Battling fake news in times of coronavirus

TS govt’s fact-checking web portal is verifying the authenticity of messages related to Covid-19 being circulated on social media

Those who want to verify any message could write to factcheck-itc@telangana. gov.in or check the website.

A Telugu TV channel recently scroll a news item that 32-year-old Ms Elisa Granato, the first person to take part in Oxford’s coronavirus trial, was dead

State Bureau  Hyderabad  28.04.2020

Here are the seven fake news that are going viral on social media this week. The Telangana government’s web portal to fact check the messages going viral on social media has released its third report on Monday. Those who would like to verify the authenticity of any message could write to factcheck-itc@telangana. gov.in or check the website.

Here are the fake reports

1. A Telugu TV channel has scrolled a news item that 32-year-old Ms Elisa Granato, the first person to take part in Oxford’s coronavirus trial, is dead. The same is being circulated widely on the social media platforms. She is very much alive and it was a fake news spread by anti-vaxxers that she had died. BBC’s medical correspondent Fergus Walsh wrote on Twitter that he had spoken to Dr Granato over Skype and even shared a video of Dr Granato saying that she was “very much alive” and “having a cup of tea”. The UK’s Department of Health and Social Care has also said that the story is “completely untrue”.

2. A post is being widely shared on social media platforms stating that Japan’s Nobel Prize winning Professor of Medicine, Dr Tasuku Honjo has claimed that coronavirus is not natural and it was man-made by China. However, the fact-checking of the post revealed that Dr Tasuku Honjo had not made any such claims. Ever since the outbreak of Covid-19, multiple claims were made stating that the virus was originated from a research lab in Wuhan. These claims were debunked by multiple fact-checkers across the world, including World Health Organization (WHO). (See: https://factcheck.telangana.gov.in/nobel-laureate-tasuku-honjo-hasnt-claimed-that-coronavirus-is-man-made/)

3. An audio clip purported to be of former CBI Joint Director VV Laxminarayana is being circulated widely on social media. The person in the audio clip claims that India will extend the lockdown for further two months based on the advisory from the World Health Organization and exhorts people to store sufficient food, medicines and money with them. Fact check has found the audio clip to be fake. Further, the former CBI Joint Director has repudiated the audio clip through a YouTube video. (See:https://factcheck.telangana.gov.in/telugu-vv-lakshminarayana-has-clarified-that-the-viral-audio-message-regarding-lockdown-till-june-1-is-fake/)

4. A photo claiming that Kurnool MLA Hafeez Khan made a medical staff to prostrate before a religious head at Viswabharathi Medical College is making rounds on social media. Fact check has examined the matter and found that the claim was wrong and motivated. The MLA had gone on an inspection of medical facilities available at a quarantine centre. He was interacting with the medical staff and at the same time a Muslim has hurt his foot and it started bleeding. The nurse at the hospital treated the Muslim and applied a bandage. A related video also surfaced wherein it can be seen that the injured person’s foot was bleeding. (See:https:// factcheck.telangana.gov.in/telugu-the-photo-of-a-nurse- treating-an-injured-old-man-is-being-shared-with-false-narrative/)

5. A video of corpses washed ashore on an unidentified beach is being circulated on social media saying that some countries are throwing away dead bodies infected with Covid-19 into the sea. Fact check has found out that a boat carrying African immigrants to Europe capsized en route near a beach in Bolivia in 2014. So the incident happened nearly six years ago and the dead bodies shown in the video has nothing to do with the current Covid-19 pandemic. (See:https:// factcheck.telangana.gov.in/telugu-the-video-shows- bodies-of-african-migrants-who-died-in-a-boat-wreck-in-2014-not-of-covid-19/)

6. A video is making rounds on Social Media claiming that Sri Rama Navami celebrations were organised in Uttar Pradesh’s Akbarpur block despite the prohibitory orders due to the nationwide lockdown. However, fact check has found that the video pertains to Akbarpur of Bihar and is seen on Internet since at least April, 2019. Hence the video was taken before the announcement of lockdown and cannot be applied to the Covid-19 restrictions. (See:https://factcheck.telangana.gov.in/telugu-an-old-video-falsely-shared-as-recent- ram-navami-celebrations-in-akbarpur-block-up-during-lockdown/)

7. A message is being circulated widely on social media claiming that Israel has reported zero Covid-19 deaths because they have found the cure for coronavirus. It is also stated that drinking the mixture of lemon and baking soda as hot tea can cure Covid-19. However, fact check has found out that 171 fatalities were reported in Israel as of 20 April, 2020. Moreover, there’s no scientific evidence proving that lemon and baking soda mixture can cure Covid-19. (See: https://factcheck.telangana.gov.in/telugu-no-evidence-to-suggest-that-the-mixture-of-lemon-and-baking-soda-can-kill-sars-cov-2-virus/)

8. A photo is being shared on social media with a claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi dressed elaborately on his recent visit to a hospital unminfful of the present crisis situation. Fact check found that the photo is two years old and it was taken in 2017 in Sri Lanka when the Prime Minister was inaugurating the Dickoya Glengairan Hospital.

 (See:https://factcheck.telangana.gov.in/a-photo-taken-in-2017-falsely-shared-as-pm-modi-grandly-dressed-on-his-visit-to-a-hospital-recently/)