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
"I heard Rick Scott today say that was a perfect conversation. How can they impeach him on that conversation?"
Publisher’s rating: Did not say perfect
Angela Merkel y la Comisión Europea han caneado a España por las detenciones de los CDR
Publisher’s rating: Falso
The claim concerned an article alleging that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the European Commission had rebuked Spain over the arrests of nine members of the Committees for the Defense of the Republic (CDR). It further alleged that Merkel had called acting prime minister Pedro Sánchez and Justice Minister Dolores Delgado, accused Spain of fabricating evidence, and warned that Spain could face action under Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union. The fact-check found that these allegations were not supported by the officials and institutions it contacted. [S1: “Un artículo, publicado el pasado 26 de septiembre y compartido por Facebook y por Whatsapp, asegura que tanto la Comisión Europea como la canciller alemana Angela Merkel han recriminado a España las «detenciones arbitrarias de la guardia civil a los CDR» el pasado 23 de septiembre.”; “El artículo asegura que la canciller alemana realizó una llamada telefónica al presidente en funciones, Pedro Sánchez, y a la ministra de Justicia, Dolores Delgado García.”] Newtral reports that the German government spokesperson and Spanish Justice Ministry sources said the calls had not taken place. It also says the German government had issued no official statement about the arrests. The article being checked, according to the review, provided no evidence for its assertions. [S1: “Sin embargo, estas llamadas no han tenido lugar, según nos confirman tanto fuentes del ministerio como un portavoz del gobierno alemán.”; “El gobierno alemán no ha emitido ningún comunicado oficial en referencia a las detenciones de nueve miembros de los Comités de Defensa de la República.”; “Según la página web, que no aporta ninguna prueba a lo que afirma”] The review separately checked the alleged Article 7 warning with the European Commission’s representation in Spain, which told Newtral by phone that the claim was false and that the measure was neither envisaged nor on the table. The review describes Article 7 as applying where there is a determination of a risk of violating EU values; it says the procedure includes loss of voting rights in the Council as a possible sanction. [S1: “Esta afirmación, que se refiere al Artículo 7 del Tratado de la Unión Europea en España, también es falsa, como nos confirman por teléfono desde la representación de la Comisión Europea en España, ya que es una herramienta que se activa cuando se determina que existe un riesgo de violación de los valores de la UE e incluye como castigo la pérdida del derecho de voto en el Consejo, algo que no está previsto ni sobre la mesa.”]
BJP MLA Anil Upadhyay.
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The review investigates social-media posts that identify people in various videos as BJP MLA Anil Upadhyay. Its central finding is that no BJP MLA by that name exists: it says a search of the My Neta website found two people named Anil Upadhyay, but neither belonged to the BJP. The review therefore concludes that the videos’ identification of their subjects as this MLA is false. The article checks several videos against other published accounts and identified uploads. For one video, it cites an ETV Bharat report describing the people shown as transporters arrested over an assault on a driver, and says ANI had also tweeted the news in July 2019. For another, it identifies the man beating a policeman as UP BJP leader Manish Choudhary, citing reporting about an alleged assault on a sub-inspector at a Meerut restaurant. The review also says a video of a man speaking was uploaded by Dilli News Live in March 2019 under the name Sant Yuvraj, not Anil Upadhyay. It describes other videos as showing different incidents or people, and concludes that the posts collectively misidentify their subjects. These checks address the claim by examining both whether the named MLA exists and whether the people in the videos match the identities attributed to them.
