Video Editor: Sandeep Suman
Welcome to your first appointment of the year with me, Dr WebQoof.
Each month, I bring to you cases of fake news that we, at Team WebQoof, diagnose and treat. You may have fallen for some of them. If you have, here’s a dose of truth. And if you’ve not, consider this as an immunisation shot.
Now, take for instance some social media posts about coronavirus. In a single WhatsApp message, you’re told that there’s a patent for this novel virus, and that it’s funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As is customary with fake news, it went viral. But, a basic fact check revealed that the older coronavirus has nothing to do with the novel coronavirus outbreak in China.
CAA-Protests Rise, Fake News Flies
As the protests against CAA gained momentum across the country, so did the Fake News Army on both sides of the fence.
Let's begin with our lovely neighbour – Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan – who shared a video showing the police brutally thrashing people. He claimed it’s from Uttar Pradesh.
The tweet reads: “Indian police’s pogrom against Muslims in UP.”
Totally fake! The video is from 2013 and is not from Assam, but Dhaka.
Back home, BJP’s Delhi Spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga took to Twitter to share a video of activist and former JNU student Umar Khalid allegedly chanting 'Hinduon se Azaadi' while addressing a gathering of protesters at Gateway of India, in Mumbai.
Khalid did raise quite a lot of 'Azaadi' slogans, but NOWHERE did he say 'Hinduon Se Azaadi'.
Media Misreporting: A Perennial Epidemic
Earlier, media misreporting was a one-off disease, then it became seasonal, and now it's become an epidemic.
A day after Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad was granted bail in relation with anti-CAA protests, he read the Preamble of the Constitution at Jama Masjid.
Media – Times Now, News 18 Hindi, Mail Today and a few others – flew off the handle, saying he violated the bail order which had banned him from visiting the mosque for four weeks.
Team WebQoof read through the order, which clearly stated he was allowed to visit Jama Masjid.
Besides this, Deepika Padukon starrer film 'Chhapaak' was trolled incessantly by those who weren’t too pleased about her participation in anti-CAA protests.
Adding fuel to the already tense situation, the media, again, in the same month, claimed that the name of the acid attacker in the film has been changed from ‘Nadeem Khan’ to Rajesh.
However, ‘Nadeem’, which is the actual attacker’s name, has been in the film as ‘Babboo’ aka ‘Bashir Khan’. No change in religion.
Prime example of misreporting by the media. I truly miss the times when media would report the truth!
It’s easy to protect yourself from fake news. Check out the WebQoof section on The Quint. Just use common sense and avoid sending forwards without knowing the source. Or you'll really believe tigers were burnt to ash in the Australian bushfires.
(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 webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
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