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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

NewtralPolitics & government

Un colectivo feminista presenta una campaña para el aborto legal, seguro y gratuito con dos tartas de bebés troceados

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim circulated with images of two cakes, one shaped like a naked baby and the other like a baby wearing a shirt and diaper. Newtral reports that the Facebook post presented them as part of a feminist collective’s pro-abortion campaign, but its investigation found the images had separate origins and were not evidence of that campaign. (S1: “El contenido incluye imágenes de dos tartas, una que hace una recreación de un bebé desnudo y la otra, de un bebé con camiseta y pañal.”; “Es falso que sean de una campaña feminista.”) To check the images, the investigation used a reverse-image search. It found the cake shown in the second image in a YouTube video from April 2011. The video description said it was a cake made for an office celebration; Newtral reports that the people speaking in the video made no comments connecting it to feminism or abortion. (S1: “A través de una búsqueda inversa, encontramos la segunda imagen en un vídeo de YouTube de abril de 2011.”; “Las personas de la grabación, que hablan en inglés, no dicen nada que pueda ser vinculado al feminismo ni al aborto”) For the naked-baby cake, Newtral traced the image to a post by Deviant Desserts on the company’s Facebook page, dated October 25, 2016. The company described itself as specializing in original, custom cakes. These distinct origins undermine the post’s portrayal of the cakes as a new campaign by a feminist collective. (S1: “En relación con la primera imagen, la del bebé desnudo, corresponde a un postre realizado por la empresa Deviant Desserts.”; “Podemos encontrar la foto en su página de Facebook publicada el 25 de octubre de 2016.”; “La empresa se describe como especializada en ‘pasteles originales y personalizados’.”)

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: MK Stalin made Thirumavalavan to sit on the floor

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a viral photograph that appeared to show M.K. Stalin, actor Kamal Haasan, T.R. Baalu and Durai Murugan seated on a sofa, while Thol. Thirumavalavan sat on the floor. The accompanying post alleged that Stalin had humiliated Thirumavalavan because he is Dalit. The review reports that the post was shared on Facebook on March 5, 2020, by a user identified as Kodees Waran. The review says it searched for the image using reverse-image search and found that the surrounding scene came from July 2018, when Haasan visited M. Karunanidhi’s home to enquire about his health. It reports that photographs of that visit did not show Thirumavalavan sitting on the floor. The review also cites coverage and images from Indian Express Tamil concerning visitors enquiring about Karunanidhi’s health on July 27, 2018; it says an image showed Thirumavalavan seated on a sofa alongside Stalin. Based on the original images it says it located, the review concluded that the viral picture combined a separate image of Thirumavalavan sitting on the floor with the photograph of Stalin and Haasan meeting. That distinction undermines the post’s presentation of the people as sharing one scene and its allegation that Stalin made Thirumavalavan sit on the floor. The review therefore judged the Facebook post false.

台灣事實查核中心Politics & government

【錯誤】網傳印度總理莫迪語錄圖：「他們（中國）沒有信仰...除了GDP，他們什麼都有！目前GDP也快沒有了，剩下的只有（中共）政府的暴力和謊言…」？

Publisher’s rating: 錯誤

The claim concerns a circulating image attributing to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a statement about China: that Chinese people lacked faith, thought, votes, and freedom, and that only GDP remained before violence and lies. The review says text and image versions circulated online from March 2, and that a forum post also appeared in a variation attributing the words to Marilyn Monroe as John F. Kennedy’s lover. The original poster did not provide a source when asked. (The review describes that variation as a distorted version of the circulating text.)

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: Arjun Sampath condemned H Raja

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review investigated a social-media news card attributed to News 7 Tamil. It purported to quote Arjun Sampath saying H. Raja was responsible for attacks on Hindu Munnani members in Coimbatore and asking why Raja had not received a mental-health assessment. The review says the card was shared on Facebook on March 2, 2020, and was presented as having been published that day at 4 p.m. The claim at issue is therefore not simply whether the men were involved in a dispute, but whether Sampath made the quoted statements and News 7 Tamil published the card. The investigation checked the card’s appearance and compared its stated publication time with News 7 Tamil’s output. It noted that the card lacked the watermark logo ordinarily present on the outlet’s cards and used a different Tamil font. The reviewers also examined News 7 Tamil cards from March 2: they found no card about Sampath, and reported that the outlet had instead published a card about a Delhi sexual-offence case at 4 p.m. The outlet’s online-section administrator separately confirmed to the reviewers that the card was fake. The review also looked for independent evidence that Sampath had made the allegation, including reports about the Coimbatore clash and statements on his Facebook page. It says those searches found no report or post in which he blamed Raja or called for a mental-health assessment. On the evidence described, the purported News 7 Tamil card does not establish that Sampath made the statements; the review concludes that the circulating post was false.

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: Rajenthra Bhalaji supported Marwadis in Tamil Nadu

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a social-media news card attributed to Tamil Nadu minister Rajenthra Bhalaji. It purported to quote him saying that without Marwadis, many Tamils would be left begging. The review says the post circulated with his photograph and the Thanthi TV logo, and that it was shared on Facebook on March 1, 2020. The review examined whether Thanthi TV had published the card and whether Bhalaji had made the statement. (S1)