Media Bulletin - III on Fake News and Misinformation on social media platforms
The Telangana ITE&C Dept. has come up with a dedicated web portal https://factcheck.telangana.gov.in with an aim to dispel fake news and misinformation campaigns on the social media platforms and to provide facts and context wherever applicable.
The ITE&C Dept., has been periodically releasing a Media Bulletin on widely circulated posts on Coronavirus/ Covid-19 on the social media platforms verifying the claims made therein. This is the third bulletin in the series. For all the stories, you are requested to visit the portal.
1. A private Telugu TV channel has scrolled a news item that 32 year-old Ms.Elisa Granato, the first person to take part in Oxford's coronavirus trial is dead. The same is being shared widely on the social media platforms. 'very much alive,' after anti-vaxxers spread fake news that she had died. The BBC's medical correspondent Fergus Walsh wrote on Twitter that he had spoken to Dr Granato over Skype and even shared a video of Dr Granato saying that she was "very much alive" and "having a cup of tea". The UK's Department of Health and Social Care has also said that the story is "completely untrue".
2. A post is being widely shared on social media platforms stating that Japan’s Nobel Prize winning Professor of Medicine, Professor Dr. Tasuku Honjo has claimed that the Coronavirus is not natural and that China manufactured it. However, the factchecking of the post revealed that Dr. Tasuku Honjo had not made any such claims. Ever since the outbreak of COVID-19, multiple claims were made linking the origin of the virus to a research lab in Wuhan. These claims were debunked by multiple fact-checkers across the world, including World Health Organisation (WHO). (See: https://factcheck.telangana.gov.in/nobel-laureate-tasuku-honjo-hasnt-claimed-that-coronavirus-is-man-made/)
3. An audio clip purported to be of former CBI Joint Director VV Laxminarayana is being circulated widely on social media. The person in the audio clip claims that India will extend the Lockdown for further two months based on the advisory from World Health Organisation and exhorts people to keep sufficient food, medicines and money at hand. Factcheck has found the audio clip to be fake. Further, former CBI Joint Director has repudiated the audio clip through a YouTube video. (See: https://factcheck.telangana.gov.in/telugu-vv-lakshminarayana-has-clarified-that-the-viral-audio-message-regarding-lockdown-till-june-1-is-fake/)
4. A photo claiming that Kurnool MLA Hafeez Khan made a medical staff to prostrate before a religious head at Viswabharathi Medical College is making rounds on social media. Factcheck has examined the claim and found the claim to be wrong and motivated. The MLA had gone on an inspection of medical facilities available at a quarantine centre. He was interacting with the medical staff and at the same time a Muslim was hurt his foot and started bleeding. The nurse at the hospital treated the Muslim and applied a bandage. A related video also surfaced wherein it can be seen that the injured person’s foot was bleeding. (See: https://factcheck.telangana.gov.in/telugu-the-photo-of-a-nurse-treating-an-injured-old-man-is-being-shared-with-false-narrative/)
5. A video of dead bodies washed ashore on an unidentified beach is being shared on social media with the claim that some countries are throwing away dead persons infected with COVID-19 into the sea. Factcheck has found out that a boat carrying the African immigrants to Europe capsized en route near a beach in Bolivia in 2014. So the incident happened nearly six years ago and the dead bodies shown in the video has nothing to do with the current Covid-19 pandemic. (See: https://factcheck.telangana.gov.in/telugu-the-video-shows-bodies-of-african-migrants-who-died-in-a-boat-wreck-in-2014-not-of-covid-19/)
6. A video is being shared widely on Social Media claiming that Sri Rama Navami celebrations were organised in Uttar Pradesh’s Akbarpur block despite the prohibitory orders due to nation-wide Lockdown. However, Factcheck has found that the video pertains to Akbarpur of Bihar and is seen on Internet since at least April, 2019. Hence the video was taken prior to current country-wide lockdown and cannot be applied to the Covid-19 restrictions. (See: https://factcheck.telangana.gov.in/telugu-an-old-video-falsely-shared-as-recent-ram-navami-celebrations-in-akbarpur-block-up-during-lockdown/)
7. A message is being shared widely on social media with a claim that Israel has reported zero COVID-19 deaths because they have found the cure for Coronavirus. It is also being claimed that drinking the mixture of lemon and baking soda as hot tea can kill the Coronavirus. However, Factcheck has found out that by 20 April, 2020 fatalities numbering 171 were reported in Israel. Moreover, there’s no scientific evidence to the claim that lemon and baking soda mixture can cure Covid-19. (See: https://factcheck.telangana.gov.in/telugu-no-evidence-to-suggest-that-the-mixture-of-lemon-and-baking-soda-can-kill-sars-cov-2-virus/)
8. A photo is being shared widely on social media with a claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi dressed elaborately on his recent visit to a hospital despite the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Factcheck has found out that the photo is two years’ old. It was taken in 2017 in Sri Lanka when PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Dickoya Glengairan Hospital. (See: https://factcheck.telangana.gov.in/a-photo-taken-in-2017-falsely-shared-as-pm-modi-grandly-dressed-on-his-visit-to-a-hospital-recently/)