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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

El Ayuntamiento de València ha aprobado que las personas trans viajen gratis en los autobuses de la ciudad

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim was that València had approved free bus travel for trans people through an initiative attributed to Compromís, the group governing the city. The review says the claim circulated on websites and social media, and that an article spreading it had been published in 2017. That article also referred to a real municipal measure against discrimination: painting city benches with the LGBT flag. The review distinguishes that measure from the unsupported claim about bus fares. To check the claim, the review says it contacted València’s Municipal Transport Company (EMT) and the city’s Equality Department, both of which denied that such an initiative existed. EMT also supplied a document listing transport discounts and benefits for different groups; the review says it contained no LGBT group. It further reports that the EMT regulations did not list trans people as eligible either for free travel or for any discount. The review describes the actual bus-related initiatives identified by the Equality Department as anti-LGBT-phobia posters and a Local Police bus used in response to a transphobic campaign. Those examples provide context for how the bus claim may have become associated with real municipal activity, but they are not evidence of free travel. The evidence presented therefore directly contradicts the claim that the city approved free bus rides for trans people.

FACTLYPolitics & government

Rahul Gandhi in his speech said that eagles are hovering due to unemployment created by Modi and BJP.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video presented as showing Rahul Gandhi saying that eagles were hovering because of unemployment created by Modi and the BJP. The review identifies the footage as Gandhi’s speech at a rally in Kondli, Delhi, ahead of the 2020 Delhi elections, and reports that the viral clip was doctored. To check the claim, the review points to the full video of the speech and specifies that Gandhi speaks about eagles at 8:42. It says he explained that eagles were hovering there because of dirt piled up at that location—not because of unemployment. The review also notes that Gandhi separately spoke about rising unemployment and violence in the country over the preceding five years and accused Modi and the BJP of responsibility. The edited video combined these distinct remarks to make it appear that he linked the eagles to unemployment. Thus, the source’s account says the clip misrepresents what he said.

PolitiFactPolitics & government

Says Trump withdrew from "the Iran nuclear deal that his own administration certified was working."

Publisher’s rating: This is accurate

Research from related reporting identifies the agreement as the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. It describes the bargain as Iran limiting its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. One account says Trump withdrew the United States from the accord in 2018; another likewise places his withdrawal during his first term. These excerpts therefore support the claim’s basic account of which deal Trump left and when. The excerpts do not establish the claim’s further point that Trump’s own administration had certified the deal was working. They contain no such certification, assessment, or account of the administration’s internal review. They also do not describe a fact-checking method or provide evidence that would independently resolve that part of the claim. The supplied reporting supports the withdrawal detail, but is insufficient to substantiate the full claim as phrased.

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: Was Lord Labough Dash a kind hearted governor of Madras

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a purported Lord Labough (also rendered Labak) Das, described in a widely shared post as a social reformer and spiritual figure who was loved by people in the Madras Presidency. The review investigated whether such a person existed and whether the post’s account of him was credible. It reports that the publisher’s researchers consulted people interested in history and searched for supporting information online; those they consulted said they had not heard of such a figure connected with Madras. The review also says the name did not appear in lists of British governors of the Madras Presidency. The image accompanying the post did not establish that Lord Labough Das was real. According to the review, a reverse-image search identified the pictured man as Lord Curzon, who had served as Viceroy of India, and the image had been edited and recirculated with the false identification. The review therefore treats both the person in the image and the story attached to it as misleading. As an alternative explanation for the expression “Ladu Labak Das,” the review cites a report in The Hindu saying that a Gujarati family named Ladd had been well known among Chennai residents. On the evidence presented, the review concludes that the supposed Lord Labough Das was a fictional character, not a documented governor or the origin of the phrase as the post claimed.

FACTLYPolitics & government

Congress leader Naseem Khan making Pakistan Zindabad slogans at a rally.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video presented as showing Congress leader Naseem Khan himself shouting “Pakistan Zindabad” at a rally. FACTLY reports that the clip was edited in a way that changed the apparent speaker and meaning. Its account says that in the full video Khan was referring to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, rather than making the slogans himself. The decisive evidence described in the review is the un-clipped video. FACTLY provides an English translation of Khan’s words: he asks whether a sedition case will be filed against Ravi Shankar for making the slogans on the banks of the Yamuna river in Delhi, in the presence of Rajnath Singh. That context makes clear that the slogans were part of Khan’s accusation about another person, not his own declaration. FACTLY also describes checking reporting about the incident and comparing the original and clipped videos. It says Khan filed a case at Sakinaka police station in October 2019, and that a police probe found the video had been doctored. The review therefore concludes that the clip misleadingly omits context and falsely attributes the slogans to Khan.

NewtralPolitics & government

El bulo sobre el dictamen del Tribunal de La Haya sobre Kosovo y la prevalencia de “la voluntad democrática” frente a la legalidad de un Estado

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerns a passage circulated as part of the International Court of Justice’s 2010 advisory opinion on Kosovo. It says that when a state’s constitutional legality conflicts with democratic will, the latter prevails. Newtral reports that the message used this purported passage to support Catalan independence, but says the passage does not appear in the court’s document. The court’s actual conclusion, as summarized in the review, was narrower: Kosovo’s declaration of independence did not violate international law. “In other words,” the review explains, “it was legal because it did not violate international law.” Newtral says it checked the advisory opinion itself and did not find the circulated extract. The review identifies the document as the Court’s opinion of 22 July 2010, concerning Kosovo’s declaration of independence of 17 February 2008. That distinction matters: the court’s stated conclusion about whether that declaration violated international law is not the sweeping rule about democratic will attributed to it in the viral message. The review also describes how the alleged quotation circulated. It says Pilar Rahola and Jaume Barberà cited it in a television appearance in 2013, and that judge Santiago Vidal used it in recorded lectures for the Catalan National Assembly. These examples document circulation, not confirmation that the passage was in the court opinion. Newtral further reports that the second part of the text was identified by the newspaper Ara as originating with a January 2013 statement from a committee of the Barcelona Bar Association.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturPolitics & government

In einem Artikel auf der Webseite "jouwatch" ("journalistenwatch.com") wird suggeriert, die Autorin und damalige Hamburger Abgeordnete Inge Hannemann habe in einer Talkshow gesagt: "Merkel und ihre Vasallen haben Angst vorm Volk, also muss es unterdrückt werden." Hartz IV sei "ein kriminelles Instrument der deutschen Verbrecherregierung, um das Volk in die Armut, in die Not und ins Elend zu treiben", heißt es in dem Zitat weiter

Publisher’s rating: Wie man in der Sendung sieht, hat Hannemann diese Sätze nicht gesagt. Das angebliche Zitat bezeichnet sie als "absolute Falschdarstellung".

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan paid homage to Annadurai

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review investigates a post claiming that Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan travelled to pay homage to Annadurai after Annadurai’s death. Its central question is whether a photograph shared with that claim actually shows such a visit. The review identifies the people in the image as Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Tamil Nadu minister Sathyavani Muthu and others, and says the circumstances depicted raised doubts about the image’s caption. To check the photograph, the publisher says it ran a reverse-image search and found the image in The Hindu. The caption there identifies the occasion as a reception at Rajaji Hall for Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan after his arrival in Chennai on 31 December 1969. The review also says The Hindu reported that he came to Chennai for a four-day visit in December 1969 for Gandhi’s birth-centenary celebrations. That documented occasion was nearly eleven months after Annadurai died on 3 February 1969. The review therefore concludes that the photograph shows a later reception, not Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan paying homage to Annadurai. Its evidence refutes the post’s identification of the photograph; it does not establish that he never paid homage in some other way.