WebQoof Recap: Of Misinformation Around Assembly Elections & More

Here’s a round-up of all that misled the public this week.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

From misinformation around the ongoing Assembly elections to other communal claims, here’s all that misled the public this week!

1. Fight Between Two Groups in Uttarakhand Given False Communal Spin

A video, which shows a fight between a group of men, is being widely shared on Twitter and Facebook to claim that a bunch of Muslim men hit ‘secularists’ who had visited a dargah (shrine) in Uttarakhand’s Jaspur.

An archived version of the tweet can be found here.

However, we spoke to the investigating officer and men from both the groups involved in the fight. They rubbished the claim and said that there was no communal angle to the matter. The men belonged to the same community.

You can read our fact-check here.

2. Fake IB Prediction of Poll Results for TN, West Bengal Goes Viral

Two ‘on-ground assessments’ predicting the outcomes for West Bengal and Tamil Nadu Assembly polls have gone viral. The ‘reports’ are being attributed to the Intelligence Bureau (IB). Another survey with the logo of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) for West Bengal is also being shared.

However, both these surveys/reports are fake.

You can read our fact-check here.

3. Unrelated Aerocity Video Goes Viral as ‘Farmers Thrashing Ajay Devgn’

A viral video showing an altercation among a group of people is being shared on social media with a claim that it shows protesting farmers thrashing actor Ajay Devgn for supporting the controversial farm laws introduced by the NDA government.

An archived version of the tweet can be accessed here.

However, The Quint found that this video is from Aerocity near the Delhi airport where a fight broke out between two groups, after a vehicle belonging to a person from one group “slightly touched” a vehicle of a man from the other. Two men were arrested in this case.

You can read our fact-check here.

More From The Quint:

• Rahul’s Claim on Highest Unemployment in Assam Not Backed by Data
• This April Fool’s Day, Beware of These 10 COVID-19/Vaccine Myths
• Bangladeshi Women Falsely Identified as Hindu Freedom Fighters

4. Clip of Farmers Thrashing BJP MLA Viral as Shia Leader Wasim Rizvi

A video of angry farmers thrashing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Arun Narang in Punjab is being shared on social media as that of former UP Shia Shia Waqf Board chairman, Syed Wasim Rizvi, who recently moved the Supreme Court, seeking removal of 26 verses from the Quran.

You can read our fact-check here.

5. Saayoni Ghosh’s Running Video Shared With False ‘Harassment’ Claim

Ahead of the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections, several social media users are claiming that Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Saayoni Ghosh was allegedly “harassed by her own party members” while she was campaigning in Asansol and that it forced her to run.

You can view the archived version here.

However, Ghosh uploaded several visuals on her social media handles that show her running on various instances during her campaign on different days. Further, The Quint’s on ground reporter Debayan Dutta, too, confirmed that he saw her running while following one of her campaigns.

You can read our fact-check here.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)