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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

Divya ChandraPolitics & government

Has Rajya Sabha passed motor vehicle act with increased fine?

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a viral image saying a new Motor Vehicle Act had been passed in the Rajya Sabha on 11 March, with specified increased fines for traffic violations. The Quint’s review identifies the image as having circulated on Facebook since 2015 and says the proposed increases shown in it were false. The claim was therefore not simply about whether Parliament had ever considered higher penalties: it asserted that the measure had passed in the Rajya Sabha. To check the fines shown in the image, the review compared them with the rates listed on the Delhi Traffic Police website. For example, the image gave a ₹1,000 fine for not wearing a seat belt, while the website listed ₹100; for driving without a Pollution Under Control Certificate, the image gave ₹1,500, while the website listed ₹1,000. A Delhi Traffic Police official also told The Quint that the department had no knowledge of such a hike in penalties. The review separately addressed the bill’s parliamentary status. It reported that The Indian Express had said the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which had been approved by the Lok Sabha, failed to gather support in the Rajya Sabha. That evidence contradicts the viral image’s assertion that the bill had passed there. The review thus supports the conclusion that the image’s claimed fines did not match the cited Delhi rates and that the bill had not secured Rajya Sabha support as claimed.

台灣事實查核中心Politics & government

網傳「美國《紐約時報》震撼對比美中，轟動白宮高層」

Publisher’s rating: 錯誤

The claim concerns “中美這七年,” a text circulated as a New York Times article by columnist Thomas Friedman, with the accompanying assertion that it had shocked or stirred the White House. The Taiwan FactCheck Center examined whether Friedman wrote it and whether the circulated versions matched his work. Its review identifies a real Friedman column, “A Biblical Seven Years,” published on August 26, 2008, after his visit to the Beijing Olympics. The review says that column reflected on the gap between the United States and China and criticized the United States for concentrating on the post-9/11 war on terror while neglecting domestic infrastructure. The center reports searching Friedman’s New York Times columns and finding no other article matching the circulated text. It compared the circulated English, simplified Chinese, and traditional Chinese versions with the original column. According to the review, the English version shared only its first three paragraphs with the original; the Chinese versions retained only two or three passages, while other material came from elsewhere. The review traces that material to Zhang Weiwei’s book *The China Wave: Rise of a Civilizational State*, published by Shanghai People’s Press in 2011: it says the circulated text’s opening passages drew on Friedman, but the later text was taken from Zhang’s book. The review also points to a chronological inconsistency: the circulated text mentions the Chile earthquake, which occurred on February 27, 2010, whereas Friedman’s identified column was published in 2008. Taken together, the source’s comparison and provenance findings indicate that the circulated piece was a composite, not a Friedman New York Times article. The review distinguishes its praise of China from the original column’s focus on U.S. domestic infrastructure; it does not provide independent evidence that the text actually caused a reaction among White House officials.

FACEBOOK POSTPolitics & government

White House’ has ranked Manmohan Singh as the most loyal person in the world in its survey.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The post claimed that the White House had surveyed 50 people and ranked former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh as the world’s most loyal person. The review’s conclusion is that this ranking was not issued by the White House and that it found no official source reporting such a ranking. To check the claim, the review says it searched surveys published around the world that ranked Singh, as well as international awards conferred on him. It found some awards and other recognition, but says it found no information about the alleged survey. The review identifies the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers, the World Statesman Award and TIME’s 2010 list of the 100 most influential people as examples of recognition; none is presented as evidence of the claimed loyalty ranking. The review also offers a possible explanation for an image associated with the claim: a White House photographer’s photo series from the Obama administration showed Singh and his wife being escorted by Barack and Michelle Obama. The review says that image appeared first because Singh’s November 24, 2009 visit was President Obama’s first official state visit. That account concerns the photograph’s place in the series, not a survey or ranking.

