Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
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.
Claim
X post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi assuring citizens that popular messaging app, Telegram, will not be banned in India.
The post can be seen here.
Fact
Newschecker noticed that the timestamp of the tweet did not mention AM or PM, as usually seen in posts on X, raising our doubts on its authenticity. We also ran a keyword search for “PM Narendra Modi Telegram tweet”, which did not throw up any credible news reports about the PM condemning the rumours of a ban. The app is under scrutiny owing to its alleged role in various illegal activities and is accused of allowing organised crime to flourish on the platform.
We then looked up the official Twitter account of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and did not find any such tweet related to the ban on Telegram on August 26, the date seen in the viral screenshot.
The analytics tool, Social Blade, too, showed that no tweet was deleted on August 26, confirming that the viral screenshot was fake.
Also Read: Old, Unrelated Video From Bhopal Falsely Shared As Christian Youth Being Beaten Up In Pakistan
Result: False
Sources
Twitter account, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
SocialBlade analytics tool
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
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.
