PeakMetrics / Fact Checks
Politics & government fact checks
Explore claims publishers have checked about politics & government. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.
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Search by text or image12,754 published reviews in this topic
Op Facebook is een video gedeeld van een vrouw die beweert dat ze toestemming heeft om onder meer leden van het Nederlandse koningshuis te liquideren. De vrouw, die zich voorstelt als Desiree Stokkel, zegt dat ze de interim-premier van Nederland is. Ze zou de toestemming hebben gekregen van het Internationaal Strafhof (ICC) om enkele leden van het koningshuis, premier Mark Rutte en het hele parlement te doden. Ook spreekt ze over zogezegde rechtszaken tegen (oud-)regeringsleiders in andere landen. Maar wat klopt er precies van die video?
Publisher’s rating: De video is volstrekt onwaar. Het ICC geeft geen toestemming om mensen te liquideren, laat staan leden van de koninklijke familie of hooggeplaatste politici. De genoemde rechtszaken in de video bestaan niet, en de vrouw is al zeker niet de Nederlandse interim-premier.
تصاویر و اسناد همکاری آیتالله خمینی با سازمان سیا
Publisher’s rating: شاخدار
Inicjatorami podjęcia projektu dotyczącego zmian wynagrodzeń osób pełniących funkcje publiczne była opozycja.
Publisher’s rating: Nieweryfikowalne
Image of Yogi Adityanath with a plate full of meat beside him
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The review examines a circulating image that appears to show a plate of meat beside Yogi Adityanath, with a police officer kneeling nearby. It says the image was altered: in the original image, the plate contained flower petals, not meat. To check the image, the review reports searching YouTube for videos showing a police officer kneeling before Adityanath. It found news-channel videos with a similar scene and says one of them clearly showed flower petals in the plate. The review compared that footage with the image in the claim and concluded that the meat had been digitally placed on the plate.
Burj Khalifa is lit up in Israeli flag in the wake of UAE-Israel deal
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The claim concerned a social-media image purporting to show the Burj Khalifa illuminated with the Israeli flag after the UAE-Israel peace deal. FACTLY reports that the deal was signed on 13 August 2020 and that posts presenting the image as a real display were circulating in its wake. The review says it found no news report of such an incident and no image or video on the tower’s official social-media accounts showing the flag.
Spekulationen über überhöhte Teilnehmerzahlen bei der Demonstration gegen Corona-Auflagen in Berlin am 1. August verbreiten sich weiterhin. «Jede sieht sofort, dass 17.000 nicht richtig sein kann», heißt es in einem Facebook-Beitrag. Als Beleg dafür wird die Fläche herangezogen, die Demonstranten angeblich bei der Versammlung besetzt haben sollen. «Die Straße des 17. Juni ist 3,58 km lang und 85 m breit. Macht eine Fläche von 304.300 qm», heißt es weiter. «Angenommen, jede/r Teilnehmer*in hatte 3 qm Platz um sich herum - wonach es eigentlich nicht aussieht - waren etwa 100.000 Leute da.»
Publisher’s rating: Die Angabe der Breite der Straße des 17. Juni ist falsch - sie ist nur etwa 40 Meter breit. Die Länge ist grundsätzlich korrekt - allerdings erstreckte sich die Demonstration nur über einen wesentlich kleineren Teilbereich der Straße. Somit belegt die Flächenrechnung keine höhere Teilnehmerzahl.
