The Top Fake News This Week That You Almost Believed

While addressing the Lok Sabha on February 6, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi quoted an article from satire website Faking News to attribute a fake quote to Omar Abdullah on the abrogation of Article 370. According to Modi, Abdullah had said that the abrogation of Article 370 will bring an earthquake, that will separate Kashmir from India. But the website Faking News clearly states that it is a satirical website. Read more details about the quote here.

Posts on social media claiming that Chinese President Xi Jinping has been visiting mosques to offer prayers to protect China from the deadly Coronavirus outbreak have gone viral. But BOOM found that the photos in the posts show Jinping at a mosque are originally from his July 2016 visit to Xincheng mosque in Yinchuan city, and are not connected to the recent Coronavirus outbreak. Click here to read more details about his 2016 visit.

Delhi assembly elections were held on February 8 but there was a lot of fake news that went viral just before that. A picture of CM Arvind Kejriwal posing with Pakistan's Prime Minister went viral on social media claiming to state that the two met ahead of the Assembly elections in Delhi. But BOOM's investigation found that the image was taken on May 2016 when Imran Khan visited Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi. Read the detailed story here.

A viral photo showing the label of a Dettol disinfectant product mentioning its effectiveness in fighting the Coronavirus has led to confusion and misinformation online. Several netizens have posted the picture online and questioned how the company knew about the existence of the virus months before an outbreak was reported in December 2019. BOOM found the claim to be false as Coronavirus is the term used to describe a family of viruses that cause infections in both mammals and humans and does not refer to the recent novel Coronavirus outbreak. Read all the details about the term here.

An image of a fake screen grab of a news bulletin is doing the rounds on social media with claims that marijuana is effective in killing the deadly Coronavirus. BOOM did a reverse image search and found that the screen grab of what appears to be a news bulletin is from multiple meme pages carrying the same image as a "popular meme". Moreover, there is WHO has stated that there is no specific treatment available to treat the 2019-nCov as of now. Those infected get treatment and supportive care for the symptoms they show. Read more details about this meme and how it was created here.