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.
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
An elderly woman from Punjab, fed up with daily blockades, slams a group of sit-in protesters in the middle of a road.
Fact
Video dates back to at least November, 2022 and has been shared out of context amid the recent farmers’ protest march
As farmer unions commenced their protest march to Delhi to press the Union government to accept their demands, a video showing an elderly woman seemingly lambasting a group of sit-in protesters in the middle of a road, is gaining traction on social media platforms. Multiple users shared the footage to show an elderly woman slamming “andolanjeevi farmers” in Punjab. Newschecker found that the video depicts an old incident, and has been shared out of context amid the farmers’ ongoing tractor march to Delhi.
Archived versions of such posts can be seen here, here, here, here and here.
Also Read: AI-Generated Image Viral As Modified Tractors From Farmers’ Protest
Fact Check/Verification
We ran a Google reverse image search on the keyframes of the viral footage, and found a Facebook post by @scrollpunjab, dated November 6, 2022. The post carried the viral footage of an elderly woman yelling at sit-in protesters.
The video was also posted on Facebook by @FocusPunjabte on November 5, 2022, confirming that the footage does not show any recent incident.
Furthermore, Darshan Mitha, a reporter with Punjabi Tribune confirmed to Newschecker that the video is old, and is unrelated to the ongoing farmers’ protest. “After the earlier protest by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha was called off, farmers had formed multiple groups and one such group had blocked a road with a sit-in protest near Rajpura. Due to the protest the vehicular movement was disrupted which angered the woman seen in the video,” he informed, confirming that the video is being falsely shared as recent.
Conclusion
We could thus conclude that an old video of an elderly woman lambasting sit-in protesters has been shared out of context.
Result: Missing Context
Sources
Facebook Post By @scrollpunjab, Dated November 6, 2022
Facebook Post By @FocusPunjabte, Dated November 5, 2022
Conversation With Punjabi Tribune Reporter Darshan Mitha On February 13, 2024
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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.
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.
