Claim
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inappropriately looking at Rihanna.
Fact
Image has been digitally manipulated to place Rihanna’s photograph on the vacant seat next to the PM.
A photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi seemingly looking at singer Rihanna inappropriately while seated on adjacent chairs has surfaced on social media platforms. The Barbadian celebrity had earlier dominated the Indian social and mainstream media in 2021 following her tweet on the farmers’ protest against the now-repealed farm laws by the centre.
The image of PM Modi alongside Rihanna was shared online with the caption, “A magnetic force causes his face to turn mysteriously.” Newschecker found that the photograph has been digitally edited. In the actual photo, the seat next to the Prime Minister is empty and an image of Rihanna from a 2017 event has been digitally added to it.
Such posts can be seen here, here, here and here.
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Fact Check/Verification
A keyword search for “PM Modi,” “Rihanna,” and “meet” did not yield any reports on them meeting or sharing a stage. Following this, we snipped the image of PM Modi and looked up the same on Google lens. The search led us to a tweet by @Gujju_Er, dated May 27, 2023, carrying an image of the Prime Minister sitting in the same manner as seen in the viral photograph. However, the seat next to him is vacant.
On comparing the viral photograph with the image tweeted by @Gujju_Er, we could conclude that the picture showing PM Modi alongside Rihanna has been digitally edited.
The original image was also shared on Facebook on August 29, 2022.
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Following this, a Google lens search on Rihanna’s photograph led us to a report by Mirror, dated March 1, 2017, titled “Rihanna is chic in off-the-shoulder dress as she collects Harvard’s 2017 Humanitarian of the Year Award.” The report carried an image of Rihanna in the attire, and sitting posture identical to the one seen in the viral photograph.
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Conclusion
We can thus conclude that the viral image of PM Modi inappropriately looking at Rihanna has been digitally manipulated, and does not show an actual incident.
Result: Altered Photo
Sources
Tweet By @Gujju_Er, Dated May 27, 2023
Report By Mirror, Dated March 1, 2017
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