A tweet by a verified user named Sonu Nigam on X (formerly known as Twitter) is going viral on social media to claim that Indian singer Sonu Nigam has shared his support to the online education platform Unacademy.
More context: Unacademy recently terminated the services one of their tutors, Karan Sangwan, after a video of his went viral on social media where he was seen asking his students to "vote for educated candidates” lest they suffer again in life.
Who shared this claim?: Along with social media users, media outlets like Bharat Times, News18 and News X shared the claim.
An archive can be seen here.
(Source: X/Screenshot)
(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)
Did the singer really support Unacademy?: No, the viral tweet was not shared by singer Sonu Nigam's account but by another person who is named Sonu Nigam Singh.
The singer is not active on X and has not shared anything about Unacademy on his Instagram, Facebook or YouTube.
How did we find out the truth?: We checked the verified X account linked with the viral claim.
The account's name was Sonu Nigam but the username was '@Sonunigamsingh'.
This account's bio states that he is a criminal lawyer from Bihar.
This account is not of singer Sonu Nigam.
(Source: X/Screenshot)
The bio also carried an Instagram account under the same name, Sonu Nigam Singh which showed a different person and not the singer.
What about singer's account?: We found the official YouTube channel of the singer where the 'About' section included his ofifical social media accounts.
We noticed that Nigam has a verified Facebook account where the singer is active as well.
His Facebook page also carries a link to his verified and active Instagram account.
He had created his Twitter (Now X) account in 2009 and it was verified too.
On Wayback Machine, we were able to check Nigam's verified account under the username '@Sonunigam' and the last archive of his active account was from 5 May 2017.
This can be viewed here.
(Source: Wayback Machine/Screenshot)
He deleted his X account later that year, after which a new account with the same username was created in May 2018.
On 24 May 2017, the singer posted a series of tweets announcing that he would delete his Twitter account.
We also found Nigam's interview from May 2020 shared on an entertainment-related YouTube channel, Showsha.
In this video the singer confirms that he does not have a Twitter account.
More about the Unacademy controversy: Former Unacademy tutor Karan Sangwan made the remarks while discussing bills introduced in the Lok Sabha to replace the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and Indian Evidence Act.
In a video that went viral on 14 August, Sangwan said, “The next time you vote, choose an educated candidate so that you do not have to suffer all this again in life.”
He added, “Elect someone who is educated, who understands things. Don't elect someone who only knows how to change names. Make your decision properly.”
He did not mention any political party or political leader; however, after his video went viral, he was fired.
We have reached out to the singer for clarification and the story would be updated when we receive a response.
Conclusion: Singer Sonu Nigam has not made any statements about the ongoing Unacademy controversy as claimed.
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