Old video of UP CM Adityanath announcing lockdown shared as recent

Alt News received a request on its WhatsApp helpline number and official mobile application to verify a video where Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath talks about imposing a strict lockdown in 15 districts of the state. The video is circulating as recent.

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Social media users began sharing the video around March 13. One Mohammad Shanwaz Siddiqui posted a 5:13-minute-long clip the same day and wrote, “Another season of lockdowns has arrived.” It was shared by more than 7,000 handles at the time of writing.

Old video

We noticed that the Uttar Pradesh Government’s fact-checking arm posted a tweet clarifying that this is an old clip. “This video being circulated on social media is old. At present, there is no plan for a lockdown of any kind in the state,’ it states.

दावा: प्रदेश में लॉकडाउन की योजना।#InfoUPFactCheck: सोशल मीडिया पर प्रसारित यह वीडियो पुराना है। वर्तमान में प्रदेश में किसी प्रकार के लॉकडाउन की योजना नहीं है। pic.twitter.com/Q4CPFTw8FU

— Info Uttar Pradesh Fact Check (@InfoUPFactCheck) March 16, 2021

This video is from March 22, 2020, when CM Adityanath was announcing a complete lockdown in 15 districts of Uttar Pradesh during the first phase of the lockdown.

On March 17, a Facebook page named ‘ ख़ामोशी 2.0’ (Khamoshi 2.0) also shared the video, adding that the visuals were old. It had been viewed more than 62 lakh times at the time of writing.