Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Claim
Man wearing astronaut suit walks through damaged roads in Jammu and Kashmir to highlight issue of bad roads.
Link to the post can be found here.
Fact
Newschecker conducted Google reverse image searches on the keyframes of the viral video, which led us to several news reports from September 2019. One such report by BBC, dated September 03, 2019, carried the viral clip, describing it as a video of an “astronaut” exploring “craters” on a road in the southern city of Bangalore (Bengaluru). The article noted that it was the latest civic awareness project by artist Baadal Nanjundaswamy.
Another report by NDTV, dated September 3, 2019, titled ‘Bengaluru, We Have A Problem: Artist Turns Astronaut To Reach Civic Body,’ carried a still from the video showing a person dressed in a spacesuit walking on a potholes-ridden road. The article eleboarted that the video – was posted by Baadal Nanjundaswamy, a city-based (Bengaluru) street artist, in an attempt to highlight the dire conditions of roads in the city. The artist, in his post, tagged several BBMP officials – Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike or BBMP is Bengaluru’s civic authority.
It added, “This is not Baadal Nanjundaswamy’s first attempt at drawing attention to the condition of roads and potholes. In the past, the artist has been part of several street art installations that highlight the pothole menace across the city.”
The report also carried a tweet by Baadal Nanjundaswamy, dated September 2, 2019. Captioned, “Hello bbmp👋 @BBMPCOMM @BBMP_MAYOR @bbm #thelatest #streetart #nammabengaluru #herohalli,” the post featured the viral video.
In a tweet, dated September 3, 2019, news agency ANI shared a set of four pictures, three stills from the viral video and an image of Nanjundaswamy. It quoted the artist as saying, “Poor condition of roads is one of the major problems in Bengaluru. It leads to accidents. That’s why I’m highlighting this issue”.
Result: False
Sources
Report By BBC, Dated September 03, 2019
Tweet By Baadal Nanjundaswamy, Dated September 2, 2019
Tweet By ANI, Dated September 3, 2019
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
