Current Final

Tag: Fake News

  • Fact Check: Did Pakistani lawmakers chant slogans in favor of Modi?

    Claim: Pakistani lawmakers chant “Modi, Modi” in favor of the Indian Prime Minister during the 27th session of the National Assembly

    Fact: Pakistani parliamentarians did not engage in any sloganeering in favor of Modi inside the parliament and were in fact chanting “voting, voting”

    A television news segment in India reporting that slogans favoring Prime Minister Narendra Modi were chanted by lawmakers in Pakistan has been shared extensively on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

    The claim was widely amplified by prominent Indian politicians and other media outlets.

    However, the claim is false; the lawmakers were in fact chanting calls for a vote during a debate in the National Assembly, a fact check by AFP read.

    A one-minute and 45-seconds news clip was published on Facebook here on October 29, 2020.

    The post’s caption says: “Modi Modi slogans in Pakistan’s parliament.”

    The clip shared in the Facebook post is a segment from India TV that reports on and shows footage from a debate in Pakistan’s National Assembly that was held on October 26, 2020.

    The segment was published on India TV’s Twitter account here on October 28, 2020. “Exclusive: Why some MPs in Pakistan parliament shouted ‘Modi, Modi’,” the tweet reads.

    In the broadcast, India TV’s chyron reads “Again MPs raised the slogans of Modi” and “‘Modi-Modi’ slogans chanted in front of Pakistan foreign minister.”

    The claim that the Pakistani lawmakers were chanting “Modi, Modi” in favour of the Indian prime minister was amplified by politicians from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party on social media here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

    Footage of the parliamentary debate was also shared alongside the claim by Indian media outlets here, here, here, here, here, here and here and by Facebook users here, here, here and here.

    However, the claim is false.

    A close analysis of the parliamentary proceedings show that the lawmakers are in fact chanting in Urdu “voting, voting” — not “Modi, Modi”.

    The chanting was coming from opposition politicians that were demanding a vote on a resolution that would call on Muslim countries to boycott French goods in response to remarks made by French President Emmanuel Macron regarding blasphemous sketches of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him).

    The “voting, voting” chants occurred while Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was speaking during the debate, which can be seen in full on Public TV’s YouTube channel here.

    The chanting can be heard at the video’s 13:28 mark.

    Dawn, a major English newspaper in Pakistan, reported on the “voting, voting” chants here on October 27, 2020.

    Prime Minister Modi was invoked later in the parliamentary proceeding but in a negative sense. 

    At 18:25 mark of the Public TV video, Qureshi taunts an opposition lawmaker, saying “it appears that the spirit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s has been transferred into him”. 

    The quip was followed by chants of “whoever is a friend of Modi is a traitor.”

    The negative comments about Modi were reported on by several news outlets, including Pakistan’s Express Tribune here, Indian news agency IANS here and in the Dawn report here.

    The false claim that Pakistani lawmakers chanted “Modi, Modi” was also debunked by the UK’s BBC here and by Indian fact-checking organizations Boomlive here and Alt News here.

    VERDICT: FALSE

  • 24 hours: Over three billion images, 0.7 million hours of video… can you spot the fake ones?

    24 hours: Over three billion images, 0.7 million hours of video… can you spot the fake ones?

    Over the past few days, Twitter has tagged as “manipulated” a video showing United States (US) Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden supposedly forgetting which state he’s in while addressing a crowd.

    Biden’s “hello, Minnesota” greeting contrasted with prominent signage reading “Tampa, Florida” and “Text FL to 30330”.

    A fact check by the Associated Press (AP) confirmed the signs were added digitally and the original footage was indeed from a Minnesota rally. But by the time the misleading video was removed it already had more than one million views, The Guardian reported.

    If you use social media, the chances are you see (and forward) some of the more than 3.2 billion images and 720,000 hours of video that are shared daily. When faced with such a glut of content, how can we know what’s real and what’s not?

    While one part of the solution is increased use of content verification tools, it’s equally important we all boost our digital media literacy. Ultimately, one of the best lines of defence — and the only one you can control — is you.

    Misinformation (when you accidentally share false content) and disinformation (when you intentionally share it) in any medium can erode trust in civil institutions such as news organisations, coalitions and social movements. However, fake photos and videos are often the most potent.

    For those with a vested political interest, creating, sharing and/or editing false images can distract, confuse and manipulate viewers to sow discord and uncertainty (especially in already polarised environments). Posters and platforms can also make money from the sharing of fake, sensationalist content.

    Only 11-25% of journalists globally use social media content verification tools, according to the International Centre for Journalists (ICJ).

    Consider this photo of rights champion Martin Luther King Jr:

    This altered image clones part of the background over King Jr’s finger, so it looks like he’s flipping off the camera. It has been shared as genuine on Twitter, Reddit and white supremacist websites.

    In the original 1964 photo, King flashed the “V for victory” sign after learning the US Senate had passed the civil rights bill.

