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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

Image of late Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalitha with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a black-and-white photograph said to show former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. FACTLY’s review identifies the woman beside Jayalalitha not as Sitharaman, but as Tamil author Sivasankari. It says the identification is supported by the image’s appearance in a Facebook post naming Jayalalitha and Sivasankari, and by the same photograph appearing in a Vikatan article about Jayalalitha’s friends, where Sivasankari is named. The review also says it compared older images of Sivasankari and Sitharaman and concluded that the woman on the right in the photograph is Sivasankari. Thus, the central issue is the identity of the second woman in the specific image—not whether Jayalalitha and Sitharaman were otherwise associated. The evidence described in the review points to a different person in the photograph.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturPolitics & government

Gegner der Corona-Maßnahmen suchen immer wieder nach Verfehlungen von Politikern. Dabei finden sich tatsächliche Fehler, wenn etwa Bundespräsident Alexander Van der Bellen zu lange im Restaurant sitzen bleibt. Allerdings gibt es auch Facebook-Postings, die den Eindruck vermitteln, dass sich Bundeskanzler Sebastian Kurz in der Corona-Krise ohne Maske in Frankreich aufhält

Publisher’s rating: Falsch. Kurz hat Frankreichs Staatschef Emmanuel Macron nicht während der Coronakrise besucht. Ein vermeintliches Beweisfoto stammt von Anfang 2018.

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

വിശ്വസിച്ച് കൂടെ നിന്ന സഖാവ് അലനേയും സഖാവ് താഹയെയും ആ പാർട്ടി ചതിച്ചു പിന്നെയാണോ ഒരു സമൂഹത്തെ ചതിക്കാൻ പിണറായിക്ക് ബുദ്ധിമുട്ട്… പിണറായിയുടെ ഈ കാപട്യം ജനം തിരിച്ചറിയും – സഖാവ് വിഎസ്

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

Deutsche Presse-AgenturPolitics & government

Op Facebook wordt gesuggereerd dat Nederlandse bestuurders die de bevolking gedragsregels en andere restricties opleggen wegens COVID-19, zich niet aan de eigen regels houden: "...die 15 meter-regel geldt alleen vor hen die 'm opgelegt krijgen... ...niet vor hen die 'm opleggen...". Om die bewering te staven zijn in mei 2020 bij de post foto’s geplaatst van premier Mark Rutte en enkele ministers die in de tuin en op het terras van het Catshuis, de ambtswoning van de minister-president in Den Haag, de anderhalvemeterregel niet in acht nemen. Rutte raakt zelfs een collega-minister aan die niet met hem in hetzelfde huishouden woont.

Publisher’s rating: De bewering is fout, althans voor wat betreft de foto’s die als bewijs moeten dienen. Het gaat om oude foto’s die zijn gemaakt in 2018, lang voordat de anderhalvemetermaatregel inging.

The Facebook post used photographs of Prime Minister Mark Rutte and other cabinet members at the Catshuis to suggest that Dutch leaders were not following the COVID-19 distancing rule they imposed on the public. The original review examined the photographs’ timing and setting, rather than disputing that cabinet members were also expected to follow the rule. It states that the measure applied to everyone in the Netherlands, including cabinet members, but that these images predated COVID-19 in the country. The review identifies the occasion as an informal cabinet gathering at the Catshuis on 21 August 2018. The ministers had returned from the summer recess for a planning day ahead of the coming parliamentary year; the 2019 budget was among the subjects discussed. Because the photographs show an event from 2018, they cannot establish that the ministers breached a COVID-era distancing measure. To trace the images, the review reports finding the lower photograph, showing a drinks gathering, in a contemporaneous nu.nl story about the Catshuis meeting, and the upper photograph in a Reformatorisch Dagblad report the day after the meeting. It also points to video of the event on the AD website. This provenance supports the conclusion that the images were old photographs repurposed as evidence of conduct during the pandemic.

NewtralPolitics & government

Jair Bolsonaro como mejor presidente de la historia de Brasil en una portada del diario Folha de São Paulo

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerns a purported Folha de São Paulo front page portraying Jair Bolsonaro as “the best president in the history of Brazil.” Newtral identifies the image as a fake cover, rather than a genuine editorial endorsement. Its account says the fabricated front page paired Bolsonaro’s photograph and the prominent headline with a quotation attributed to him, giving the image a satirical appearance. To check what Folha actually published, Newtral says it consulted the newspaper’s official Twitter account, where the paper posted its cover daily, and its online cover archive. The review reports that the real lead story on Saturday, May 23, was the leak of a video from a Brazilian cabinet meeting. In that video, Bolsonaro insulted and threatened political opponents, including the governors of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Newtral also says Folha’s newsroom, contacted by the fact-checker, denied any connection to the purported satirical cover. The review explains why the fabrication could seem plausible: Bolsonaro had made a related threat at a cabinet meeting on April 22. It reports that he said officials praised by Folha or O Globo would lose their posts. That earlier remark does not authenticate the alleged cover; the comparison with the real May 23 front page and the newsroom’s denial address whether Folha published it. The evidence described by Newtral therefore identifies the image as a montage, not a genuine newspaper cover.