From an edited image of singer and actor Rihanna with the Pakistani flag, to an edited clip shared by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sambit Patra to falsely claim that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal spoke in favour of the three farm laws, here’s all that misled the public this week.
1. Edited Image of Rihanna with Pak Flag Viral after Tweet on Farmers
An image of Rihanna purportedly posing with a Pakistani flag went viral on social media, hours after the song-songwriter tweeted in support of farmers protesting against the new farm legislations introduced by the Modi government in September 2020.
However, we found that the said image is morphed. In reality, Rihanna had posed with a flag supporting the West Indies cricket team.
A side-by-side comparison of the viral image with the original one can be seen below.
You can read our full story here.
2. Kejriwal Supports Farm Laws? No, Sambit Patra Shared Edited Clip
Bharatiya Janata Party’s national spokesperson Sambit Patra tweeted an edited version of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s interview, to falsely claim that he had spoken in support of the three controversial farm laws against which the farmers have been protesting.
Twitter labelled the tweet as ‘manipulated media.’ This makes Patra the second BJP spokesperson against which the tech giant had to take action, after Amit Malviya.
The full version of the interview tweeted by Patra was shared by Zee Punjab Haryana Himachal on 15 January. Sections of this interview have been cut and edited to make it appear like Kejriwal had spoken in support of the farm laws.
You can read the full story here.
3. No, That’s Not Thailand’s Health Minister Being Given COVID Jab
A video showing a man scared of taking an injection, is being shared with the claim that the person is the health minister of Thailand, and he is scared of taking the coronavirus vaccine.
However, we found that both the claims were untrue. The person in the video was not Thailand’s Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. We also found that the video was originally posted in 2018, much before the COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccination drive. Moreover, Thailand is yet to begin the vaccination drive against COVID-19, which is scheduled on 14 February.
You can read our full story here.
4. No, 200 Delhi Policemen Haven’t Resigned in Support of Farmers
A video of police officers chanting ‘jai jawan, jai kisan’ has gone viral with a false claim that 200 Delhi Police officers resigned in support of the farmers’ protest.
The Delhi Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), however, confirmed to The Quint’s WebQoof team that the claim was ‘fake.’ The video actually shows the police official motivating other personnel to engage with the farmers peacefully during the Republic Day rally.
You can read our full story here.
5. Fake News from Anti-CAA Stir Now Being Linked to Farmers’ Protest
As farmers from different states in north India continue protesting against the new farm legislations introduced by the PM Narendra Modi-led NDA government in September, there has been a barrage of misinformation targeting the protesters and the police alike.
Based on queries received on several social media platforms, we at The Quint’s fact-checking vertical – WebQoof – have observed that several old, debunked claims from the anti-CAA protests have been revived, linking them to the ongoing agitation.
You can read our full story here.
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