Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
From false claims surrounding alleged attack on labourers in Tamil Nadu to fake news claiming queues of customers waiting to shut Bank of Baroda account over lending to Adani, here’s a look at all that made misinformation last week.
Newschecker fact checked 54 instances of misinformation across 12 languages, the majority of which were related to politics (33%) and international news (20%).
14% of the claims that were fact checked were found to be communal in nature, and of these Muslims were the most targeted community.
Mainstream media also played a role in amplifying misinformation, with 11% of misinformation having been shared by mainstream media outlets including Firstpost, Jagbani News Nation, Sun News, Dinakaran and Kumudham.
22% of the instances of misinformation observed last week were shared by verified profiles, and 5% of the claims targeted women.
Superimposing false and misleading claims on images and videos were found to be the most preferred format of sharing misinformation online.
Major themes which saw misinformation
Most misinformation was shared around politics and international news. Misinformation aimed at all major parties (BJP, Congress, AAP, Left) or their leaders were observed last week, with Congress leading the tally, followed by BJP.
Looking at specific events around which misinformation thrived, the Turkey earthquake continued to see many false claims around it, followed by the Ukraine-Russia war (last week saw the completion of the one year mark of the war).
On the domestic front, Adani rout, controversial Sikh preacher Amrit Pal Singh and the rumours of attacks on migrants in TN were some of the topics that saw misinformation around it.
Fake Claims Videos Of Attack on Migrants in Tamil Nadu
A video showing a Hindi speaking migrant being abused and thrashed on a train in Tamil Nadu, apparently over his ethnicity, went viral mid-February prompting widespread condemnation and outrage on social media. The video spread among the migrant community in Tamil Nadu. Several other videos of violence, gory and blood curdling, also found its way to the social media feeds- unrelated videos showing gang wars and visuals of violence from places like Jodhpur and Hyderabad. These claims were debunked here.
Along with the unrelated videos were political posts, targeting the Bihar government for having failed the migrant workers, citing unverifiable and exaggerated threats to their lives.
While the Tamil Nadu police attempted to dispel the rumours, the damage was done. Panic spread like wildfire in the migrant community, with many of them scampering back to their natives.
But was there any violence against migrant workers in Tamil Nadu? There have been reports in Hindi media about attacks on the migrant workers. But the veracity of these have also been questioned. A case was registered against Dainik Bhaskar by the Tamil Nadu police for publishing a report on an alleged target killing of a migrant worker.
Krishnagiri police also shared a video statement of the brother of the migrant Monu Kumar who was allegedly killed. In his video statement, the brother clarifies that the death happened due to suicide.
One year since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
This week saw the marking of a year since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war. And as the war came back to the spotlight, misinformation followed- such as the claim that Zelensky called on the US to send their sons and daughters to fight. Newschecker found that the video was clipped and that Zelensky was hypothesising a situation where Ukraine loses the war, and Russia enters the Baltic states (NATO members). Another video showing Bill Gates apparently calling the Ukrainian government one of the most corrupt in the world was also widely shared. Like the previous video, Newschecker found that this video was also clipped and shared out of context. Another video that was widely shared showed Ukrainian men being tied to poles and being stripped. Users said that the video showed the treatment meted out to Ukrainians who refused to fight the war. But this was found to be untrue.
Amrit Pal Singh and his demand for Khalistan
The controversy surrounding the Sikh preacher Amrit Pal Singh and his statements calling for Khalistan had become a talking point on social media, and several users questioned Singh’s credibility, sharing images to show him in a different avatar from his time in Dubai. Among the many images shared was one showing Singh standing in front of what appears to be a mosque. Those sharing the image accused Singh of being an ISI agent. Newschecker found that the image was edited and that the original image did not show a mosque in the background, but windows. Another video going viral in this context showed the Prime Minister’s effigy being paraded upside down on a crane. Those sharing the clip alleged the breakdown of law and order in Punjab, and linked it to the Ajnala incident, where Singh and his supporters stormed a police station. The video was traced back to 2020, to a protest against the now-repealed farm laws.
Political Misinformation: Congress & BJP targeted
Of the many claims that were debunked by Newschecker, we also found several political claims and noted that both Congress and the BJP were victims of fake news. From an old image of Indira Gandhi being shared to claim that she was sporting a hijab to a mistranslated Congress poll campaign ad in Kerala and a fake newspaper clipping alleging that Rahul Gandhi was caught with drugs in Boston, Newschecker debunked five claims that targeted the Congress. Meanwhile the BJP also found itself as the target of fake news, such as an old clipping of an open letter by prominent doctor Devi Shetty writing against a proposed service tax on healthcare being shared as recent. Other fake claims around the BJP were observed in Tamil, such as this claim, that alleged state BJP head Annamalai’s link to Arudhra gold cheating case and this morphed image of BJP leader drinking alcohol. It is pertinent to note that the claims came in the run up to the byelection for Erode East constituency was held in TN.
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Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
