Fake News Round-up Of The Week

1. Has Bombay HC Extended Maharashtra Lockdown Till April 30?

Messages claiming that the Bombay High Court (HC) has ordered an extension of the ongoing lockdown in the state till April 30 are quite viral. The message has taken two forms, with each citing separate stories - one reported by the Times of India in English and the other by Maharashtra Today in Marathi. But the news stories do not mention an extension of the current lockdown in Maharashtra but report a decision by the Bombay HC about extension of interim orders already passed and expiring before April 30. Read more about this here.

2. PM Modi Announced An Internet Shutdown During Lockdown?

A news graphic claiming Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a week-long internet shut down in India has gone viral on social media. The viral graphic has the logo of Hindi news channel Aaj Tak and an image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a ticker that reads, "PM Announced To Shut Down Internet Services For 1 Week, To Avoid Panic In Public Through Social Media." But BOOM found that the viral graphic is photoshopped and no such announcement on internet shutdown had been made by PM Modi. Read BOOM's Fact-Check here.

3. Amit Shah Tests Positive For Coronavirus?

A screen grab claiming Home Minister Amit Shah has tested positive for the novel Coronavirus after recently visiting Italy is viral on social media. The image has a logo of Hindi news channel Aaj Tak and a ticker below which states, "Home minister Amit Shah has contracted Coronavirus. Last week he had visited Italy, and did not get tested after coming back causing further infection." But BOOM found that the screen grab is fake and has been created using a 'breaking news' generator app. Here is the link to BOOM's detailed article.

4. Prince Charles Infected With Coronavirus After Meeting Singer Kanika Kapoor?

Soon after news of Prince Charles testing positive for Coronavirus broke, photographs of him with Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor started doing the rounds with claims that the latter transmitted the virus to the British royal. But when BOOM ran a reverse image search, we found that the photo of Kapoor interacting with Prince Charles is not recent but from 2015, when the singer met the royals at the Elephant Family charity event, Travels to my Elephants. The event was hosted by Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall in United Kingdom. Read the detailed fact-check here.

5. Image Shows Italian Doctor Couple Sharing Last Few Moments Amid COVID-19 Outbreak?

An image of an unidentified couple at Barcelona airport is viral on social media with false claims that they are Italian doctors who died while treating COVID-19 patients. BOOM found that the image was not from Italy but was clicked at the Barcelona airport in Spain recently. Read more details about this picture here.