    Beyond adding or removing elements, there’s a whole category of photo manipulation in which images are fused together.

    Earlier this year, a photo of an armed man was photoshopped by Fox News, which overlaid the man onto other scenes without disclosing the edits, the Seattle Times reported.

    https://twitter.com/ZanderYates/status/1271620044837941250

    Similarly, the image below was shared thousands of times on social media in January, during Australia’s Black Summer bushfires. The AFP’s fact check confirmed it is not authentic and is actually a combination of several separate photos.

    Cropping can greatly alter the context of a photo, too.

    We saw this in 2017, when a US government employee edited official pictures of Donald Trump’s inauguration to make the crowd appear bigger, according to The Guardian. The staffer cropped out the empty space “where the crowd ended” for a set of pictures for Trump.

    Opposition parties in Pakistan have also time and again been accused of using these tactics.

    A historical example of another technique — using colour adjustment tools — is when in 1994 Time magazine’s cover considerably “darkened” sportsman and murder accused OJ Simpson in his police mugshot.

    This added fuel to a case already plagued by racial tension, to which the magazine said that “no racial implication was intended by Time or by the artist”.

    Follow this link to fact check like a pro.

    Data Compiled By: The Conversation

  • Abhishek Bachchan responds to reports of Big B being injured and hospitalized

    Abhishek Bachchan responds to reports of Big B being injured and hospitalized

    Social media was recently abuzz with rumours that the Big B of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan is injured and in the hospital.

    Responding to the rumours, Amitabh’s son Abhishek Bachchan was quoted telling Spotboye that he and his family are entirely clueless about where the reports had come from and questioned those asking him for a clarification.

    He said: “I ask because he’s sitting right in front of me. That must be his duplicate in the hospital.”

    Fans were worried for the actor after reports of him being injured and hospitalised emerged considering he recovered from coronavirus just a few months back.

  • VIDEO: TikToker Adil Rajput’s wife responds to backlash after faking husband’s death

    TikTok star Adil Rajput’s wife Farah Rajput recently shared a video of herself crying and announcing the news of her husband’s death.

    “Adil is no longer with us,” she said in tears. Farah said she got a call and was told that Adil had passed away in a road accident.

    Later, Farah posted another video in which Adil is seen meeting relatives with several injuries on his body.

    After she posted the video of her husband coming home alive, people on social media started calling them out for their “publicity stunt”.

    https://twitter.com/han3yy/status/1305899775569653760?s=20

    Following the backlash, Farah recorded another video in which said that she got a call from Adil’s brother. She shared that Adil was unconscious for hours because of which his brother “panicked” and declared him dead.

    “Please, I request you all to stop spreading fake and authentic news,” asserted Farah.

    Hailing from Rahim Yar Khan, Rajput is a famous TikToker with over 2.6 million followers.

  • WhatsApp launches new feature to tackle ‘fake information’ on its platform

    WhatsApp has recently announced a new feature ‘search the web’ that would allow the user to gather information on the internet about all the sent links and images.

    Not only WhatsApp but most of the social media platforms have turned into a hub of fake videos and news, since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic.

    In a statement, the spokesperson of WhatsApp said: “Today, we’re piloting a simple way to double-check these messages by tapping a magnifying glass button in the chat. Providing a simple way to search messages that have been forwarded many times may help people find news results or other sources of information about the content they have received.”

    WhatsApp has also included double arrows to let users know that messages have not originated from their close contact. The update also informed about the authenticity of the chain messages.

    Search the web is being rolled out in Brazil, Italy, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US) for those on the latest versions of WhatsApp for Android, iOS and WhatsApp Web.

  • Fact Check: Notification asking barbers’ not to style customers’ beards is fake

    Fact Check: Notification asking barbers’ not to style customers’ beards is fake

    Claim: A notification has been issued claiming that the barbers are now forbidden from styling their customers’ beard

    Fact: This was a fake notification according to the Balochistan Government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani

    A notification stating that barbers who style their customer’s beards will be charged with blasphemy is doing the rounds on social media.

    However, Spokesperson of the Balochistan Government, Liaquat Shahwani said that the notification is fake.

    “Balochistan Govt has got nothing to do with personal matters of citizens”, wrote Shahwani on Twitter.

    Earlier, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Rukhsana Kausar had tabled a resolution in the provincial house of Punjab seeking a ban on beard styling and action against men with fashionable beards as well as their barbers. However, it was never implemented.

    VERDICT: FALSE

  • ‘Fake News’: Adnan Siddiqui says he never faced discrimination on the sets of ‘A Mighty Heart’

    Adnan Siddiqui is the latest victim of fake news and it has not gone down well with the actor, who lashed out at a digital media outlet for spreading fake news and putting his personal relations at risk.

    Recently, news of the actor allegedly facing discrimination on the sets of Hollywood production, A Mighty Heart, was being circulated on social media. Following the reports, Adnan took to social media and lashed out saying: “If you want to publish news, at least get the facts right and if there are doubts the least you can do is to cross-check with the person you’re writing about.”

