン大統領の様子が確認できる。”] The article further describes a debunking video that recreated the visual effect, attributing it to an optical illusion caused by the long microphone used to maintain social distance. Taken together, the separate-angle imagery and the account of the person holding the microphone address the specific moment cited as evidence of compositing; the review reports no evidence that the footage was synthetic. [S1: “ワシントンポストでは、別の角度から撮影した動画が公開されている。現場で実際にマイクを持っていたという米国営放送「Voice of America」の記者も、以下のようにツイートしている。”] [S1: “YouTubeには、実際にこれを再現したデバンカー（ファクトチェックに当たる人）が、合成を否定する動画もアップされている。ソーシャルディスタンスを取るために長いマイクを使っていることから、目の錯覚が生まれているという分析だ。”]

Pagella PoliticaPolitics & government

«Il decreto del governo consente di chiedere i congedi al 50% della retribuzione solo a quei genitori che non possono svolgere il loro lavoro in smart working. (...) E per i genitori lavoratori autonomi non ci sono congedi, ma solo bonus baby sitter!»

Publisher’s rating: Vero

The claim concerned measures in Italy’s decree-law no. 30 of 13 March 2021, adopted in response to the pandemic and to school closures. The review examined Chiara Gribaudo’s statement that the leave paid at half salary was available only when a parent could not work remotely, and that self-employed parents could receive a babysitting bonus but not parental leave. It reports that the decree was still before the Chamber of Deputies for conversion and could be changed. The review explains that employees with a child under 16 could work from home during the suspension of in-person classes, or in specified cases of the child’s infection or quarantine. A parent could request leave only if the work could not be done remotely and the child was under 14; only one parent could take it at a time. The leave corresponded to the school-closure or illness/quarantine period and was paid at 50 per cent of salary. These conditions support the claim’s distinction between remote-capable and non-remote work, while also showing that leave was not available to every employee in every circumstance. The review says the provision applied only to employees. Self-employed workers with children under 14 could instead seek a babysitting bonus of up to 100 euros per week. It also notes that the same bonus was available to certain employees in the health sector, including doctors, nurses and healthcare assistants. Its conclusion is that Gribaudo’s description of the decree’s rules was accurate, subject to the age and employment conditions specified in the legislation.

dpaPolitics & government

Niemals wurde ein Bürger zu einem EU-Beitritt befragt.

Publisher’s rating: Die Behauptung ist falsch. Tatsächlich hat es zu Fragen der Mitgliedschaft in der EU mehr als 20 Volksabstimmungen gegeben.

The claim appeared in a Luxembourgish Facebook post calling for the EU’s dissolution over plans for an EU vaccine passport. It asserted that no citizen had ever been asked about an EU accession. The review distinguishes the EU’s original founding from later membership decisions: when six countries established the European Economic Community through the Treaties of Rome on 25 March 1957, there had been no prior popular vote. The governments were authorized by their national constitutions to conclude international agreements. That absence at the founding does not support the claim’s sweeping “never.” The review describes subsequent votes on joining the European community. In 1972, Denmark and Ireland voted in favor of accession, while Norway voted against it; the United Kingdom held a referendum in 1975, in which voters chose to remain in the European community. In 2003, ten referendums addressed EU membership ahead of the enlargement planned for May 2004. Croatia also held an accession referendum in 2012. The review gives further examples: Austria, Finland and Sweden voted to join in 1994, while Norway again voted against joining. It also notes that Switzerland held two unsuccessful accession referendums, in 1997 and 2001. Taken together, these examples directly contradict the assertion that citizens were never asked about EU accession. The article also discusses votes on other EU-related questions, but those are distinct from referendums specifically about joining.

FACTLYPolitics & government

Photo of Mamata Banerjee suddenly getting up and walking away from her wheelchair

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns an image circulated as showing injured West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee suddenly getting up and walking away from her wheelchair. FACTLY reports that the image was edited: the original photograph showed Banerjee leaving the SSKM Hospital in Kolkata in a wheelchair, rather than walking away from one. The review says it used a reverse image search to trace the photograph to Banerjee’s hospital discharge on 12 March 2021. It also compared a visible detail: the circulated image showed her without spectacles, while the review says she wore them in the original discharge photograph. The original image, according to the review, had appeared in several news articles. FACTLY further reports that a photo editor named Krishna created the altered image and shared it on Twitter on 14 March 2021. These details support the distinction between the genuine hospital-discharge photo and the edited version used to make the claim. The review’s conclusion is that the circulated image does not show Banerjee getting up and walking away from her wheelchair.