Video Producer: Kritika Goel
Video Editor: Vivek Gupta
Hello! Did you know that eating chicken causes cancer, and that drinking 'DEW' bottled water is killing people? You do? So you read those FB posts too, huh!?
In that case, you're definitely suffering from a high dose of fake news. None of the epidemiological studies have proven any such association between lean meat (chicken, fish and duck) and the risk of cancer. And the 'deadly' dew bottled water is plain fake news.
I'm glad you made it to this week's Dr Webqoof appointment. Here are other fake news bugs you might have fallen for in June.
Elections Come and Go, Fake News Stays
Modi Masjid, a mosque in Shivajinagar area of Bengaluru, was inaugurated four years ago. Obviously photos of the mosque went viral. After all, a mosque named after Modi is unique, right?
It's also fake. The mosque IS called Modi Masjid, but it's named after Modi Abdul Gafoor, the original owner of the property. It has been in existence for over 125 years, and was only recently renovated.
Where there is Modi, there shall also be Amit Shah! This month, according to a viral post on Twitter and WhatsApp, he was caught napping in Parliament while Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was addressing the House.
“Rahul Gandhi using his phone during president Ram Nath Kovind’s address is a problem but then Amit Shah sleeping is not. (sic)”A righteously indignant twitter user asks
Moving on, former CM of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah has gone viral due to a video where he's seen shouting the slogan Bharat Mata Ki Jai. The insinuation;
“Amit Shah became home minister...Farooq Abdulla changed like this in front of Modi,” say the accompanying FB posts.
Though the video is authentic, the claim along with the video is false. The video is a year old, from an all-party prayer meet held on 20 August 2018 to pay tribute to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Dangerous Fakes
A video and claim on Twitter that a Hindu girl in Madhya Pradesh was burnt alive for going to a church went viral, for the second time in two years. This isn't the first time Team Webqoof has busted it either.
The original video dates back to 2015, and shows a mob beating a 16-year-old girl and then setting her on fire. The video published by Al Jazeera is from Guatemala's Rio Bravo.
Another viral post on Twitter claimed that a group of Adivasis attacked Muslims with bows and arrows for trying to encroach on their land to offer prayers on Eid.
The incident did happen, but not for the reasons you think. The land in question is actually the property of two Muslims, which the Adivasis had occupied a couple of months ago. The regular tussle finally erupted in violence on Eid, and the police intervened to resolve the issue.
Moral of the story: Tweeting out fake news of a complex situation is much easier than explaining the facts. So don’t fall for it.
May Common Sense Prevail!
And it’s a wrap for major viral fake news stories in June. For details on each story, check out links in the description below. And do visit the Webqoof section on www.thequint.com for more news on fake news.
Until next month, may your common sense prevail!
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)