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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

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: IAS officer holding stool for Uma Bharti

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a circulated image of Uma Bharti speaking while standing on a stool, with a person seated beside her holding it. The accompanying post identified that person as an IAS officer and said Bharti had failed fifth grade. The review investigated the image and both assertions, rather than whether the photograph itself was genuine. The review says it used a Google reverse-image search and found that the image had circulated for years, along with reporting about the scene. It identifies the event as a BJP youth-wing meeting in Jhansi on December 12, 2016. According to the account it found, the podium was too high for Bharti to speak comfortably, so a security officer brought a small stool and held it steady while she spoke. The review also cites separate reporting that described the person holding the stool as an unidentified official, not an IAS officer. The review notes that the visible BJP flag indicated a party event, and argues that an IAS officer would not ordinarily attend such a party event; it also says it found no reporting identifying the person as an IAS officer. For the education assertion, it contrasts the post’s claim that Bharti failed fifth grade with reports that she studied through sixth grade. Its conclusion is that the photograph was genuine but did not establish either that an IAS officer held the stool or that Bharti had failed fifth grade.

Fact CrescendoPolitics & government

Claim: Arvind kejriwal ordered new rule for paid channels

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a social-media post alleging that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had ordered paid television channels not to show advertisements, and that channels carrying advertisements could not charge viewers. The review says the post was shared widely and appeared around February 2019, when new cable-TV pricing rules were taking effect. It identifies the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), not Kejriwal, as the body responsible for those rules. The review describes checking Google for an announcement of the supposed order and says it found none. It also explains why the alleged instruction did not fit the authorities described in the article: television broadcasting was under central-government control, while TRAI regulated telecommunications and television charges. The article characterizes TRAI as an autonomous body and says a state government could not direct it. It further notes that Delhi did not have state status and that Kejriwal’s authority was limited in the circumstances discussed. The review’s account of the actual cable-TV changes supplies the context for the rumor: it says TRAI’s new pricing rules allowed customers to select channels, set a minimum monthly cable charge of ₹153.40, and allowed up to 100 free channels within that amount; paid channels cost extra. The article says implementation was extended to March 31 after consumer confusion and legal cases. Its conclusion is that the Facebook post attributing a ban on paid-channel advertising to Kejriwal was false, not that the underlying TRAI pricing changes themselves were fictitious.

FACTLYPolitics & government

Modi is the son of Asaram Bapu

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

FACTLY examined a Facebook post circulating a newspaper clipping that purported to say Narendra Modi was Asaram Bapu’s son. Its review says it could not find any genuine newspaper article making that claim and describes the clipping as digitally created. The review’s conclusion was about the authenticity of the circulating clipping, rather than a report of evidence establishing the alleged parentage. (S1: “Many Facebook users are sharing a post that has a newspaper clip which claims that Narendra Modi is the son of Asaram Bapu.”; “No such newspaper article claiming Modi as the son of Asaram Bapu was found. It is a digitally created one.”) The article says it searched for news about “Modi is Asaram’s son” and found no information in print or broadcast media. It also checked details asserted in the clipping: that Dr. Martin Sijo had held a press conference revealing facts about Modi’s father, and that Sijo was an American DNA expert. FACTLY reports finding no search results for Sijo. It reasoned that a press conference about the identity of a country’s prime minister’s father would not go unnoticed without media coverage; the excerpt does not describe independent verification of the alleged DNA expertise or any biological testing. (S1: “When googled for any news regarding ‘Modi is Asaram’s son’, no information is found either in the print or the broadcasting media.”; “In the newspaper clip, it was mentioned that Dr. Martin Sijo held a press conference and revealed shocking facts about the identity of Modi’s father.”; “no search results were found with his name.”) The review further reports that a similar clipping had circulated earlier that year with a claim about Rahul Gandhi, which it says was later proved false. FACTLY says the Rahul Gandhi clipping was edited and recirculated with Modi’s name. This account supports the review’s finding that the item was a fabricated or altered clipping; the supplied excerpt does not provide the earlier clipping itself or further details of how that comparison was made. (S1: “Earlier this year, a similar newspaper clip was in circulation with similar claims on Rahul Gandhi, which was later on proved to be false.”; “So, this newspaper clip on Rahul Gandhi is now edited and circulated in the name of Narendra Modi.”)

FACTLYPolitics & government

Rahul Gandhi was seen eating with Imran Khan on the same dining table.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

FACTLY examined a Facebook image presented as showing Rahul Gandhi dining at the same table as Pakistan’s Imran Khan. Its review says the image was photoshopped, rather than a genuine photograph of the two eating together. To investigate, FACTLY cropped the shared image to retain Imran Khan and searched for it using Yandex reverse image search. The search results led to an original picture in which Imran Khan’s wife, Reham Khan, is seated beside him. That original image therefore differs from the version circulating with Rahul Gandhi. FACTLY separately searched for the photograph of Gandhi used in the composite and traced it to a Hindu article. The review says it showed Gandhi eating with Siddaramaiah, then Karnataka chief minister, at Indira Canteen in Jayanagar, Bengaluru, in 2017. The two separately sourced photographs were combined to create the misleading impression that Gandhi and Imran Khan shared a meal.

FACTLYPolitics & government

First Lady of Banjara (Tribal) community, Smt. Shobha Rathod become a District Collector of Ranchi (Jharkhand) in traditional uniform

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The post claimed that Smt. Shobha Rathod was the first Banjara (Tribal) community collector in India and had joined as Ranchi’s district collector in traditional uniform. FACTLY checked whether Rathod was an IAS officer and whether she had taken charge in Ranchi. Its account says that Ranchi’s official website lists the IAS officers serving there, but Rathod’s name does not appear. It also notes that Ranchi uses the designation “Deputy Commissioner” rather than “Collector.”