Fact Check: Did Pakistan PM Read COVID-19 Chart Upside Down?

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Writer: Aditi Chattopadhyay

Aditi, part of the fact checking team of The Logical Indian likes to read, write, cook and laugh, in short live life as it is supposed to be. What makes her fascinated is to discover the truth behind a story and more often than not, it is either fact or myth at the end.

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India, 9 May 2020 8:40 AM GMT | Updated 2020-05-09T14:17:14+05:30check update history

Editor : Bharat Nayak |

As the founding editor, Bharat had been heading the newsroom during the formation years of the organization and worked towards editorial policies, conceptualizing and designing campaign strategies and collaborations. He believes that through the use of digital media, one could engage the millennial's in rational conversations about pertinent social issues, provoking them to think and bring a behavioral change accordingly.

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The Logical Indian Fact check team investigates the claim that Pakistan PM Imran Khan said the COVID-19 curve was flattening after he read the graph upside down.

News agency Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) published a news report on May 7 titled, "Imran Khan reads chart upside down, claims COVID curve flattening," and claimed that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan stated that the coronavirus curve was flattening after he read the curve upside down.

"Prime Minister Imran Khan has made a gaffe claiming that the COVID-19 curve has been flattening in Pakistan. The faux pas happened because he was reading the chart upside down," read the report.

The story was also picked up by media portals such as Newsd and Outlook. The report has now been taken down by Outlook.

Claim:

Pakistan PM Imran Khan said the COVID-19 curve was flattening after he read the graph upside down.

Fact Check:

The claim is false. Keyword search of the story leads to a Pakistani satire website called The Dependent.

The article clearly mentions a disclaimer at the bottom of the article which states that the report is a work of satire and is not the truth.

Further, the website clearly mentions the word 'satire' in bold letters beside every article published in that segment, including the article on the Pakistan PM.

Debunked On Twitter

A Twitter account 'Not The Dependent' tweeted a screenshot of the IANS article and wrote, "Learn to differentiate between satire and actual news reports."

In the screenshot attached with the tweet, the byline mentioned Aarti Tikoo Singh as the author. Singh is the Foreign and Strategic Affairs Editor at IANS.

Learn to differentiate between satire and actual news reports @ians_india

And hands off our PM. He may be a petty, facile, undemocratically imposed lackey without principles, but he's OUR petty, facile, undemocratically imposed lackey without principles! pic.twitter.com/mrTIeS4SBl
— Not The Dependent (@DependentNot) May 7, 2020

She herself took to the microblogging site to state her error.

"I mistook satire for serious news," the journalist said.

I mistook satire for serious news. The hate-AartiTikoo brigade in its frenzy is projecting as if my mistake is the biggest ever crime. Yes, stupid of me; I apologise for my error. But imagine the journos who deliberately peddle Pakistani propaganda & bigotry against India daily.
— Aarti Tikoo Singh (@AartiTikoo) May 8, 2020

The Dependent in their Twitter account has posted the article on May 6 with a disclaimer band which read "satire" in bold letters.

Curve is finally flattening, says PM before realising chart upside downhttps://t.co/JPNEOerDq0 pic.twitter.com/1zGtuYniZv
— The Dependent (@dependent_the) May 6, 2020

If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343

Also Read: Fact Check: Is Telecom Department Providing Free Internet Till May 17?

Contributors Suggest Correction

Writer : Aditi Chattopadhyay

Editor : Bharat Nayak

Creatives : Nandan M

#India pakistan