The Facebook post argued that the 17,000-person figure for the 1 August 2020 demonstration against coronavirus restrictions in Berlin could not be right. It multiplied a stated street length of 3.58 kilometres by a width of 85 metres, then divided the resulting area by three square metres per person to suggest about 100,000 attendees. The investigation examined whether those dimensions represented the area actually occupied by demonstrators. For the width, the agency described measuring the road on Google Maps and on strecken-messen.de, and said a Berlin-Mitte district spokesperson confirmed an approximate width of 40 metres, including the roadway, sidewalks, cycle path, median and other street parts. The district reportedly said the road reaches about 80 metres only at the roundabout around the Victory Column. The post’s 85-metre figure therefore does not describe the street’s usual width; the review said it may have originated from a deutschland.de page. The 3.5-kilometre length is broadly accurate for the full stretch between the Brandenburg Gate and Ernst-Reuter-Platz, but the demonstration occupied a shorter stretch. The crowd reached at most from the Brandenburg Gate to the Victory Column, about 1.7 kilometres, and photographs showed it thinning before reaching the column. Thus, the post’s calculation applies its assumed crowd density to dimensions that do not match the area occupied. The review also reported that police estimated 17,000 people in the march and 20,000 at the subsequent rally, while organizers claimed 1.3 million; those figures are reported estimates, not a headcount established by the area calculation.
Former President of India Pranab Mukherjee has passed away
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The review examined a social-media post claiming that former President of India Pranab Mukherjee had died. It reported that the claim was false when it circulated: Mukherjee’s son and daughter publicly rejected the rumours and said he was “still alive & haemodynamically stable.” His son also reported that Mukherjee was responding to medical treatment and that his vital parameters were stable. The review noted that journalist Rajdeep Sardesai had initially tweeted about Mukherjee’s death, then deleted the tweet and apologized for falling for the false report. The timing is essential to interpreting the claim. The review’s later update says Mukherjee did die on August 31, 2020, and that his son confirmed the death in a tweet. Thus, the review’s assessment concerned the earlier circulating report, which was false at that time; it does not mean Mukherjee never died. The article’s conclusion describes him as alive during the earlier episode, while its update records the subsequent death.
Auf Facebook kursiert eine angebliche Äußerung von Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel (CDU): «Meinungsfreiheit braucht strenge Grenzen», soll Merkel gesagt haben. So steht es als Zitat unter einem Foto von ihr.
Publisher’s rating: Diesen Satz hat Angela Merkel nie gesagt. Verbreitet hat ihn eine mittlerweile gelöschte Seite, die sich als «Online-Satirezeitung» bezeichnete und Politikerzitate erfand.
The claim concerns a Facebook post that attributed «Meinungsfreiheit braucht strenge Grenzen» to Angela Merkel and displayed the words beneath her photograph. The investigation traces the image to a screenshot of an online article: the visible website address was «berliner-express.com». It reports that the same false quote had already circulated in April 2019, when an article about it appeared on that site. The article itself was no longer accessible when the fact-check was written, but an archived version showed that the site had been online at least as recently as 8 March 2020. The investigation describes the site as one that published fabricated politicians’ quotes and notes that its operators had called it an «Online-Satirezeitung». In its “About us” section, they described “FNA” as their “self-invented news agency.” This evidence links the Facebook image to a prior article on the site, rather than to a documented statement by Merkel. The excerpt also says that Correctiv had addressed the same false quote. It does not provide a transcript or other primary record of Merkel speaking those words, so the account’s stated basis is the quote’s provenance and the site’s characterization, not a cited recording or transcript.
In der Hauptstadt sollen angeblich neue Obergrenzen für die Teilnehmer einer Versammlung gelten. «3 Tage nach der Großdemo in Berlin, verbietet der Senat Demos über 1000 Menschen», heißt es in Sozialen Medien.
Publisher’s rating: Demonstrationen sind im Berlin weiterhin ohne Obergrenze der Teilnehmerzahl erlaubt. Auf dpa-Anfrage teilte die Berliner Senatsverwaltung für Inneres mit, dass eine Änderung derzeit auch nicht geplant sei.
