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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

Deutsche Presse-AgenturPolitics & government

Geraune darüber, was wirklich dahintersteckt – so werden häufig Verschwörungstheorien geboren. Ihre Anhänger widersprechen oft einer gängigen, belegbaren Erklärung und unterstellen bestimmten mächtigen Personen oder Gruppen, der Gesellschaft schaden zu wollen. Nun wirft man dem US-Geheimdienst CIA vor, den Ausdruck «Verschwörungstheoretiker» erfunden zu haben: als Totschlagargument gegen alle, die die Arbeit der Regierung kritisierten. «Geboren wurde die Formel 1967 in den Denklaboren der CIA», heißt es in einem Artikel (hier archiviert).

Publisher’s rating: Falsch. Der englische Ausdruck für «Verschwörungstheoretiker» wurde schon vor 1967 verwendet. Den englischen Begriff für «Verschwörungstheorie» gibt es sogar seit mindestens 1863. Spätestens seit seiner Verwendung durch den Philosophen Karl Popper im Jahr 1948 ist der Ausdruck populär.

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: fake statement on Seeman

Publisher’s rating: False

The review examined a social-media statement attributed to Seeman, the chief coordinator of Naam Tamilar Katchi. It said that party funds were under investigation after being misappropriated and asked diaspora Tamils to deposit money temporarily into Seeman’s personal bank account. The review described the statement as circulating amid turmoil in the party after senior administrators Kalyanasundaram and Rajeev Gandhi left. [S1: “இதில், நாம் தமிழர் கட்சியின் தலைமை ஒருங்கிணைப்பாளர் சீமானின் பெயரில் வெளியான அறிக்கை ஒன்றை இணைத்துள்ளனர். அதில், ‘’புலம்பெயர் உறவுகளே, கட்சிப் பணத்தை கையாடல் செய்த நபர்கள் மீது விசாரணை நடைபெறுகிறது. இன்னும் சில காலத்திற்கு, என்னுடைய தனிப்பட்ட வங்கிக் கணக்கில் பணம் செலுத்துங்கள்,’’ என்று சீமான் எழுதியுள்ளதாக, அச்சிடப்பட்டுள்ளது.”] [S1: “நாம் தமிழர் கட்சியில் இருந்து கல்யாணசுந்தரம், ராஜீவ் காந்தி போன்ற முக்கிய நிர்வாகிகள் வெளியேறியுள்ளதால், அக்கட்சி வட்டாரத்தில் பரபரப்பான சூழல் நிலவுகிறது.”] To check the image, the publisher examined its font and submitted it to FotoForensics, reporting that the analysis confirmed it had been edited. It also checked the official Twitter accounts of Naam Tamilar Katchi and Seeman, and said it found no such statement on either account. [S1: “இந்த அறிக்கையில் உள்ள ஃபாண்ட் நமது சந்தேகத்தை மேலும் அதிகப்படுத்தவே, இதனை fotoforensics.com இணையதளத்தில் பதிவேற்றி ஆய்வு செய்தோம். இது எடிட் செய்யப்பட்ட ஒன்றுதான் என உறுதியானது.”] [S1: “Naam Tamilar Katchi அதிகாரப்பூர்வ ட்விட்டர் ஐடி சென்று தகவல் தேடினோம். ஆனால், இப்படி எந்த அறிக்கையும் வெளியிடப்படவில்லை என தெரியவந்தது. இதையடுத்து, சீமானின்(@SeemanOfficial) அதிகாரப்பூர்வ ட்விட்டர் ஐடியை பார்வையிட்டோம். அதிலும் எங்கேயும் இத்தகைய அறிக்கை காணப்படவில்லை.”] The publisher also said it contacted people in party circles. Those sources called the statement edited and denied that Seeman had publicly issued a request for financial help. On the evidence it describes—the image analysis, absence of the statement from the two official accounts, and the party-source denial—the review concluded that the circulated statement was fabricated. [S1: “இந்த அறிக்கை எடிட் செய்யப்பட்ட ஒன்றாகும். இப்படி வெளிப்படையாக யாரிடமும் சீமான் நிதி உதவி கேட்டு அறிக்கை வெளியிடவில்லை”] [S1: “சீமான் இப்படி எந்த அறிக்கையும் சமீபத்தில் வெளியிடவில்லை. அவரது பெயரில் சிலர் எடிட் செய்து, இப்படியான போலி அறிக்கையை சுற்றில் விட்டுள்ளனர்.”]

