Fake Tweet Shared as Qatar Airways Response to Boycott Trend on Twitter

There are several inconsistencies which indicate that the tweet is a fake one.

A screenshot of a purported tweet by Qatar Airways' verified Twitter account is being shared on social media.

The screenshot shows the airline mocking the trend 'BycottQatarAirways' in India, asking people to "learn how to spell boycott". The screenshot also shows a hashtag along with the tweet, which reads '#BrainlessBhakts'.

Users in India have been calling for the boycott of the airlines after Qatar demanded a public apology from former BJP members Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal, following their controversial remarks about Islam and Prophet Mohammed.

However, we found that the airlines shared no such tweet, and that the image is morphed. Not only was there not trace of the tweet ever being shared, the screenshot itself is riddled with multiple inconsistencies.

CLAIM

The screenshot is being shared to claim that Qatar Airways responded to the call for its boycott in India, as '#BycottQatarAirways' trended on Twitter.

Archives of more posts with the same claim can be seen here, here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

First, we checked Qatar Airways' verified Twitter account to see whether the airlines had shared the tweet it question, but did not find it.

Next, we looked for archived tweets from the account, to check for deletions. A search for tweets by the account on WayBack Machine did not yield any matching results.

We then carefully observed the screenshot and compared it to a tweet with a photo from the airlines' account, where we saw that the text in the viral claim did not align with the profile photo.

The text shared in the photograph also appears to be of a different size than the hashtag accompanying it. Moreover, it is not possible to place text below an uploaded photograph on Twitter, as seen in the claim.

The Quint has also reached out to Qatar Airways for their input on the viral screenshot. The article will be updated with their response as and when it is received.

Clearly, a morphed photograph of a tweet is being shared to claim that Qatar Airways responded to two Twitter trends in India calling for its boycott – one of which misspells the word 'Boycott' – by asking people to learn to spell the word first.

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