Three months into 2018 and the fake news menace shows no signs of dying down. We look back at the fake stories that tainted our timelines and spread like wildfire.
Here’s The Quint’s WebQoof roundup of the fake stories that we busted in March.
1. Did Barkha & Rajdeep Really Humiliate Kalam? No, They Didn’t
A recent story posted by fake news website Postcard News has trained its guns on journalists Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt for allegedly "humiliating" and "disrespecting" former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam. The premise for ‘Postcard News' statements is a 2007 event – the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards – where Kalam was the chief guest. While engaging in a debate with the panelists on media ethics and nation-building, the former President sat on the floor of the stage.
Postcard News has misleadingly shared a photo of Kalam sitting on the floor, while Sardesai and Dutt, the moderators at the event, look on. The language of the post clearly intends to cause disrepute to the senior journalists.
(Read full story here.)
2. Fake News! Man Marching Against Vietnam War Is Not Stephen Hawking
Veteran physicist, cosmologist and professor Stephen Hawking breathed his last on Wednesday, 14 March, leaving a gaping hole in the world. It is no surprise that tributes poured for the legend from across the world, and from across spheres.
Following his death, one particular photo which reportedly featured a young Hawking, along with political activist and writer Tariq Ali, was shared widely on social media. People on social media shared the photo claiming that Hawking was marching against the Vietnam War in London during 1968.
Tariq Ali, who is actually featured in the photo, took to Twitter and asserted that the man in the photo, who looks similar to Hawking, was not actually him. He said that while Hawking opposed the Vietnam war and Iraq, Hawking was not the man in the 1968 demonstration photo.
Read full story here.
3. ‘BFF’ is Not Zuckerberg’s Secret Tool to Save Your Facebook Data
Typing BFF in a comment box on Facebook won't safeguard your data, in case you were wondering.
A viral message doing the rounds on Facebook reads,
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, invented the word BFF to make sure your account is safe on Facebook, type BFF in a comment. If it appears green, your account is protected. If it does not appear in green, change your password immediately because it may be hacked by someone.
Read full story here.
4. ‘NASA Alert’ on Biggest Delhi Earthquake Is Fake
A message saying that the biggest-ever earthquake will hit Delhi in April 2018 has been doing the rounds.
The message says that NASA has predicted the earthquake's scale to be between 9.1 and 9.2, further saying that the date is not clear yet but it will occur somewhere between 7 to 15 April.
A website called Social Media Hoax Slayer has given a a step-by-step explanation on why this message is completely false.
First, the message says NASA has predicted the earthquake but according to the USGS Earthquake Program’s website, there is no way scientists can predict earthquakes. Although there have been efforts to do so, they have not yet been successful.
Read full story here.
5. Is an Istanbul Artist Missing Sridevi? Well, No Mr Kher!
All those who (like Anupam Kher) thought that a coffee maker in Istanbul is missing Sridevi and that the artist drew the actor’s face in a cup of coffee as a mark of remembrance, you are a victim of fake news!
Fun Fact: A new study conducted by MIT researchers has found out that fake news spreads faster on Twitter as compared to real news.
Actor Anupam Kher recently tweeted a coffee art video claiming that the it was somewhere from Istanbul and an artist was drawing the face of Sridevi.
Read full story here.
6. That’s Not Amitabh Bachchan In ‘Thugs of Hindostan’
Has Amitabh Bachchan’s look in the under production Thugs of Hindostan been leaked? The picture of a turbaned, rugged, old bearded man sporting spectacles is going viral online, and some media outlets are convinced that this is Big B’s look in Yash Raj Films’ upcoming period drama Thugs of Hindostan.
Check out some of the headlines driving this “news” below:
What has actually made our “head spin” and left us “flabbergasted” is how this photograph has been passed on as senior Bachchan’s without any verification.
Read the full story here.
7. Fake News Website Claims Modi is World’s Second Most Corrupt PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi ranks second among the most corrupt Prime Ministers in the world, according to a list circulating on social media. Public Voice, a Facebook page, declared PM Modi second, behind Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan in their list of most corrupt prime ministers. Vladimir Putin ranks third.
This list which is purportedly put together by an organisation, with a name similar to Fox News, is fast gaining attention on Facebook. Public Voice shared this list and also makes the allegation that PM Modi’s net worth is about 250,000 US dollars.
The post also refers to PM Modi’s alleged ties with the Sahara group. This post dated 13 March 2018 has been shared more than 1500 times.
Read more here.
8. True Story: Jain Sage Was NOT Attacked by Muslim Youth
The news of an attack on a Jain muni by Muslim youth was shared by several serial peddlers of fake news. Mahesh Vikram Hegde, who is the founder of fake news site PostCard News, and Gaurav Pradhan, who has been caught spreading fake news on several occasions, also put out this claim on their Twitter handles. Both Hegde and Pradhan are followed by Prime Minister Modi on Twitter.
According to Alt News, one of the first to share this information on Facebook was a person named Deepak Shetty, whose post has been shared over 6,000 times now
Read full story here.
More Webqoof Stories:
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