Pakistan politician targeted with false electric taxi name claims

Published on July 2, 2025 at 11:03
2 min read
By Masroor GILANI, AFP Pakistan

Pakistan's Punjab province has not named its newly launched electric taxi programme after Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, contrary to claims online. The false posts, which include a taunt about sex work, share a fabricated newspaper report.

"Punjab Govt. to start E-Taxi in Lahore Will be called 'Maryam Taxi'", reads what appears to be a news graphic from the English-language newspaper Pakistan Observer, shared May 30, 2025 on Facebook.

Screenshot of the false post taken June 25, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

Similar posts have also been shared on Threads and TikTok, mocking the first woman chief minister of Pakistan's most populated province Punjab for supposedly appending her name next to "taxi", which in the South Asian nation is slang for sex worker.

Local media Soch Fact Check has earlier debunked the claim (archived link).

A reverse image search found the original Pakistan Observer graphic was published on Facebook on November 29, 2024 (archived link).

"Punjab announces electric taxi scheme to curb pollution," it reads.

"The Punjab government is introducing an e-taxi service to combat rising air pollution and provide employment for the unemployed," its caption says.

Pakistan regularly ranks among the world's most polluted countries, with Punjab's capital Lahore often the most polluted megacity between November and February (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the edited graphic (L) and the original from Pakistan Observer

Sharif also posted details of the programme on her verified Facebook page on May 6, 2024 and referred to the scheme as "e-taxi" (archived link).

Punjab's transport department similarly called the programme "e-taxi" in a post on X on June 5, inviting vehicle providers to take part (archived link).

Pakistan's women leaders are often targets of false news, with deepfakes weaponised to smear them with sexual innuendo that damages their reputation in the conservative country (archived link).

AFP has previously debunked a clip made with AI that purports to show Sharif hugging UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

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