A Twitter handle @aajTak15 tweeted out a piece of misinformation which made it seem as if Smriti Irani made a controversial comment about the Delhi polls. This fake news was virally shared on Twitter and Facebook and recently even on Whatsapp.
A Twitter handle @aajTak15 tweeted out a piece of misinformation which made it seem as if Smriti Irani made a controversial comment about the Delhi polls. This fake news was virally shared on Twitter and Facebook and recently even on Whatsapp.
The viral tweet which is in Hindi and can be translated to, “Election Commission should not make any polling stations in Delhi government schools, voters may get impressed by Arvind Kejriwal’s government schools and vote AAP #DelhiPolls”. The screenshot of the tweet was shared by several users on Twitter and Whatsapp.
A Reddit screenshot was also shared on Facebook.
Smriti Irani herself quoted this particular tweet, tagging the Delhi Police and called out the tweet fake. She also condemned that such tweets are fake news being propagated as a part of electoral malpractice. Following this, the account has got suspended.
The Twitter handle sharing the fake news was trying to replicate the AajTak Twitter handle because it used the same Twitter bio as the original AajTak Twitter handle which is “AajTak covers breaking news, latest news in politics, sports, business & cinema. Follow us & stay ahead!”. Moreover, it had the same profile picture and a similar Twitter username. At the time of suspension, the account had more than a thousand tweets and followers and it has misled a lot of people by tweeting out propaganda information.
In conclusion, Smriti Irani did not make any comments about the Delhi polls claiming that they should not be conducted in Delhi government schools. A Twitter account was used to spread a propaganda message and mislead people by making it seems as if it is the actual Twitter handle of the news channel AajTak. However, most posts that shared this misinformation on Facebook have been fact-checked by independent fact-checkers and false tweets on Twitter regarding the same have been reported.
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Samyuktha Mirra
Contact: @@Samyuktha_Mirra
Bachelors of Journalism, psychology and English from Christ University
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