Fake news: Supreme Court orders case to be registered against PM Modi over Rafale deal - Alt News
Arjun Sidharth
10th January 2019 / 6:42 pm / Last updated: 10th January 2019
BREAKING NEWS: सुप्रीम कोर्ट का बड़ा फैसला , राफेल घोटाले में नरेंद्र मोदी पर केस दर्ज करने का आदेश (Big verdict by Supreme Court, orders registration of case against Narendra Modi on Rafale scam- translation). This message has been shared on social media in the form of a news flash by the Hindi news channel ABP News.
http://www.truereport.in/सुप्रीम-कोर्ट-का-बड़ा-फैस/
Posted by Bhakto Ka Baap Ravish Kumar on Wednesday, January 9, 2019
The above post is from the Facebook page Bhakto Ka Baap Ravish Kumar which has a following of over 200,000. It has been shared close to 800 times so far. The post has shared a link to an article on a website called True Report. The article was published on January 9. Interestingly, while the screenshot of ABP News has been prominently displayed, the write-up itself makes no reference to what has been claimed- that the apex court has ordered that a case be filed against PM Modi over the Rafale agreement.
Instead, the article says, “Now the Rafale deal has reached the Supreme Court. The hearing was to begin on Tuesday, which was deferred as the petitioner in the case fell ill. The important thing is that the case is being heard by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi. Apart from this, the petitioner has made Prime Minister Narendra Modi a party in this case.” (translation)
This particular claim about the apex court ordering the registration of a case against PM Modi over the Rafale agreement has circulated on social media since November 2018. Among others, it had been posted on a Facebook group Samajwadi Digital Force: Mission 2019.
The screenshot of ABP News used by True Report in its article is fake. This was confirmed to Alt News by Pankaj Jha, Editor of ABP News.
Earlier too, fake screenshots of ABP News were widely shared on social media. Congress President Rahul Gandhi was targeted with a fake screenshot according to which Gandhi had promised a Rs.5000 crore loan to Pakistan. In another instance, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra was targeted when a fake quote ascribed to him was presented as a screenshot of ABP News.
Alt News found that numerous articles with fake content had been posted on this ironically named website, True Report. These articles were later deleted. Moreover, articles from this website were primarily shared by one particular Facebook page: Bhakto Ka Baap Ravish Kumar.
It has been observed that this page also promotes posts which contain the Viral In India watermark. Viral In India has been a constant source of misinformation on social media and is known to post anti-BJP content.
Arjun Sidharth is a writer with Alt News. He has previously worked in the television news industry, where he managed news bulletins and breaking news scenarios, apart from scripting numerous prime time television stories. He has also been actively involved with various freelance projects. Sidharth has studied economics, political science, international relations and journalism. He has a keen interest in books, movies, music, sports, politics, foreign policy, history and economics. His hobbies include reading, watching movies and indoor gaming.
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