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Fact Check

Prashant Bhushan Does Not Support Islamic Terrorists Nor Did He File A PIL Against Tik Tok Ban

Written By Nikita Vashisth
Jul 2, 2020
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Claim

A Facebook post claims that Prashant Bhushan is standing for Tik Tok and has a history of supporting Islamic terrorists and anti-national people. This claim was posted 1 July, 2020 by a Facebook account called राष्ट्रवाद सर्वोपरि.  On checking its page transparency we found that the account was created on 17, May 2020.

https://www.facebook.com/106383531084622/photos/a.111755590547416/134745101581798/

Accompanied with this claim is a screenshot of another post from a Twitter account called The Express of India which claims that Bhushan filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court against the government order to ban 59 Chinese apps. 

https://twitter.com/ExpressOfIndia/status/1278187485294505984?s=20

The screenshot from The Express of India is widely circulating on social media platforms since yesterday. Below is an example of another viral image.

Image of viral social media post claiming Prashant Bhushan files PIL against government order of ban on 59 Chinese apps.
Image of viral social media post

Fact Check

The claims in context are with regard to Prashant Bhushan, an advocate in the Supreme Court of India. These claims come after his response to a Twitter post by Tik Tok India which states that it’s making a contribution of Rs. 30 crore to the PM Cares fund. Bhushan’s 30 June tweet says, “Tik Tok’s humble contribution of 30 Crores to humble Chaiwala’s fund! So ungrateful!” 

The first claim in the Facebook post alleges that Bhushan stands for Tik Tok and has a history of supporting Islamic terrorists and anti-national people. We haven’t found any credible evidence or news story which suggests this. Therefore, this claim has no basis to support it. 

The accompanying screenshot is from a parody Twitter account (@ExpressOfIndia) created on 20 April, 2020 with 571 followers at the time of writing this fact check. The description in its profile reads:

“Independent Satire News Outlet. Parody Editorial. All Tweets Are Fake. In Memory Of @TiimesHow.”

This Twitter account impersonates the actual news organisation The Indian Express by trying to copy its logo, font and doing a wordplay with its name. See image comparing the two accounts below:

Image of parody account on the left. Image of authentic news organisation on the right.
Image of parody account on the left. Image of authentic news organisation on the right.

The parody account in its bio pays its “respect” to the now suspended fake account @TiimesHow

Screenshot of suspended Twitter account @TiimesHow
Screenshot of suspended Twitter account @TiimesHow

Implication of “1 particular community” in the tweet is to the Muslim community in reference to recent stories about them using Tik Tok in this pandemic.  

As a final confirmation, we reached out to Mr. Bhushan himself, who clarified on call that he did not file any PIL in the Supreme Court against the government order of banning the 59 Chinese apps and that the claims are false. 

Our other fact checks related to Tik Tok can be read here.

Conclusion 

The claims in context with regard to Prashant Bhushan are false. 

Tools Used 

  • Twitter advanced search
  • Facebook
  • Google advanced search 

Result: False 


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If you would like us to fact check a claim, give feedback or lodge a complaint WhatsApp us at +91-9999499044 or email us at checkthis@newschecker.in​. You can also visit the Contact Us​ page and fill the form.
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