    He added, “Not only are you feeding wrong piece of information to your audience but also you may create a rift between people am friends with.”

    Read more – Adnan Siddiqui recalls the last time he met Irrfan Khan

    Later, the actor also issued a detailed statement on Instagram in which he further expressed his anger.

    “First of all, you’ve made news out of the interview which was done three to four years back and then even quoted me wrongly,” said the actor.

    He then clarified what actually happened.

    “I didn’t face any discrimination during the shoot. When I’d gone to shoot in Pune, on the first day I stayed in a different hotel. But when I told the production team who was I etc, the very next day they moved me to Taj.”

    “From the second day till the shoot was over, I stayed at the Taj where Angelina Jolie and the late Irrfan Khan were also staying,” added the actor.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CCil-5ln9SI/

    A Mighty Heart, which released in 2007, is based on the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was killed by militants in 2002. While Jolie essayed the role of Pearl’s wife, Adnan played the role of a character called Dost Aliani. Irrfan Khan played Zeeshan Kazmi, who was the Karachi Police Chief at the time of the incident.

  • Indian anchors fall for fake WhatsApp forward, claim 30 Chinese soldiers dead in clash

    Indian anchors fall for fake WhatsApp forward, claim 30 Chinese soldiers dead in clash

    At least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in an armed clash with China in Galwan Valley of Ladakh earlier this week.

    While the number of Chinese casualties is still unclear, anchors of an Indian news channel have claimed that 30 were killed, reading out their names from a fake Whatsapp forward message.

    While the message was falsely credited to Chinese daily tabloid newspaper Global Times, there’s no evidence to support its validity.

    However, later in its bulletin, the news channel probably noticed the faux pas and mentioned that the information could be a “fake forward”.

    Following this, several Indian news outlets fact-checked this and found that no such information had been shared by Global Times. A search on the organisation’s website also led to no results while the news organisation has not shared any such information on its Twitter account as well.

    Meanwhile, Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of Global Times, tweeted that the Chinese government had not released the official number of casualties.

    “My understanding is the Chinese side doesn’t want people of the two countries to compare the casualties number so [as] to avoid stoking public mood. This is goodwill from Beijing,” Xijin wrote.

  • Fake tweets about animals in Venice amid corona lockdown go viral

    Fake tweets about animals in Venice amid corona lockdown go viral

    Bogus stories of wild animals flourishing in quarantined cities gives false hope — and viral fame.

    Scattered amid a relentless barrage of news about coronavirus cases, quarantine and medical news on Twitter, some happy stories softened the blows: Swans had returned to deserted Venetian canals. Dolphins too. And a group of elephants had sauntered through a village in Yunnan, China, gotten drunk off corn wine, and passed out in a tea garden.

    These reports of wildlife triumphs in countries hard-hit by the novel coronavirus got hundreds of thousands of retweets. They went viral on Instagram and Tik Tok. They made news headlines. If there’s a silver lining of the pandemic, people said, this was it— animals were bouncing back, running free in a humanless world.

    But it wasn’t real.

    The swans in the viral posts regularly appear in the canals of Burano, a small island in the greater Venice metropolitan area, where the photos were taken. The “Venetian” dolphins were filmed at a port in Sardinia, in the Mediterranean Sea, hundreds of miles away. No one has figured out where the drunken elephant photos came from, but a Chinese news report debunked the viral posts: While elephants did recently come through a village in Yunnan Province, China, their presence isn’t out of the norm, they aren’t the elephants in the viral photos, and they didn’t get drunk and pass out in a tea field.

  • Coronavirus: Info Ministry shares fake news about Chinese help, then deletes tweet

    Coronavirus: Info Ministry shares fake news about Chinese help, then deletes tweet

    In a rather embarrassing development for the government, the Information Ministry has shared fake claims regarding Chinese help for Pakistan amid the outbreak of the new coronavirus — COVID-19 — and later deleted its tweet.

    As per the details, the Information Ministry, which is responsible to release government information to the public and international communities, on Sunday in a now-deleted tweet claimed that 200 Chinese doctors had reached Islamabad to help the country fight the coronavirus pandemic.

    It also said that China was providing Pakistan with $34 million for treatment of the infected.

    The same was tweeted by Radio Pakistan as well.

    Since the the national public broadcaster for radio also deleted its tweet, an archived version of it can be viewed here.

    Speaking to The Current, an official, on the condition of anonymity, confirmed not only that the two claims were fake, but also that the tweets had been deleted after it was pointed out.

    They, however, said that China had given Pakistan $4 million in aid and the claim pertaining to the provision of 300,000 medical face masks besides 10 ventilators was also true.

    This was confirmed by Economic Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar as well.

    Taking to Twitter, he wrote:

    “They have also undertaken to arrange for much greater number of ventilators,” the minister added.