“ये क्या हो गया सच्चा मुसलमान कभी ऐसा नही कर सकता तो इसका मतलब क्या समझा जाये शाहरुख खान सच्चे मुसलमान नही है ओ भी मात्र दो करोड़ रुपये के लिए ..! #ShahRukhKhanBirthday” (“What is this, a true Muslim would never do this, should we suppose that Shahrukh Khan is not a true Muslim, that too for a mere two crore rupees!” – translation).

The above message has been shared on Twitter along with a screenshot of a report by the Hindi news channel NDTV India. The title of the report supposedly is, “2 करोड़ में लिखवाया बुर्ज खलीफा पर अपना नाम। पैसे देने की बारी आयी, अब फ़ोन नहीं रिसीव कर रहे शाहरुख़ खान।” (He got his name written on the Burj Khalifa for 2 crore. When it came to payment, Shahrukh Khan is not receiving his phone- translation). The screenshot has been tweeted by one Pinku Shukla, who has a following of around 85,000 which includes cabinet minister Piyush Goyal, the office of Nirmala Sitharaman and BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayavargiya. (archive)

The screenshot of NDTV India has also been posted on Facebook with the identical message.

ये क्या हो गया सच्चा मुसलमान कभी ऐसा नही कर सकता तो इसका मतलब क्या समझा जाये शाहरुख खान सच्चे मुसलमान नही है ओ भी मात्र दो करोड़ रुपये के लिए ..!
#ShahRukhKhanBirthday

Posted by Umakant Misra on Sunday, November 3, 2019

On the basis of these posts, Opindia published an article titled, ‘SRK ने ख़ुद को जन्मदिन विश करने के लिए खर्च कर दिए ₹2 करोड़? सोशल मीडिया पर चल रही चर्चा” (Did SRK spend 2 crore to wish himself on his birthday? Social media abuzz- translation). The article referred to a Dubai based news website Arabian Business, which informs readers about the cost of using the facade of the Burj Khalifa for marketing or promotion. However, this article contains nothing about the supposed expense of Rs 2 crore by Shahrukh Khan. Several Twitter users shared the article by Opindia.

Alt News received requests on the official app for verification.

PHOTOSHOPPED IMAGE

To fact-check this image, Alt News perused the NDTV India website and found one report pertaining to Shahrukh Khan published on his birthday. The title of the report found on the NDTV India website is, ‘शाहरुख खान के रंग में रंगा दुबई का ‘बुर्ज खलीफा’, देखने पहुंची लोगों की भारी भीड़…देखें वायरल Video’ (Dubai’s Burj Khalifa splashed with image of Shahrukh Khan, big growd gathers to watch. view viral video- translation).

In the below image, the difference between the actual NDTV India report and the viral screenshot has been shown.

1. The date of the publication.

2. The pictures in the report.

3. The caption of the images.

As can be seen, the title in both is different and so is the font.

NDTV India‘s report was photoshopped and shared on social media. Images of reports by media organizations are often photoshopped, in order to depict the information as genuine, like this photoshopped graphic of News18 which credited PM Modi for the death of IS chief Baghdadi. In another instance, an image of an Aaj Tak promo was photoshopped and shared.

 

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About the Author

Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.