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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 diputado de CS dice que hay que forzar la reacción violenta de los independentistas

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim circulated with a 2018 tweet saying that a violent reaction by Catalan independentists should be forced. Posts presenting it as evidence of Ciudadanos’ strategy attributed the account to Eduardo Llorens, described variously as a deputy or a party leader in Reus. The review says those attributions are false: “Estas atribuciones son falsas.” [S1] To check the claimed identity, Newtral says it searched the records of both Spain’s Congress of Deputies and Catalonia’s Parliament. It found no national deputy or Catalan parliamentary member named Eduardo Llorens. The party also told Newtral that nobody by that name had held office in Ciudadanos: “no ha habido ningún diputado ni nacional ni en el Parlament de Cataluña con el nombre de Eduardo Llorens” and “tampoco ninguna persona con este nombre ha ejercido un cargo en su formación.” The review notes that it could not determine whether he was a party member, because that information was confidential. [S1] The review also reports a limitation on checking the original post: the account had been deleted, so the tweet could no longer be found on the platform. It places the post in August 2018 and says it was later reused in November to allege a Ciudadanos, Vox and PP strategy in Alsasua. That later circulation does not establish that the account belonged to a Ciudadanos official; the review’s checks instead reject the claimed deputy and party-office identities. [S1]

Projeto ComprovaPolitics & government

Governador de Pernambuco (Partido Socialista Brasileiro) está dizendo em seu estado que ele é o responsável pelo décimo terceiro do Bolsa Família. Logo ele que é opositor ao Governo Bolsonaro.

Publisher’s rating: Falso - O governador de Pernambuco, Paulo Câmara, anunciou em agosto de 2018 a criação de um programa para pagar uma parcela extra a beneficiários do Bolsa Família. Ideia do governo Jair Bolsonaro foi divulgada em outubro daquele ano. No Estado, serão pagos os dois benefícios.

NewtralPolitics & government

Pedro Sánchez ha escrito un tuit en el que pide a la población no pasear banderas de España

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerns a message circulating on Twitter and Facebook that appeared to show then-acting president Pedro Sánchez asking people not to display or carry Spanish flags in public. Newtral reports that the message was attributed to him, but identifies the account that posted it as a parody account rather than his official profile. The post called for people to avoid showing or carrying Spanish flags in busy streets or other areas, using language presented as a government appeal: “Por su seguridad, no provoquen y por favor EVITEN enseñar o pasear con banderas de España por calles o zonas transitadas”. (S1) The account was named @sanchezcasrejon, with an “r,” was not verified, and identified itself as parody. Newtral says that Facebook posts concealed the part of the message indicating that it was parody. Those details explain how the post could be mistaken for a genuine statement when shared as a screenshot or without its account context. (S1) As a comparison, the review identifies Sánchez’s real account as @sanchezcastejon, which was verified. It reproduces a different post from that official account, dated October 15, 2019, about rural women; it is not the flag-related message. The evidence presented therefore distinguishes the false attribution from Sánchez’s verified account and identifies the source of the disputed message as parody. (S1)

台灣事實查核中心Politics & government

網傳「德國政府新規：以後政府宴請都吃素」？

Publisher’s rating: 部分錯誤

The claim concerns whether a new German government rule required all official government-hosted events to serve only vegetarian food. The review found that the rule was not government-wide: of the federal ministries examined, the Environment Ministry and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development served only vegetarian food at their events, while other ministries continued to offer meat as well as vegetarian options. It therefore concluded that the claim about all government departments was inaccurate.

台灣事實查核中心Politics & government

網傳「杜特爾特調戲台灣女記者...一個台灣的女記者問菲律賓總統杜特爾特，如何處理與中國的雙邊關係..」？

Publisher’s rating: 錯誤

The claim concerns a purported exchange in which Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte allegedly answered a Taiwanese female reporter’s question about dealing with China by making remarks about marriage, weapons, and cooperation with China. The review examined that specific story, including versions that circulated on social media and content-farm sites. It reports that the dialogue had circulated online in China from May 23, 2018, and that Taiwan-language versions also appeared. The review notes that some versions referred to Taiwan’s president as “蔡省長” rather than “蔡總統.” To check whether the alleged reporter could have been present, the review consulted CNA correspondent Lin Hsing-chien, who was stationed in the Philippines in May 2018. Lin said that the only two Taiwanese reporters stationed there were himself and a reporter surnamed Wang from a publication, and that both were men. This directly conflicts with the story’s central identification of its interlocutor as a Taiwanese female reporter. The review also says it searched the Philippine Presidential Communications Operations Office website using “Taiwan” and found no related press release. It reports that Vera Files chief fact-checker Celine Isabelle Samson said the Philippine government’s official websites had no record of the exchange. On those grounds, the review concludes that the described conversation did not take place. Its conclusion rests on the reported absence of a Taiwanese female correspondent in the Philippines at the time the story circulated and the lack of an official Philippine record; the supplied text does not describe a recording or transcript independently documenting the alleged exchange.

NewtralPolitics & government

Un diputado de Ciudadanos ha dicho que «hay que forzar la reacción violenta de los independentistas»

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerns a captured tweet attributed to Eduardo Llorens, which circulated alongside assertions that he was a Ciudadanos deputy or a party leader in Reus. The review says the tweet was published in 2018 by a user whose profile no longer existed on the social network. It therefore distinguishes the existence of the captured words from the claim that their author held a Ciudadanos position. To check that attribution, Newtral reports consulting the records of both the Spanish Congress and the Catalan Parliament. It says neither institution’s records showed a parliamentary representative named Eduardo Llorens. The review also reports that Ciudadanos denied that anyone by that name held a party position. On the evidence described, the claim that a Ciudadanos deputy made the statement is false: the review found no such representative and reports the party denied the other asserted affiliation.

FACTLYPolitics & government

Need to file RTI applications is reduced.

Publisher’s rating: UNVERIFIED

The review examines a statement by Home Minister Amit Shah at the Central Information Commission’s 14th annual convention in New Delhi on 12 October 2019. Shah said the government aimed to disclose enough information proactively that people would need to file fewer RTI applications, and argued that falling application numbers would indicate transparent governance. The review assessed whether application numbers had actually declined during the Modi government’s first term. To check this, the article says it examined application figures in the CIC’s annual reports. It reports that the figures rose from 24,436 in 2005–06 to 1.2 million in 2017–18, and that the 2014–15 to 2017–18 data showed a 63% increase. Applications were lower than the preceding year only in 2016–17 within that period. The article cautions that these figures cover public authorities under the central government; additional applications are filed at state and local levels. The review notes possible qualifications to interpreting the trend: more public authorities became available on the RTI Online portal, and pending requests carried over between years. It also reports that, during 2014–15 to 2016–17, around 22% of requests were carried forward each year, compared with an average of 16% during 2009–10 to 2013–14. On the evidence presented, the observed application totals did not show a decline, while future application numbers were unknown. The article also says it could not conclude that greater proactive disclosure had reduced the need to file applications.