TOI Didn't Lose 2.8 Mn Followers After Virat Kohli Called Them Out For Fake News

Kohli did call out English daily TOI for spreading fake news but TOI did not lose half of its followers as claimed.

Fact-check: The Times of India did not lose 2.8 million of followers after Virat Kohli slammed them for sharing fake news.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A viral post carrying two screenshots of The Times of India's Instagram account, which shows 2.8 million and 5.6 million followers has gone viral on social media.

• The claim states that the national daily lost over 2.8 million followers on their official Instagram account after cricketer Virat Kohli called them out for sharing fake news about him.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

What did Kohli post about TOI?: On 15 August, Kohli put up a screenshot of TOI's article on his Instagram story, where he mentioned how the newspaper has posted fake news about him.

• The article was about Kohli and his wife and actress Anushka Sharma building a cricket pitch at their newly bought Alibaug farmhouse.

• He wrote, "Bachpan se jo akhbar Padha hai, wo bhi fake news chaapne lage ab."

• [Translation: The newspaper that I’ve been reading since childhood has also started putting out fake news now.]

What's the truth?: TOI did not lose 2.8 million followers on Instagram after Kohli's story about them.

How did we find out the truth?: We checked Social Blade, social media analytics website, which showed hat TOI did not lose 2.8 million followers, as claimed.

• We noticed that there was no decrease in the number of followers on TOI's Instagram account after Kohli put up a story calling them out on 15 August 2023.

• The TOI account actually gained 794, 645 and 834 followers on the following days till 17 August.

• The data nowhere shows a drop of two million followers as it is being claimed.

TOI did not lose 2.8 followers on Instagram after Kohli slammed them. 

(Source: Social Blade/Screenshot)

• According to Social Blade, TOI's account has not touched 5.6 million followers yet, hence, the viral screenshot is edited.

• At the time of writing this story, TOI has 2.8 million followers on their official Instagram page.

Screenshot of TOI's IG page.

(Source: IG/Screenshot)

Conclusion: Clearly, The Times of India did not lose 2.8 million of followers after Virat Kohli slammed them for sharing fake news.

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