A fake voting link asking for the user’s preference for a Ram Mandir or the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya has been doing the rounds on social media for several months now.
What’s more, the link is being shared with a heavily communal message that suggests that the Babri Masjid has garnered more votes than the Ram Mandir, urging Hindus to register their votes in favour of the Mandir.
The message reads: “Send to everyone in your list. Shame on all 90 Cr Hindus. Ayodhya Ram mandir Babri masjid online voting is going on. Supreme court of India have left the decision to the citizens, But till now there are more votes for Babri masjid. So kindly all Hindus vote for Rammandir to be built in Ayodhya. From the link given below.https://goo.gl/GdA4kkI just voted.” (sic)
Though the message claims that this is a legitimate vote being taken by the Supreme Court of India, the link is fake.
According to SMHoaxslayer, an online fake news debunker, the fake poll is merely an attempt to polarise opinion. They point out that the advertisement below the poll reads:
SMHoaxslayer notes that at the bottom of the advertisement, the disclaimer line reads that website is not linked to any political party, or government sponsored. The website further notes that in order for the votes to matter, the voting link must essentially be government-backed.
All of this suggests that the link is not legitimate and merely aims at polarising opinions.
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(This article was first published on 31 May 2018, and has been republished on 5 December 2018, to dispel rumours relating to the Babri Masjid demolition, which took place on 6 December 1992.)
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