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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

Pedro Sánchez tiene que cumplir un año en el cargo para cobrar indemnización

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim was that Pedro Sánchez had to remain in office for “one year and one day” to qualify for a supposed €90,100 lifetime payment. The review says the claim was false: it found no lifetime pension for former prime ministers and no such fixed payment. It also notes that the claim relied on a future date for a successor taking office, even though the timing of forming a new government and the successor’s appointment was not yet known. The review examined the rules for former prime ministers and the separate rules governing severance compensation for members of the government. It cites Royal Decree 405/1992 as establishing office-related support for former prime ministers, and says the decree sets no minimum period in office for that support. Separately, it explains that government members may receive severance compensation equal to 80% of their salary, for as many months as they held office, subject to a maximum period of 24 months; that compensation is incompatible with other public or private remuneration. These are distinct benefits, neither of which supports the claim as stated. The review concludes that there is no lifetime pension for being a former prime minister, and that the office-support provision has no minimum service requirement: it says a person could qualify for that provision after serving even one day. Its conclusion therefore rejects the alleged one-year threshold, while distinguishing office expenses from time-limited severance compensation.

DUBAWAPolitics & government

A claim that IBB publicly expressed support for President Muhammadu Buhari second term in office.

Publisher’s rating: Totally False

The review investigated a Facebook post attributed to former Head of State Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, known as IBB. It said Nigerians should cooperate with President Muhammadu Buhari through his second term, ending May 29, 2023, and attributed the statement to “IBB Rtd.” The post, from the Facebook user “Buhari Next Level Tukur Yerima,” did not identify when or on what occasion Babangida supposedly made the remarks. The review noted that it had attracted hundreds of shares, likes and comments, including supportive reactions from Buhari supporters. To check the attribution, the review contacted Babangida’s spokesperson, Zubairu Abdulrauf. Abdulrauf said there had been no statement from IBB supporting Buhari or urging people not to vote for him, and described social-media reports about IBB’s political position as false. The review also reported that Babangida had been outside the country since December 12 and had given no interview other than one about peaceful elections. In that interview, as described in the review, he urged Nigerians to vote peacefully and warned young people against being used to cause trouble; the review did not present those remarks as an endorsement of a candidate. The review further said a Deutsche Welle interview and a Hausa-language video circulating online supported the spokesperson’s account: in the video, Babangida called for peaceful voting and warned against election-related violence. It also sought comment from the Facebook user, but received no response to calls or messages. On the evidence it described, the review concluded that the post did not substantiate the alleged endorsement and that IBB had not publicly expressed support for Buhari or another political candidate.

NewtralPolitics & government

El tuit de Pablo Iglesias sobre la manifestación en Colón

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The investigation examined an image circulating on WhatsApp that purported to show Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias writing, “Ojalá una bomba ahora en Colón. ¿Dónde están los terroristas cuando se les necesita? #Yonovoy”. Newtral reported that it found no trace of the purported post on the social network, and that Podemos said the image was fabricated and Iglesias had never said this. The review therefore addressed the specific alleged tweet, rather than whether Iglesias commented on the demonstration in general. Newtral also described checks intended to account for the possibility that the tweet had been deleted: it searched web search engines and found no result, and consulted Twitter’s Help Center guidance that deleted tweets may leave traces in caches or third-party sites, apps or search engines. The review noted that the circulating image lacked retweet and like information and the date and time of publication—details it said appear on real tweets and could help authenticate the image. The review distinguished the alleged message from Iglesias’s actual comments about the event: it pointed to a series of tweets he published about the mobilization in the Plaza de Colón on 10 February 2019. The excerpt does not reproduce that thread’s contents, so it supports the distinction but not a fuller account of his position.

NewtralPolitics & government

El tuit de Arrimadas sobre la manifestación en Colón

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerns an image of a purported tweet by Inés Arrimadas, then leader of Ciudadanos in Catalonia, about the demonstration held at Madrid’s Colón square on 10 February 2019. The message attributed to her said that, despite comments about the rally’s “scasa” attendance, those gathered were “un ejército dispuesto a empuñar las armas por defender nuestra patria.” The review reports that the Government Delegation in Madrid put attendance at 45,000. Ciudadanos’ press office told Newtral that Arrimadas had neither posted that comment on social media nor said anything like it. Newtral also looked for evidence that could authenticate the alleged post. It says there was no trace of it on Twitter and that the image provided no posting time or date that would allow a more precise search or verification. The review considered the possibility that the tweet had been posted and later deleted: Twitter’s help information said deleted tweets might remain cached or appear on third-party sites, apps or search engines, and that Twitter could not remove those traces. Newtral says searches through search engines also produced no result. As a further check, the review identifies the only two tweets Arrimadas posted about the demonstration between 9 and 11 February. One, dated 9 February, invited people to attend; the review reproduces it as calling for a demonstration to defend rights and ending with “Nos vemos mañana.” The other is linked in the article. Taken together, the review’s evidence is the press office’s denial, the absence of a trace in Twitter and search-engine searches, and the lack of verifiable posting details—not an authenticated copy of the alleged message.