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.
Alia Bhatt-Ranbir Kapoor starrer Brahmastra set to release next week, is the latest target of social media’s “#BoycottBollywood” trend. The boycott calls for the Dharma Production film started with the launch of its trailer in June , when this Ayan Mukerji’s directorial was accused of “hurting religious sentiment” after a scene showed Kapoor in a temple with his footwear on. Following this, a series of ‘controversial’ aspects of people associated with the movie, have been revived on social media time and again, in an attempt to amplify the boycott call. Following these events, an image claiming to show a tweet by BBC News Hindi is going viral on social media platforms.
The “tweet”, attributed to BBC Hindi, carries a Hindi text which translates to “Bollywood comes forward to help flood-hit Pakistan. Brahmastra producer Karan Johar donated 5 crore, while Alai Bhatt and Ranveer Kapoor donated 1-1 crore…. Said will donate 51 crore if the film becomes a hit ~ Bollywood is the epitome of humanity.”
Several Twitter and Facebook users shared the alleged screenshot of a tweet by BBC Hindi, believing it to be true.
Links to such posts can be found here, here, here, here, here and here.
Fact Check/Verification
On carefully analysing the text in the viral image, Newschecker noticed that it was devoid of proper structing and punctuation. Additionally, Ranbir Kapoor’s name has been spelt “रणवीर” instead of “रणबीर”, and the Hindi word “और” (and) has been misspelt as ओर (direction.) Further, it is highly unlikely of a news outlet to use a loaded statement such as “इंसानियत ओर मानवता की मिसाल है” (epitome of humanity).
Following this, we looked up the official website of BBC Hindi but did not find any such report indicating that Karan Johar and the Brahmastra cast have donated any sum to help Pakistan flood victims. Neither did we find the viral tweet on the Twitter feed of BBC Hindi’s official handle.
Newschecker further analysed the viral image and noticed several discrepancies with the format in which Tweets (mobile screen version) are usually structured.
To begin with, the gap between the display name and user name in the viral image was more than what is usually seen in BBC Hindi’s posts. Additionally, the time stamp at the end of the post is devoid of dots (.), which are seen in all the tweets. BBC Hindi usually uses SocialFlow (as can be seen adjacent to the time stamp) for posting text/images based content on the platforms, however the alleged tweet has been posted using “Twitter For Android.” Notably, almost all the tweets seen on BBC Hindi’s feed carry either a picture, video or report link, however the viral image was devoid of any of these. The image did not show option to translate the tweet either.
Newschecker also came across a tweet by BBC Hindi, dated September 2, 2022, clarifying that the viral tweet allegedly posted by the news outlet is “fake.” “…no such tweet or such news has been made by BBC Hindi,” it further wrote.
BBC Hindi also denied posting such a tweet through its official Facebook account as well.
It is likely that the image was digitally created to mislead the public into believing that BBC Hindi reported on Karan Johar, Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor donating money to Pakistan.
Furthermore, we did not come across any credible news reports stating that the Brahmastra team has donated or pledged to donate any amount to help Pakistan amid massive flooding
Conclusion
Viral image claiming to show a screenshot of a BBC Hindi tweet reporting that lead cast and producer of the Bollywood film, Brahmastra have donated money to help Pakistan amid massive flooding is fabricated.
Result: False
Sources
Tweet By BBC Hindi, Dated September 2, 2022
Self Analysis
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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.
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