From photoshopped billboards of Lord Ram at the Times Square to mis-identification of Disha Patani as Rhea Charkaborty with Aaditya Thackeray, here’s a quick round-up of all that misled the public this week:
1. Lies and Half-Truths: Donald Trump’s Viral Axios Interview
Trump's self-congratulatory half-truths and misleading claims on a number of issues ranging from the pandemic to the Black Lives Matter protests, caused an uproar worldwide after a (now viral) interview was released on 4 August.
Political journalist Jonathan Swan interviewed the US President Donald Trump at the White House for news website, Axios, and ended up becoming an internet meme mirroring how much of the internet felt about Trump's answers in an interview riddled with falsehood and inaccurate claims.
Read our fact-check to find out all that the US President got wrong.
2. Only Muslims Against Ram Billboards in NYC? OpIndia Ignores Facts
News outlets such as OpIndia and India.com published reports claiming that the ad company – Branded Cities Network – that manages the NASDAQ billboard, has refused to provide the billboard after “Muslim organisations” filed a petition against it.
However, contrary to what was reported, we found that those protesting the ads were people from civil rights groups across all religions, including Hindus.
On 31 July, several civil rights groups across the United States wrote to the mayor of the New York City asking him to prevent the American Indian Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) from projecting “Islamophobic” billboard in Times Square on 5 August.
The Quint accessed the letter which was signed by several organisations including both Muslim and non-Muslim groups.
These include Coalition against Fascism in India (CAFI), Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR), Global Indian Progressive Alliance (GIPA), Association of Indian Muslims, Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus and others.
You can read the full story here.
3. Photo of Lord Ram on Times Square Billboard? No, It’s Photoshopped
An image showing billboards carrying photos of Lord Ram is being circulated to claim that Times Square in US’ New York city showcased them ahead of the Bhoomi Pujan ceremony of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, on 5 August.
However, the image in circulation has been photoshopped and created using an online generator.
We found the exact template used in the viral image on a website called “makesweet.com”.
Further, we noticed that one of the pictures used in the viral image has been pulled out from Alamy’s collection of stock images. The text highlighted in yellow reads: “Alamy stock photo”.
You can read the full story here.
4. Video of Man Forced to Drink Urine Falsely Viral With Caste Angle
A video of a man tied to a tree, beaten and forcibly made to drink urine is falsely being shared with the claim that it shows an instance of Dalit oppression. However, we found that there is no caste angle to this incident and the incident was actually between members of the same community.
The video was shared by a Twitter user called Kush Ambedkarite, with the claim that it showed Dalit oppression at its peak in Rajasthan.
We found that the claim mentioned that the incident had allegedly taken place in Barmer, Rajasthan. We reached out to Barmer police to confirm the details of the incident. Speaking to The Quint, Khinv Singh Bhati, Additional SP, Barmer confirmed that such an incident had happened at Chohtan block but that there was no caste angle at all and that those involved all hail from the same caste – Bhil – and the same community.
You can read the full story here.
5. That’s Not Rhea Chakraborty With Aaditya Thackeray, Look Again!
A viral photo of Bollywood actor Disha Patani with Maharashtra MLA Aaditya Thackeray is being shared with a claim that it shows actor Rhea Chakraborty with the politician, to insinuate that this is the reason why the probe into Sushant Singh Rajput’s death is not being transferred to the CBI.
Only a cursory glance at the viral post revealed that the person in the car alongside Thackeray is not Chakraborty but actor Patani.
A Google search using keywords “Disha Patani with Aaditya Thackeray” directed us to several news reports which carried the same image.
You can read the full story here.
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