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.
The outgoing year has been a rather eventual one. From the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to Queen Elizabeth II’s death, from FIFA World Cup to anti-hijab protests in Iran, various global events made 2022 a historic year. And India was not immune to the global trends. Here are a list of some global events that made headlines this year, and kept fact checkers on their toes
Russian Invasion Of Ukraine
While January saw the world still fussing over the new variant of COVID19, the shocking invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February saw the internet flooded with unconfirmed claims and visuals. The initial days of the invasion saw old and unrelated images and videos of fighter jets, explosions, airstrikes being shared in context of the war. The military engagement also saw a lot of gaming footage finding its way online, with many netizens believing it to be real.
Soon Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky became the centre of news and misinformation alike with a series of fabricated and misleading claims about the former comedian flooding social media platforms.
In India, a lot of the misinformation focussed around Russia-India relations in these uncertain times, with edited visuals going viral to falsely claim that Putin warned India against interfering in his activities in Ukraine.
In the lines of NATO, international relation experts, and news outlets, fact checkers too kept a close watch at the Russian invasion and debunked a wide range of misinformation, false and misleading assertions around it.
Death Of Queen Elizabeth II
The longest reigning monarch of the British Empire, Queen Elizabeth II died at her estate in Balmoral, Scotland on September 8, 2022. Tributes, homages, obituaries and misinformation followed the Queen’s death on social media worldwide. While an edited photograph claimed that American sitcom, ‘The Simpsons’ predicted the Queen’s year of death years ago, a documentary from Vietnam, predating her birth, was shared to falsely show the British monarch “throwing food at African kids.”
Additionally, an old picture of Burj Khalifa was shared to claim that the iconic building was lit up in the Queen’s memory, while a decade old footage of school students reciting Sanskrit shlokas was falsely linked to her funeral. With this and much more, Queen Elizabeth’s demise saw a massive flooding of false and misleading information online.
Qatar FIFA World Cup
Even before the commencement of the tournament, the FIFA World Cup saw much misinformation mushroom around the global event. Starting with a fabricated poster of “rules” to be followed by fans during the event surfacing online, to videos purportedly showing the opening ceremony, before the actual inauguration, FIFA WC kept social media buzzing. With Qatar becoming the first Arab country to host the FIFA World Cup, misleading claims, some communal in nature, were shared widely. Such fact checks can be seen here, here and here.
Perhaps some of the most interesting instances of misinformation surrounding FIFA include the alleged gift of Rolls Royce Phantom to the team by the Saudi Crown Prince, and the emotional hug between Messi and an elderly woman, identified by many as his mother. So popular were these unfounded claims, that they found their way to mainstream media, giving it the stamp of legitimacy.
Anti-Hijab Protest In Iran
The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in mid September ignited massive agitation across Iran and triggered a wave of anti hijab protests in the country. The protests in Iran soon came under the international limelight, with visuals of the same swamping social media platforms. And with it, misinformation. While a video of a woman protesting topless in Amsterdam was falsely shared as Iran, an old image of an art installation, showing a flag of chopped hair hoisted on a pole, was shared as a part of the protest against the fundamental regime in the country.
Many videos found their way to social media, claiming to be from Iran. Among them was footage from a television show, shared claiming to show an Iranian man dancing at his daughter’s funeral. And even mainstream media fell prey to misinformation, when several news outlets amplified the claim that Iran has decided to execute over 15,000 people involved in the protests.
The Fall Of & Attack On Imran Khan
The political turmoil in Pakistan, which ended with Imran Khan’s ouster from the Prime Minister’s office, also found much traction online. While an old video of brawl from the Sindh Assembly was passed off showing the latest visuals from Pakistan National Assembly ahead of the no-confidence motion against Khan, an edited footage showing the PTI chief’s address at Burj Khalifa went viral on social media.
Old images of Imran Khan’s political rallies were revived, while many others were digitally manipulated. And as the PTI chief was shot in his leg later in November, during an anti-government rally in Wazirabad, social media platforms were flooded with old and unrelated pictures.
And Additionally…
Apart from the above, Newschecker debunked many other international issues too, ranging from floods in Pakistan, to economic crisis in Sri Lanka, to Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit.
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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.
