Authors
Believing in the notion of 'live and let live’, Preeti feels it's important to counter and check misinformation and prevent people from falling for propaganda, hoaxes, and fake information. She holds a Master’s degree in Mass Communication from Guru Jambeshawar University and has been a journalist & producer for 10 years.
A story shared on social media went viral when two leading media outlets published it as a real incident. The story is about a 55-year-old teacher who gets bullied during an online class.
India Today and The Tribune published this heartbreaking story and gathered thousands of shares and retweets. Let’s have a look at CrowdTangle’s analysis of these reports on Facebook.
The story was also shared on Instagram by a profile named TedTheStoner.
Fact Check/Verification
This story was so emotional that it went viral in a day. Many people shared this story on their social media handles. This story was so moving that it went viral in a day. But it turns out that the story was a fiction. Syed Mohammad Fahim, a teacher, published it on June 30 on Facebook.
And this is what Syed Fahim told us when we spoke to him:
Yes, I wrote this fictional story. I am a teacher by profession on 30th I saw a video where an elderly teacher was the victim of Zoom bombing by his students. I became very emotional. So, I wrote a fictional story on my timeline, and it went viral. In the original post, I have mentioned that it was fictional. I didn’t use any picture of anyone. Later on yesterday, I saw a few pages on Instagram reposted my story, but some removed the fictional part. I don’t know why? But people are circulating this man’s picture without his consent.
Syed Mohammad Fahim
This video was originally published by a Facebook user Hafiz R Rahman on 29 June.
But how did these two posts get mixed? On performing Google Reverse Image Search, we came to know that this video was first published on 6 July by a Facebook page called DCC Sarcasm. This page used Fahim’s story along with the video.
Conclusion
Online classes have become a new challenge for both teachers and students. While students are finding it tough to attend, teachers are struggling with this new technology. Meanwhile, India Today and The tribune published a report on a completely fictional story about a 55-year-old teacher who gets bullied in an online class.
Result: False/Fabricated
Our Sources
Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/syedmfahim/posts/10158626316914452
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/DCCSarcasmofficial/
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Authors
Believing in the notion of 'live and let live’, Preeti feels it's important to counter and check misinformation and prevent people from falling for propaganda, hoaxes, and fake information. She holds a Master’s degree in Mass Communication from Guru Jambeshawar University and has been a journalist & producer for 10 years.