“1998-ci ildə Azərbaycanda senzura ləğv edilib, kütləvi informasiya vasitələri ilə bağlı qanunvericilik bazası təkmilləşdirilib, media tam müstəqildir”
Publisher’s rating: faktlarla manipulyasiya
మోదీ మీటింగ్ లో తల వంచుకు కూర్చున్న ఇమ్రాన్ ఖాన్
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
Carmen Calvo defiende el gasto en putas en Andalucía porque es agenda de género
Publisher’s rating: Falso
The claim was that Carmen Calvo justified an alleged payment for prostitutes using official cards on the grounds that it could count as “gender agenda.” The review says the claim circulated in a screenshot of a webpage and identifies that page as a satirical item from El Pato Cojo, a section of Esdiario—not as a genuine statement by Calvo. The review further notes that the section’s satire label appeared in its heading and might not be visible to someone arriving through an external link. (S1) The review reports two checks relevant to whether Calvo actually made the alleged remarks: it says there was no trace of them in interviews, rallies, or social media, and it points to a notice on the webpage itself stating that El Pato Cojo only publishes stories that deserve to be false. Together, these details support the conclusion that the circulating claim came from satire and was not a real justification by Calvo. The review also notes that users shared the link believing it was real, including accounts belonging to political parties. (S1)
Claim MP Subhash Chandra has fled the country
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
Siti Hediati Haryadi alias Titiek Soeharto menjadi salah satu delegasi Indonesia dalam Sidang Umum PBB 2019
Publisher’s rating: Sesat
Claim: Minister Rajendra Balaji criticises Keezhadi
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The claim concerned a viral Facebook post attributing a joke about the Keezhadi excavation to Minister Rajendra Balaji: that digging down made it Keezhadi, while digging up would make it “Meladi.” The review says the post was shared as a genuine remark and states that it examined the claim’s reliability. The review reports that it found no news reports of Balaji making the remark. It also examined the viral news card using FotoForensics and concluded that the card had been fabricated. The article says the card had been altered from a news item about Balaji, rather than being a genuine record of his words. As an additional check, the reviewers contacted Balaji’s office, which denied that he had made the statement. The review also notes that the state government was supporting Keezhadi research, but presents this as contextual reasoning rather than direct proof of what Balaji said. Its principal evidence against the attribution is the fabricated card, the absence of reporting of the remark, and the office’s denial.
Rahul Gandhi cutting Manmohan Singh’s birthday cake.
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The claim concerns a video showing Rahul Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh cutting a cake, presented as Singh’s birthday celebration. FACTLY’s review says the footage was instead from a Congress party foundation-day event. Its account identifies the occasion as December 28, the party’s foundation day, rather than Singh’s birthday. To investigate, the review says it searched screenshots from the video using reverse-image techniques. That search led to photographs of the two men cutting a cake in an ANI tweet from December 2018. The tweet described the event as a foundation-day celebration, providing a contemporaneous account that contradicts the birthday framing. The review also points to an NDTV article about the event. Taken together, the described image search and the dated ANI post identify the cake-cutting footage with the party occasion, not Singh’s birthday. The misleading element is therefore the event attribution attached to the video, rather than whether the footage shows Gandhi and Singh cutting a cake.
Claim Manmohan Singh is not allowed to cut his birthday cake on his own
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
Claim: TN govt appeals Governor to ban VCK party
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The claim concerned a social-media post saying that the Tamil Nadu government had recommended that the Governor cancel the VCK’s recognition or ban the party. The post used a news card showing Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and attributed to a private television channel. The review says the card had no date or time and that a Facebook page shared it on September 27, 2019, with a caption asserting that the party would soon be banned. The review compared the card’s details with the channel’s usual presentation. It identified misspellings in the card, including “ரத்த” where the text should say “ரத்து,” and a shortened version of the party’s name. It also noted that the card lacked a date and time, which the review says would ordinarily appear on such a channel card. The reviewer concluded that these features indicated the image was fabricated. The review separately searched for evidence that the government had recommended a ban and reported finding none. It also consulted senior advocate Kumaradevan of the Madras High Court. As reported in the review, he said a state government could not ban a political party; cancellation of recognition was a matter for the Election Commission under its rules, while the power to ban an organization under the unlawful-activities law belonged to the central government. The review also noted that the circulated claim may have drawn on reports that a former VCK office-bearer had been arrested in a sexual-offence case, but said that an individual’s arrest alone would not justify banning a party.
Gubernur Sumatera Utara Edy Rahmayadi serukan jihad
Publisher’s rating: Keliru
మన్మోహన్ సింగ్ పుట్టినరోజు కేక్ ని రాహుల్ గాంధీ కట్ చేస్తున్నాడు.
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
“When Biden’s son walks out of China with $1.5 billion in a fund, and the biggest funds in the world can’t get money out of China, and he’s there for one quick meeting and he flies in on Air Force Two, I think that’s a horrible thing. I think it’s a horrible thing.”
Publisher’s rating: Four Pinocchios
