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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Religion & belief fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about religion & belief. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

3,371 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYReligion & belief

Thousands of Muslims offered prayers in front of the US Capitol after Joe Biden became the US President

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a photo circulated as showing thousands of Muslims praying outside the U.S. Capitol after Joe Biden became president. FACTLY’s review says the image was old and identifies the scene as the “Islam on Capitol Hill 2009” event in Washington, D.C., rather than a gathering connected with Biden’s presidency. The review describes its image check: a reverse image search found a similar photo on Getty Images, whose description placed the gathering on 25 September 2009. It also reports finding a similar image in a Vox article, which placed the prayers on the Capitol’s West Front lawn on that date. These details place the depicted scene more than a decade before the claim’s suggested setting. FACTLY further says that CNN had reported on the 2009 event and that VOA Urdu published a video of it, with visuals of Muslims praying in front of the Capitol. The review concludes that the photo was being recirculated with a misleading Biden-era description. The supplied excerpt reports these comparisons and corroborating coverage, but does not reproduce the social-media post or provide the underlying image files for independent examination.

FACTLYReligion & belief

Recent pictures of vandalized Hanuman idol in Eluru

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The post presented a collage of a damaged Hanuman idol as showing a recent vandalism incident near TEKU bank in Eluru. FACTLY’s review examined those specific photos and reported that they showed an older incident, not a recent one. It identified the location as within the Eluru One Town police station range and dated the incident to 2014. To check the images’ provenance, the review says it searched for details about them and found a clarification from West Godavari Police. According to that clarification, the photos depicted the 2014 incident; the person accused in the assault was arrested, and the court punished him in 2015. The review also says the police posted the same information on their official Facebook page. The review further reports that police described the circulating images as old and said they had filed an FIR against a social media user for spreading false news. Thus, the evidence described in the review distinguishes the actual 2014 incident from the post’s presentation of the photos as recent.

FACTLYReligion & belief

Mumbai police paying tributes at Pir Hazrat Makdoom Shah Dargah at the behest of Shiv Sena.

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerned a video of Mumbai police paying tribute at Mahim Dargah, which was presented as an act carried out at Shiv Sena’s behest. FACTLY’s review says the police did make an offering, but identifies it as the customary first chadar at the dargah’s annual Urs in honour of Makhdum Ali Mahimi—not evidence of a tribute prompted by Shiv Sena. It reports that this was a longstanding practice and concludes that the political attribution was unsupported by the material examined. To check the post, the review says it searched YouTube using relevant keywords and found a similar video captioned as the Urs at Mahim in 2020. It also describes finding a 30 December 2020 Indian Express post showing Mumbai police offering the first chadar, and a 2016 Mumbai Police post documenting an earlier offering. The review additionally points to reporting describing the first-chadar privilege and the police’s recurring annual visit. Taken together, the examples support the review’s central distinction: the ceremony was a recurring religious tradition, rather than an act shown to have been directed by Shiv Sena.

FACTLYReligion & belief

Photo of a Muslim shrine located at old Delhi railway station platform

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a photo shared as showing a Muslim shrine on a platform at Old Delhi railway station. FACTLY’s investigation identifies the structure in the image as the Line Shah Baba tomb, also described in the review as the Line Shah Baba Dargah or Mazaar, at Prayagraj (Allahabad) railway station. The review therefore finds that the image is mislocated: it does not show a shrine at Old Delhi station. To check the image, FACTLY says it performed a reverse image search and found similar pictures in older social-media posts that located the scene at Prayagraj. It then searched using those location terms and found similar images in news coverage and on Getty. The review reports that a Times of India article described a picture taken at Prayagraj (Allahabad) railway Junction on 26 April 2020; it also notes similar images in BBC, The Hindu and Business Standard articles. The review further says that searches for “LINE SHAH BABA” returned results identifying the religious structure as a Mazaar on Platform No. 1 of Prayagraj station. It points to images and videos on Google Maps and describes video material showing the station and the Line Shah Baba Mazaar. Taken together, the image matches and the location-specific material support the review’s conclusion that the photo was falsely presented as being from Old Delhi.

Vishvas NewsReligion & belief

அமெரிக்காவின் அனுமன்ஜி - இந்த சிலை அமெரிக்காவின் பண்டைய கடவுளான ‘குரங்கு கடவுள்’. இது இப்போது கொலராடோவின் டென்வர் அருங்காட்சியகத்தில் உள்ளது. உலகெங்கிலும் ஒரே மதமாக சனாதன இந்து மதம் இருந்தது…

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

FACTLYReligion & belief

Photo of an imposter dressed in Sikh attire doing namaz after participating in farmers’ protest

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim identifies the man in the photo as an imposter who had taken part in the farmers’ protest and then prayed in a mosque while still wearing Sikh headgear. FACTLY’s investigation found that the image predated the protest: it reported finding the same photo online at least as early as January 2016. The review therefore concluded that the photo did not depict someone participating in the current farmers’ protest. FACTLY describes two checks: a reverse-image search, which located the photo on the Sikh Awareness website in 2016, and a Facebook search using keywords and a time filter, which found multiple posts of the same image in January 2016. The review says it found no credible information about the man. Its evidence establishes that the image was already circulating years before the protest; it does not establish the man’s identity or independently verify the circumstances shown in the photo.

Fact CrescendoReligion & belief

Claim: 2011 dated turban controversy picture being shared as muslim acting like a sikh in farmer rally

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerned a video circulated during the farmers’ protests, described as showing police detaining a Muslim man who had worn a turban to pose as a Sikh. Fact Crescendo says it investigated that specific video, rather than a separate image or incident. Its review reports that the post was shared on 29 November 2020 and that the same footage had already circulated on social media in 2019, before the 2020 farmers’ protests. To trace the footage, the investigation converted a video frame into an image and searched for it using reverse-image search. It reports finding that the footage was filmed on 28 March 2011 in Mohali, Punjab, during a protest by rural veterinary pharmacists and workers. The review identifies the man as a protester whom police dragged away, and says Mohali SP Pritam Singh removed his turban. It also notes that the review linked to a video uploaded to YouTube on 29 March 2011. That chronology directly contradicts the post’s framing: the footage predates both the 2020 farmers’ protest and the introduction of the farm laws in September 2020. The review concludes that the man was not a Muslim posing as a Sikh at the farmers’ rally, and that the video was from the 2011 Mohali protest.

FACTLYReligion & belief

Procession of Hindus in the same area in Ujjain where stones were pelted on a rally organized to raise funds for Ram Temple construction in Ayodhya

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a video said to show a Hindu procession in the same Ujjain area where stones had been thrown at a Bajrang Dal rally raising funds for construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. FACTLY investigated whether the procession in the video was from that Ujjain incident. Its conclusion was that the video instead showed a procession in Gulbarga, Karnataka, and was not connected to the stone-pelting event. To trace the video, the review says it reverse-searched screenshots and found a 2019 YouTube video with similar visuals. That video’s title identified a Ram Navami procession in Kalaburagi, another name for Gulbarga. Searches for other 2019 videos of a Ram Navami procession in Gulbarga produced further similar footage. The review could not establish the procession’s exact date, but said the video was available online for at least a year. The investigation also compared screenshots from the YouTube footage with the video in the post. A billboard visible in one screenshot displayed the name “Basavaganga Medical & Enterprises”; a Google Maps search led the investigators to a store with that name near a mosque in Gulbarga. Taken together, the similar footage and location clue supported identifying the procession as being in Gulbarga, rather than the claimed Ujjain location. FACTLY noted that the exact date of the Gulbarga procession was unknown.