The post claimed that Berlin’s Senate would prohibit demonstrations with more than 1,000 participants three days after the large demonstration against coronavirus restrictions. The review identifies that demonstration as having taken place on 1 August 2020, so the post’s timing points to 4 August. It reports that the fact-checkers checked the Berlin Senate’s coronavirus information page and the responsible Senate department’s announcements for that date, finding no notice of such a prohibition: “Weder auf der Corona-Informationsseite des Berliner Senats, noch in den Mitteilungen der zuständigen Berliner Senatsverwaltung für Inneres findet sich an diesem Tag eine Meldung darüber, dass in Berlin Demonstrationen mit mehr als 1000 Menschen verboten wurden oder werden.” The review also reports a direct inquiry to Berlin’s Senate Department for the Interior. The department confirmed that no participant cap existed or was planned, and a spokesperson called the claim “schlicht falsch.” The review adds that demonstrations in Berlin had already been permitted without a participant limit since 30 May 2020. Together, the dated announcements check and the department’s direct response address both the alleged new ban and whether a general cap was in force. The claim also conflated political calls for possible restrictions with an adopted rule. The review notes that an SPD parliamentary group spokesperson had called for limits if demonstrators failed to follow hygiene requirements, but reports no resulting change to the rules. It further explains that authorities could prohibit a particular demonstration on public-order or safety grounds; that existing power was not a general 1,000-person limit.
Photo of PM Modi’s letter to UP CM Yogi Adityanath congratulating him for his contribution towards ‘Hindu Rashtra’ and Ram Mandir
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The review examined a social-media post showing a purported letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. It says the letter congratulated Adityanath for contributions toward “Hindu Rashtra” and Ram Mandir, and concludes that the letter was not genuine. The review identifies the item it assessed as “A letter purportedly written by PM Modi to UP CM Yogi Adityanath congratulating him for his contribution towards ‘Hindu Rashtra’ and Ram Mandir.” As supporting evidence, the review reports that the Press Information Bureau had already addressed the letter on Twitter and called it fake. The excerpt does not reproduce that post or give details about how the bureau verified the letter, so the bureau’s reported clarification is the decisive evidence described here, rather than independently inspectable evidence in the supplied material. The review also argues that the letter’s language was unlikely in an official communication from the prime minister, noting that India is a secular state and that the letter purportedly congratulated a state chief minister for contributing to a “Hindu Rashtra.” That is presented as contextual reasoning; the review’s stated basis for its conclusion is the reported PIB clarification.
Wapres Ma'ruf Amin mundur dan digantikan oleh Prabowo
Publisher’s rating: Keliru
“The Democrats don’t want to do anything having to do with protecting people from eviction.”
Publisher’s rating: False
ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා, සහ රණසිංහ ප්රේමදාස මහතා එකට සිටි ඡායාරුපයක් ද?
Publisher’s rating: False
ඩී.එස්. සේනානායක මහතා මෙම ඡායාරූපයේ වඩාගෙන සිටින්නේ රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ මහතා ද?
Publisher’s rating: False
Vice President Leni Robredo said she is against the installation of barriers on motorcycles.
Publisher’s rating: Fake
Was er op 1 augustus een gigantische massa betogers aanwezig op een mars tegen de coronamaatregelen in Berlijn? Volgens een bericht dat gedeeld wordt op Facebook lijkt het daar wel op. Om dat te bewijzen, toont de auteur een luchtfoto van een grote menigte mensen in de straten. De foto zou bovendien aantonen dat er veel meer dan 20.000 betogers aanwezig waren, het getal waarover NPO 1 bericht. Maar klopt die foto wel?
Publisher’s rating: De luchtfoto is geen afbeelding van de betoging tegen de coronamaatregelen op 1 augustus. Het gaat om een foto die is genomen tijdens de Street Parade in Zürich op 10 augustus 2019.
The claim concerned a Facebook post that used an aerial photograph of a large crowd to suggest that many more than 20,000 people attended a demonstration against coronavirus measures in Berlin on 1 August 2020. The review says that the photograph was not taken at that demonstration. It reports that estimates for the Berlin event from authorities and organisers ranged from 17,000 to 20,000 people. To check the image’s origin, the investigation used a reverse image search and compared the circulated photograph with images on the Street Parade’s website. It identified the matching image as a helicopter photograph from the Street Parade in Zurich on 10 August 2019. The review points to the event’s press portal, where its eleventh photograph corresponds to the one circulated on social media. Thus, the image does not establish the size of the Berlin demonstration: it depicts a different event, in a different city and year.