Fake news, videos, and images make their way to social media quite often. Many internet users fall for fake news because they have no way of knowing whether it is true or not. Celebrities are frequently duped by false information. They share the content on their social media accounts without fact-checking it, which leads to them being trolled for sharing fake news or a "WhatsApp Forward."
Here are some of the times when celebrities fell for fake news.
1. Kiran Bedi
Bedi's use of fake content on her social media pages is not new or unusual. Kiran Bedi has quite often shared fake news on social media. Take a look at some of the posts where she took the time to share 'fake' information. Though she has been constantly slammed by vigilant netizens for such acts, she never deleted the posts.
Kiran Bedi recently shared a video on her Twitter account, showing a huge shark jumping out of the ocean to attack a helicopter and dragging it inside without leaving a trace. The video posted by the IPS officer falsely claimed that NatGeo had paid $1 million for the scene unfolding in the waters, but it was eventually discovered to be a clip from a popular television show. It's a scene from the 2017 TV movie '5 Headed Shark Attack.'
Bedi tweeted in which a video claimed that NASA has found that the Sun chants ‘Om’, which is considered the holiest sound in Hinduism. The video contains a clear recording of the chant, but it is not the actual NASA video. Bedi was immediately reprimanded on social media for posting the video without first verifying its authenticity.
On January 27, 2017, Kiran Bedi tweeted a photo of monuments such as Big Ben, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Twin Towers, and the Statue of Liberty lit up in tricolour. “Fantastic. "Jai Hind," she wrote alongside the photo. As you may have guessed, the photo is a total fabrication, and no monument other than the Burj Khalifa was lit up in orange, green, and white.
On DIWALI, she shared this fake Statement To Purchase Indian Products. The 2016 appeal was a forgery, according to the PMO Twitter account, and it was just a bogus document circulating on social media.
Bedi posted a video of an elderly lady dancing in 2017 with the caption, "Spirit of Deepavali at the tender age of 97." She is the mother of @narendramodi (Hiraben Modi -1920), and she is celebrating Diwali at her home." It wasn't Modi's mother. She later corrected herself.
2. Amitabh Bachchan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked people to turn off their lights and light lamps, candles, Diya's, and mobile phone torches for nine minutes at 9 p.m. on Sunday to show solidarity with the country's fight against coronavirus. Bachchan, 77, tweeted a photo of the entire country 'lit up' with lamps and candles in preparation for the #9pm9minutes drive. It's safe to say the photograph was a forgery.
on March 22, during the Janata Curfew Amitabh Bachchan, the Bollywood superstar, recently tweeted about how clapping kills viruses. This was a common theme expressed in many WhatsApp forwards; Bachchan was obviously not to blame for everything, but a celebrity with his following likely contributed. Although the tweet was later deleted due to widespread criticism, it was retweeted 254 times and liked by approximately 2,300 people, demonstrating how far it spread.
The famous actor was once again scrutinized after tweeting about a website to get Coronavirus updates, which he claimed was the official website. However, if you go to covid19india.org, the first FAQ informs everyone that this is not an official website, but rather a crowdsourced patient database.
3. Sonu Nigam
Sonu Nigam was also trolled after his video about coronavirus dying in 12 hours went viral on social media. The popular Indian singer can be seen in the video discussing the Prime Minister's brilliant step of incorporating the Janata Curfew and how this will kill the virus before the curfew even comes to an end.
4.Rajinikanth
Rajinikanth, a well-known South Indian Superstar, also tweeted a YouTube link along with a statement urging people to stay at home during the Janata Curfew so that the virus could be contained in 12-14 hours. Twitter quickly removed the tweet because it violated company guidelines and was apparently misleading to the audience.
5.Shraddha Kapoor
Shraddha Kapoor took to social media to share a photo of soldiers enduring extreme cold weather conditions while performing their duties of protecting the nation. The actress' feelings and sentiments behind sharing the photo were genuine, but she was unaware that the photo she shared was a fake. The soldiers in the photos were Russian soldiers, not Indian soldiers.
6. Rakhi Sawant
Rakhi Sawant, the controversial queen, was trolled for sharing bogus screenshots of a video call with Shah Rukh Khan. Rakhi had shared an image of her video chat with SRK a few days before on Instagram, and she had even thanked him for helping people. It didn't take long for netizens to realize that these were photoshopped and fake images. While some trolled Rakhi for overdoing it, others pointed out how to get such images using filters on various platforms such as TikTok.
7.Ram Kadam
Ram Kadam, an Indian politician, tweeted false news that Sonali Bendre had died in America, only to retract and delete the tweet after realizing the news was false.
8. Kangana Ranaut
Kangana Ranaut, a Bollywood actress, quoted another user who shared the clipped video in which azaan can be heard, saying that Delhi is neither secular nor tolerant. The clipped video of the Delhi tableau at the Republic Day Parade on Tuesday, January 26 is being shared with a false narrative claiming that Delhi's tableau only played azaan. However, we discovered that the 11-second video is a condensed version, and the tableau depicts various places of worship such as a church, gurudwara, temple, and even a mosque.
Kangana Ranaut called actor Aamir Khan an extremist in a fake interview she tweeted. Ranaut's interview incorrectly quoted Khan as saying that, despite his wife Kiran Rao's Hinduism, his children will only follow Islam. Aamir's team issued a statement confirming the interview was a hoax.
The Fauxy, a satirical news website, published an article claiming that Facebook had introduced a "mark yourself safe from Shiv Sena goons" feature. According to the fictitious piece, this was prompted by recent events, including an attack on a Navy veteran. While the post amused many on Twitter, Kangana Ranaut's reaction was perplexing, as she thanked Facebook for their "considerate" action.
Kangana Ranaut tweeted false information about an elderly Sikh woman, claiming that she was at the farmers' protest to earn Rs 100. Kangana had also declared that the same woman was the Shaheen Bagh Dadi, Bilkis Bano. In response, actor and singer Diljit Dosanjh posted a video interview with the elderly woman on Twitter.
Mahinder Kaur is the name of the woman who has participated in the farmers' protests. In the BBC video interview, she can be seen addressing Kangana Ranaut and inviting her to come see how farmers work for herself.
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