Pagella PoliticaPolitics & government

«Siamo stati l’unico partito (...) che non ha prestato propri senatori per la richiesta di referendum. Ci sono firme di senatori di tutti i partiti sulla richiesta di referendum che, vale la pena ricordare, non era necessario in questo caso perché la norma era stata approvata con più dei due terzi dei parlamentari»

Publisher’s rating: Nì

The review examines two connected parts of Giorgia Meloni’s statement on Porta a Porta: that Fratelli d’Italia was the only party whose senators did not sign the referendum request, and that a referendum was unnecessary because the constitutional reform had passed by more than two-thirds. It finds the first claim broadly right, with an important qualification, but the second wrong. The review explains that the constitutional rules require a two-thirds majority in each chamber at the second vote to prevent a confirmatory referendum; the reform did not reach that threshold in the Senate. The decisive figures are the second-round votes: 553 of 630 in the Chamber of Deputies on 8 October 2019, but 180 of 321 in the Senate on 11 July 2019, below the 214 votes needed there. The review says the referendum request was filed on 10 January 2020 with 71 senators’ signatures, exceeding the 64-signature threshold, and was admitted on 23 January. It reports that press accounts attributed signatures to senators from several parties and groups. Its conclusion is that Fratelli d’Italia was not literally unique: the Svp-Patt list also had no senators among the signatories. The claim is therefore accurate only if understood as referring to national parties. The review’s explanation also shows why the statement’s two parts cannot be treated as one: the absence of Fratelli d’Italia signatories is a separate matter from whether the referendum could be requested. Because the Senate vote fell short of two-thirds, the review says the referendum request was permissible; had both chambers reached that threshold, the Constitution would have barred it.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturPolitics & government

Der russische Regierungskritiker Alexej Nawalny sitzt in einem Café und hält einen Becher in der Hand. Dieses Foto soll kurz vor dem Flug am 20. August 2020 aufgenommen worden sein, auf dem Nawalny das Bewusstsein verloren hat. Bei Facebook wird über den Urheber des Bildes spekuliert: «Die westlichen Medien, wie Bild waren zufällig dabei und konnten das Geschehene aufnehmen.»

Publisher’s rating: Das Foto hat ein Instagram-User aufgenommen, der nach eigenen Angaben später auch mit Nawalny im Flugzeug saß. Westliche Medien haben das Bild zwar verbreitet, waren jedoch nicht bei Nawalnys Abflug dabei.

The post speculated that western media, including Bild, had been present to capture the moment shown in a photo of Navalny in a café shortly before his August 20, 2020 flight. The investigation identifies the image’s source as an Instagram account called “DJ Pavlin,” whose profile gave the name Pavel Lebedev. It reports that the café photo appeared in the account’s Instagram Story and was saved among its Highlights. The source distinguishes taking the photograph from later distributing it: German media, including Bild, used the image from Instagram in their coverage. That reuse does not show that those outlets were at the café or at Navalny’s departure. The review places the image in the setting of Navalny’s Tomsk-to-Moscow flight, during which he lost consciousness, and says the photo likely shows him drinking tea at the airport before departure. The review also points to a later post from the same account showing medical personnel in an aircraft. Its background includes a person screaming, but the source explicitly says it is unclear whether that person was Navalny. The account’s Highlights said Lebedev was on the same plane as Navalny; this supports the account holder’s claimed connection to the flight, but does not establish the identity of the screaming person.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturPolitics & government

Seit geraumer Zeit kursieren Behauptungen im Netz, dass die Corona-Pandemie von langer Hand geplant worden sei. Nun werden diese Gerüchte erneut befeuert: In einer Online-Datenbank von internationalen Handelsorganisationen tauchen Datensätze mit dem Titel «Covid-19 Test kits» aus dem Jahr 2017 auf. Der Link zu den Handelsdaten wird etwa auf Facebook (hier archiviert) im Kontext einer sogenannten «Plandemie»-Theorie gepostet. Was ist dran?

Publisher’s rating: Hinter der Bezeichnung «Covid-19 Test kits» verbergen sich Medizinprodukte, mit denen schon seit Jahren gehandelt wird. Sie helfen auch bei anderen Krankheiten und Infektionen, waren aber zur leichteren Bestellung mit dem neuen Titel versehen worden.

The claim arose from WITS, an online trade database, displaying 2017 import and export records under the label “Covid-19 Test kits.” Posts used those records to imply that the pandemic had been planned in advance. The investigation found that the label was applied retrospectively to existing trade categories; it did not mean that the products or codes had been created specifically for SARS-CoV-2. The article identifies WITS as a database run by the World Bank, UNCTAD and the WTO, and explains that products are organized by trade numbers, or HS codes. It focuses on codes 300215, 382200 and 902780, which were already in use before the pandemic. The review describes the products covered by those codes: antibody-based medicines under 300215, reagents used in many kinds of diagnostic or laboratory tests under 382200, and a particular CO2 detector under 902780. It reports that the World Bank explained the last device could help clinicians check whether patients were correctly connected to ventilators. Thus, the records concerned broad or previously existing product categories, not evidence of advance manufacture of COVID-19 test kits. According to the article, the World Customs Organization compiled selected HS codes in April 2020 and assigned them new descriptions to help trading partners find products considered critical for COVID-19 response. The World Bank told dpa that the more specific descriptions were applied to products traded since 2017, the year of the last revision of the trade codes. The database labels were subsequently changed again, and a notice clarified that the records tracked pre-existing medical devices now classified as critical for tackling COVID-19.