In March, BOOM published 122 fact-checks across English, Hindi, and Bangla. Among these, the largest portion of claims targeted the Muslim community, comprising 9%. Following closely were claims involving Member of Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, accounting for 5%, and Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee, comprising 4.1% of the total, among others.
Around 38.2% of the 122 fact-checks revolved around the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections this year. This was followed by misinformation concerning law and order-related situations, accounting for 6.5%, and Islamophobic claims (5.7%).
In March, we released three AI-generated fact-checks, comprising two deepfake videos and one AI-generated image, marking a decrease from the nine fact-checks published in February.
Additionally, nearly half or 49.5% of the 122 fact-checks, involved claims shared by verified accounts on social media. Of these, false claims in three fact-checks were propelled by news outlets such as ABP News, Free Press Journal, Lokmat Hindi, The Indian Express, The Times of India, Hindustan Times, Times Now, etc.
40% of the total fact-checks dealt with mis/disinformation that were peddled using old and unrelated videos.
Theme Assessment
More than half, or 54.5%, of the total fact-checks focused on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The elections are scheduled to be conducted from April 19, 2024, to June 1, 2024, to elect 543 members to the 18th Lok Sabha. The elections are planned to be held in seven phases, and the results are expected to be announced on June 4, 2024.
Out of the 67 fact-checks centered on Indian politics, 9% targeted Rahul Gandhi. Following closely were targets such as Mamata Banerjee, former judge of the Calcutta High Court and BJP member Abhijit Gangopadhyay, and the Election Commission of India, each at 6%.
For instance, a video showing Gandhi speaking about how the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unites the country and the Congress divides was viral online. BOOM found that the video was clipped and shared out of context. In the original video, Gandhi said that the Congress is trying to unite the country while the BJP is creating a divide.
Similarly, another misleading video of Gandhi asking the crowd for the Indian flag to be removed during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Maharashtra was viral. BOOM found that the viral video was cropped and shared out of context. Gandhi asked for a stick to demonstrate how the government allegedly misuses central government agencies.
Further, a set of two photographs was viral on social media with a false claim that it showed the West Bengal CM faking her own injury. In one of the photos circulated online, Banerjee is seen lying on a bed, blood trickling from the center of her forehead. The other image shows her delivering a speech, holding a microphone, with an adhesive bandage visible on the left side of her forehead.
BOOM found that the image showing Banerjee with an adhesive bandage on the left side of her forehead originated from January this year when she sustained an injury in a car accident while traveling from Bardhaman to Kolkata. This photograph is unrelated to the image depicting Banerjee lying on a bed after she fell at her residence on March 14, last month.
Communal Claims
A video depicting a person selling ice cream and engaging in inappropriate behavior widely shared on social media. Subsequently, false claims emerged suggesting a communal aspect to the video by wrongly attributing the person to the Muslim community. However, a police officer from Nekkonda police station clarified to BOOM that the individual involved in the case is named Kaluram Kurbia, and there was no communal angle to the incident.
A circular issued by the managing committee of a residential housing complex in Delhi warning residents about a gang of thieves posing as government officials trying to enter homes, was falsely viral claiming it is an order issued by the police and the government for all housing societies in the country.
BOOM visited the residential complex, Central Government Service Cooperative Land and Group Housing Society Limited located in West Delhi’s Vikaspuri and met the committee members who clarified that the circular was only issued for residents as an awareness initiative; it was not a government-issued order.
Further, several news outlets misleadingly reported that "India's first undersea tunnel" has been constructed in Mumbai as a part of the Coastal Road Project. Following this, social media users also mistakenly referred to it as an underwater tunnel.
BOOM found that while the hoarding at the entrance of the coastal tunnel may claim to be an undersea tunnel, it does not cross the ocean nor is it constructed beneath the water. Instead, it passes along the Arabian Sea.
Medium, intent and type of deception
58.2% of the 122 fact-checks were shared via videos, followed by images (21.3%) and texts (20.5%).
Regarding the intent behind spreading mis/disinformation, 76.4% of the total fact-checks were found to be sensationalist. This was followed by smear campaigns against political leaders (15.4%). Following this, the intent of spreading demographic anxiety (4.1%) was observed.
64.2% of the total fact-checks consisted of false claims, followed by manipulated (18.7%) and misleading content (13.8%).