The Balasore train accident and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official state visit to the United States were found to be salient issues of disinformation in June, accounting for 9% and 8% of all the fact-checks respectively.
Islamophobia - vilification of the Muslim community fanned by manufactured false claims, turned out to be the predominant topic of false information, accounting for 39% of claims. BOOM found a strong overlap between the Balasore train accident and Islamophobic claims. Misleading claims blamed Muslims for causing train accidents in the country. Out of the nine false claims around the train accident, six were found to be Islamophobic.
Three other issues accounted for a lot of the false information. These were - cyclone Biparjoy, Manipur clashes, and Bhagwa Love Trap, accounting for 6%, 5%, and 3% of false claims respectively.
Spanning Hindi, English, and Bangla, BOOM published a total of 101 fact-checks, each concerning a unique claim. Communal claims came at the top (43%), followed by Political (25%) and Alarmist claims (18%). The surge in Alarmist claims can be tied to events like the Balasore accident, Manipur clashes, and cyclone Biparjoy.
Balasore Train Accident
Last month, the Balasore train mishap took an ugly turn as false information gave the accident a communal and provocative spin. Trends observed -
- The majority of claims related to the tragedy were communal in nature (67%).
- The predominant target of the claims was the Muslim community.
- The false claims centered on the culpability behind the incident, and not on scale.
Below are some examples -
To the left, a photo of an ISKCON temple near the accident site in Odisha was viral with the misleading claim that it was a mosque, implicating Muslims behind the tragedy. Read about our fact-check here.
To the right, an old video was shared as recent where a boy is shown caught by railway gangmen for placing stone on railway tracks. The video found place in a reputed media house's report. Read about our fact-check here.
PM Narendra Modi's USA visit
The Prime Minister's 6th visit to the United States and his first state visit became a topic of falsities from the get-go. Trends observed -
- The PM was a target of the majority of false claims (71.4%).
- Of the claims, 43% were misleading and 43% were manipulated. We labeled the rest (14%) as depicting false-context.
Below are a few examples -
To the left, two separate images were photoshopped together to claim that PM Modi looked inappropriately at Rihanna during state visit to the US. Read about our fact-check here.
An old video (right) of an anti-Modi protest in the USA was peddled with the claim that it was recent. BOOM investigated the original context and had it fact-checked.
Islamophobia and the Emergent Bhagwa Love Trap
Last month, Islamophobic claims accounted for 39% of false claims, compared to 29% in the month of May.
We also noticed a new theme mirroring that of Love Jihad, but aimed at incriminating Hindus for forced conversions and associated violence meted out to Muslim women, called the 'Bhagwa Love Trap'. Trends observed -
- Islamophobic sub-themes included - Balasore train accident, forced conversions, food/adulteration, and false sloganeering among others.
- Love Jihad specifically accounted for 23% of Islamophobic claims.
- Bhagwa Love Trap accounted for 2% of all claims.
Here are a few examples -
An image (left) of a man carrying a mannequin in Egypt went viral with the claim that it was a Muslim youth getting rid of his Hindu partner's corpse. A typical Love Jihad claim, BOOM got it fact-checked.
A gruesome video (right) showing a girl getting hacked to death was peddled with the claim that it shows a Muslim girl being killed by a Hindu boy in Madhya Pradesh. BOOM found the original video to be from Brazil.
Type and Outcome-Effect of False Claims
We classified the claims based on the type of false information conveyed and their purported impact.
Some general observations -
- Compared to May, June has seen a 4% rise in Misleading Content.
- 65% of misleading content was used to stoke demographic tension between communities. 26% of misleading content is used for smear efforts.
- Majority of fabricated content (71.4%) was used to provoke demographic tension between communities.
- All spoof and false-context claims were used to generate false sensationalism.
Let's go over the top two types in further detail.
Misleading Content
A misleading claim is one that is incriminating in nature. In claims such as these, things are taken out-of-context for the explicit purpose of framing people/circumstances not originally part of the events. Examples -
Images (left) claiming that Muslims have vandalised in UP's Bulandshahr went viral last month. BOOM explains what really happened and how UP Police debunked any communal angle.
A disturbing video (right) from Myanmar showing an execution was shared with the claim that it is from Manipur where a Kuki woman has been killed by civilians. BOOM studied and debunked the claim establishing the real context.
Manipulated Content
Visuals and audio that are touched up to peddle false claims come under this term. Here are a few examples -
Images showing Rohit Sharma and M S Dhoni each holding a copy of the Bhagwad Gita were peddled crediting their feats to the power of the book. BOOM showed that in case of Rohit Sharma, the image has been morphed.
Altered images of PM Modi were peddled claiming his appeasement of Egyptian officials which starkly contrast his conduct in India. BOOM debunked the claim showing the original image was morphed.
Some general observations regarding outcome-effect -
- There has been a 10% surge in demographic content compared to the trend in May. Smear campaigns have lessened by 8%.
- 79% of demographic anxiety claims targeted Muslims. Kuki tribal group (Manipur) and Hindus were the other salient targets.
- 24% of smear campaign claims targeted PM Narendra Modi.
- Cyclone Biparjoy (20% of all claims) and PM Narendra Modi (12%of all claims) were the biggest targets of fake sensationalism.
Some examples -
Events given a communal spin, like the Balasore tragedy to the left, are classic examples of demographic anxiety-inducing claims. Read our fact-check here.
The attempt at tarnishing someone's image is diagnostic of smear campaigns. To the right, two separate individuals get affected in an attempt to smear one. Read our fact-check here.
Top Targets of False Claims
Muslims were the biggest target of disinformation, being singled out in 39% of claims. All claims targeting them were negative. A salient feature of claims last month was the accusation that the community is behind the deadly train tragedy, thereby questioning the accidental nature of the incident.
On the political side, PM Narendra Modi was the biggest target. 67% of the claims targeting him were negative while the rest (33%) were positive. The State visit to the USA was the catalyst for most of the negative claims against him.
Medium of Deception
Videos the most sought after medium of deception
- 70% of demographic anxiety, 60% of fake sensationalism, and 66% of smear campaigns were spread via videos
- In general, 67% of false information was spread via videos, followed by 24% by images, and 9% by text.
- When it comes to nature of claims, videos accounted for 89% of alarmist claims, 70% of communal claims, and 60% of political ones.
Below lies the chart for plotting medium by purported impact of claims
If you have a question about our taxonomy or any question about our data, do write to us at debraj@boomlive.in.