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: Modi promised to built 1250 crore houses for Indians

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review examines a Facebook post that combined a photograph of Narendra Modi with a Tamil comedy scene and claimed he had promised to build houses for 1,250 crore Indians. The post referred to a statement attributed to Modi, but the review says the statement had been misunderstood. It identifies the relevant speech as one Modi gave at a public meeting in Raebareli on December 16, 2018. According to the review, Modi said that his government had built homes for 1.25 crore poor people by that point—not that he had promised 1,250 crore houses. The review further reports that several Indian media outlets, including NDTV, had initially misstated the number of houses, and that NDTV later corrected its reporting and clarified the figure as 1.25 crore homes. The review describes searching Google for supporting information and refers to an archived link and to another fact-check by India Today. It concludes that the Facebook post misunderstood the statement and that its claim was false. The evidence presented addresses the specific post’s numerical error: it substitutes 1,250 crore houses for the reported figure of 1.25 crore homes already provided to poor people.

NewtralPolitics & government

El tapón amarillo de Font Vella en apoyo al independentismo

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim being checked was that Font Vella had introduced yellow caps to show solidarity with Catalan independence supporters, and that consumers should boycott the brand. Newtral reports that the claim circulated again in an image shared on June 15, without providing evidence in the excerpt that the cap color reflected a political position. The article points to Font Vella’s earlier response: the company said it used caps in multiple colors, describing them as colors chosen to make the bottles more attractive. It also notes that the company had already denied the political interpretation in 2018. That response directly contradicts the image’s assertion that yellow caps were an expression of support for the cause; the excerpt offers no evidence that the company’s explanation was challenged.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturPolitics & government

Politiker sollen schon mit 56 Jahren volle Pensionen bekommen, wird in einem Beitrag behauptet, der auf Facebook kursiert. Gleichzeitig würden sie von anderen Menschen Arbeit bis zum 70. Lebensjahr fordern. Unter der Aussage sind die Politiker Sigmar Gabriel, Angela Merkel, Heiko Maas und Wolfgang Schäuble abgebildet.

Publisher’s rating: Ehemalige Bundestagsabgeordnete und Mitglieder der Bundesregierung erhalten ihre Pensionen in der Regel nicht schon mit 56 Jahren. Die meisten der abgebildeten Politiker fordern keine weitere Anhebung des Rentenalters. Das gesetzliche Rentenalter wird bis 2029 stufenweise auf 67 Jahre angehoben. Dies gilt ebenfalls für die Regelaltersgrenze für Beamte.

DUBAWAPolitics & government

A claim that Russian President Vladmir Puttin said ''Africa is just a cemetery for Africans''. How could a cemetery be developed?

Publisher’s rating: Very likely to be false.

The claim under review attributes to Russian President Vladimir Putin a remark that “Africa is just a cemetery for Africans,” followed by a question about how a cemetery could be developed. DUBAWA traces the wording to a viral post attributed to “The Inspirational,” which placed the quotation after a passage about where a wealthy African might bank, seek medical care, invest, shop, worship, educate children, travel, and ultimately be buried. The post then attached the name “Putin” to further claims about African independence and development. DUBAWA reports checking how the allegation was presented and whether there was evidence of Putin actually saying it. It found no indication in the post of when or where he supposedly made the statement. The YouTube videos circulated to promote it, the review says, used pictures of Putin with voiceovers by other people, rather than footage of Putin speaking the words. The review also notes that the post described Gaddafi as Africa’s best president, framing Africa as if it were a single country. As additional context for its assessment, DUBAWA found a version of the same statement recast as being about Pakistan rather than Africa. It reports that an Indian fact-checking site, Fact Crescendo, had called that Pakistan version false. DUBAWA also says the Africa claim appeared on a platform it characterized as notable for spreading false information, and that it found no reporting by notable news platforms that Putin had made the remark. The review’s conclusion rests on the absence of a stated occasion or direct video, the voiceover-based videos, and the post’s other features—not on a verification of the post’s claims about Africans’ financial, travel, or investment habits.