By Nidhi Jacob
In June, post-poll false claims emerged as the most prevalent theme of mis/disinformation, accounting for 35% of all 101 fact-checks published in English, Hindi, and Bangla.
47.5% of all fact-checked claims were related to Indian politics, followed by communal claims and misinformation concerning international politics.
The Muslim community remained the primary target of mis/disinformation for the second consecutive month, accounting for 16% of the false claims.
We published 6 AI-generated fact-checks, comprising 2 images and 4 voice clones.
Nearly half or 47.5% of the total fact-checks dealt with mis/disinformation that were peddled using old and unrelated videos.
Additionally, around 35% of the 101 fact-checks involved claims shared by verified accounts on social media.
Post-poll fake news
BOOM published 35 fact-checks that contained post-election misinformation. The majority of false claims were directed at Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi. Additionally, 53.1% of the 35 fact-checks dealt with old and unrelated videos and images.
For instance, a digitally altered image of a Vistara flight boarding pass was shared on social media as Rahul Gandhi's ticket for a flight leaving the country on June 5, a day after the 2024 Lok Sabha election results were announced. The boarding pass displayed Gandhi's name as the ticket holder and listed a travel date of June 5, 2024, from India to Bangkok, Thailand. However, BOOM found that the image was fake. Ajay Awtaney, founder and editor of ‘Live from a Lounge’, confirmed that the original boarding pass belonged to him, and he used it for a Vistara international flight from Delhi to Singapore in 2019.
Similarly, a screenshot of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan endorsing Gandhi as the next Prime Minister of India was viral. The post stated, 'Next PM Rahul Gandhi Confirm'.
However, upon investigation, BOOM confirmed that the viral screenshot was entirely fabricated. Shah Rukh Khan did not make any such statement on his X account or any other platform.
A purported letter from Karnataka Congress leader MB Patil to former Congress president Sonia Gandhi allegedly discussing plans to "divide Hindus'' was revived. This letter had previously circulated before the 2018 assembly elections. BOOM found that the letter was fake and was posted by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Karnataka's official handle in 2019. Patil previously denounced the letter as fake and took legal action against its spread.
Further, a morphed image depicting Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai receiving only one vote at a polling booth during the Lok Sabha elections was viral on social media. However, we found that in the original image, Annamalai actually received 101 votes after the first round of counting for the Coimbatore Lok Sabha seat.
Annamalai, a former IPS officer who joined the BJP in 2020, was ultimately defeated by his Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) opponent Ganapathy Rajkumar. This defeat also meant that the BJP failed to secure any seats in Tamil Nadu during the elections.
Communal claims
A viral video showing visuals of cattle slaughter inside a residential complex in Bangladesh was falsely shared by Indian social media users as Bakrid celebrations in West Bengal.
The video was posted by a verified X handle with a caption, "These could be mistaken for scenes straight out of a Hollywood horror movie. In reality, it’s a bloodbath from the slaughter of innocent beings on the streets of West Bengal. Mamata G-hadan’s vote bank."
BOOM geolocated the buildings on Google Maps and found visuals shared by other internet users from the residential complex that matched those seen in the viral video. The video was old and recorded in Mirpur, Dhaka.
BOOM has also observed a rise in claims where the Islamic flag is frequently misidentified as the Pakistan national flag. A video showing an Islamic flag being waved in Shrirampur, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, was falsely shared by Sudarshan News's Marathi handle. The outlet asserted that the flag was a Pakistan flag waved by supporters of the I.N.D.I.A alliance following the victory of Nationalist Congress Party candidate Nilesh Lanke in the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat. Lanke secured victory with 6,24,797 votes, defeating Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Dr. Sujay Vikhepatil. The opposition-led I.N.D.I.A alliance, part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), won 30 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, while the ruling BJP-led NDA secured 17 seats.
In another claim, an image was digitally altered to include a Pakistan flag. The image which was circulated showing Congress supporters waving the Pakistani flag in Amravati, Maharashtra, following the victory of their candidate Balwant Wankhade. However, BOOM found that the original image did not include a flag; the Pakistani flag was added digitally.
After the Lok Sabha election results, a viral video claimed that Pakistani flags were being waved in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.
An X user stated, "Bareilly became Pakistan! As soon as Samajwadi Party won 37 seats in Uttar Pradesh, people from the peace loving community in Bareilly waved the flag of Pakistan. The police also stood and watched.”
However, upon verification, the media cell of Bareilly police told BOOM that the video was from the Eid Milad-un-Nabi festival in September 2023. The flag seen in their hands is not a Pakistani flag but an Islamic flag, the police clarified.
Further, a collage of images alleged that impotence drugs were being mixed in food served at restaurants run by Muslims.
An X user shared the collage with a warning, stating, "Be careful, friends. All the Muslim hotels on the highways of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra allegedly mix impotency medicines into food for Hindu people. Be cautious of Muslim hotels, as they also serve non-vegetarian food to reduce the Hindu population and undermine Hindu religion. They purportedly use chemicals harmful to health. Stop all buses from Rajasthan from staying at Muslim hotels in the future."
BOOM’s investigation revealed that the collage included unrelated and old pictures shared with a misleading communal narrative. The Bijnor police clarified that one picture was from 2019 in Thana Sherkot. Another picture was found on multiple YouTube thumbnails, while the third involved a father-son duo arrested in Sri Lanka for illegal drugs in 2019, as reported by Daily Mirror Sri Lanka.
Medium, intent and type of deception
61.4% of the 101 fact-checks were shared via videos, followed by images (19.8%) and texts (18.8%).
Regarding the intent behind spreading mis/disinformation, 91.1% of the total fact-checks were found to be sensationalist. This was followed by smear campaigns against political leaders (5.9%). Following this, the intent of spreading demographic anxiety (2%) was observed.
77.2% of the total fact-checks consisted of false claims, followed by manipulated (11.9 %) and fabricated content (5.9%).
