By Truvee Curating Team
Good morning. In the last few days, we saw a lot of misinformation related to President Kovind's trip to Uttar Pradesh. In this digest we review some of that fake news.
President Ram Nath Kovind's visit to UP
Respect for Birth Land Misinterpreted
President Kovind bowed down and touched soil on landing in his village Paraunkh as a gesture of respect for his birthplace. The image is going viral with the false claim that President Kovind—a Dalit—is bowing before upper caste CM Yogi Adityanath and Governor Anandiben Patel. This claim is false.
Misleading Comparison with Former President Kalam
President Kovind reached Kanpur in a special Presidential train. His photo from this train is being compared with an old image of former president Abdul Kalam that shows him travelling in an ordinary train. People on social media are commending Kalam for his simplicity while targeting President Kovind for undertaking his journey in a special train. However, this claim is misleading because President Kalam's photo is from 2010, when he was no longer the President of India.
Penalty for Child Rapists Only
Social media posts have claimed that President Kovind passed a decisive ordinance awarding death penalty to all rapists. However, the penalty is only for child rape, not for all rapists.
In Other Fake News
Dubious Comparison between Sabarmati and Mithi River: Priti Gandhi, who is BJP Mahila Morcha social media in-charge, posted on Twitter allegedly showing stark contrast between riverfront of Sabarmati River in Gujarat and Mithi River in Mumbai. Several fact-checking websites have found that the photo she shared of Mithi river is false. It is a 10-year-old photo from Manila, Philippines.
Fake Medal Viral —No Swayamsevak medals to Tokyo Olympics Volunteers: An image of a medal with the word “volunteer” inscribed on it in various languages, including Hindi (swayamsevak), has gone viral on social media. However, Olympics administration awards medals only to sports winners. The said image is of a fake medal being sold online on ebay for around ₹100.
Below is some other fake news that circulated this week
- Prashant Bhushan made several misleading claims about Covid-19 affecting young people on Twitter. Young individuals may also die from Covid, and vaccines do not compromise one’s natural immunity.
- A fake ABP News graphic spread with the claim that Rahul Gandhi wants to make India into an Islamic country.
- False claims were made about India administering the highest number of Covid vaccines. China tops the list with 122 crores vaccine doses.
- Gujarat High Court did not abolish caste-based reservations. Viral claim on social media is fake.