Social media has become a convenient medium for purveyors of misinformation. Fake news has grown manifold, a large proportion of which is dominated by information which is communal in nature and inciteful in tone, seeking to divide on religious lines. Alt News has observed that in the past few months, a systematic, synchronised and organised attempt is underway to target Muslims and Christians and paint both communities as criminals and morally bankrupt while constantly painting the Hindu community as a victim. This has been sought to be achieved by weaponising misinformation and targeting the minority communities through distortion and lies.
Fake news of 9-year old rescued from being sexually assaulted by ‘Sajid’
“A 9yr old girl was saved 4m rape by alert people. Guy, who was caught with kid, is Sajid. M/s @Uppolice please arrest this guy Sajid & make him spend some time in jail!” This message was circulated along with a video in which a girl child is seen crying and a young man is thrashed by passers-by. Those who are shared it claimed that the girl was about to be sexually assaulted by the perpetrator whose name is Sajid, but was rescued in time. his video has been tweeted by an account named Kunvar Ajaypratap Singh(@sengarajay235) who is followed by PM Modi. Another Twitter user @goyalsanjeev who is followed by the office of Piyush Goyal also tweeted it.
The perpetrator’s name is not Sajid but Gokul Ramdas. This was confirmed to Alt News by the inspector of Jinjhana police station who confirmed that the claims floating on social media with regard to this incident are false.
“Muslims responsible for 95% rapes in 2016”
Mahesh Vikram Hegde, founder of Postcard News was among those who tweeted a set of statistics according to which he claimed 95% of perpetrators of rape in 2016 were Muslim, and 96% of the victims were non-Muslim women. Hegde is followed by PM Modi on Twitter. This message was shared widely across social media platforms.
The National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) which is the nodal agency for recording crime in India, in a conversation with Alt News called this claim false and malicious. It categorically stated, “It is totally wrong data & complete misrepresentation of facts as NCRB does not collect data on the religion of accused & victims. It is malicious propaganda, which needs to be countered by the law-abiding citizens. Concerned officials have been advised to initiate legal action.”
Fake news about ‘Khalid’ and ‘Irfan’ charged in Lucknow rape case
A minor girl was reportedly gangraped and the incident filmed by the perpetrators in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The incident occurred in the beginning of July 2018 in Lucknow. Soon, social media was abuzz with the claim that the two accused in the incident are named Khalid and Irfan, and that they have been arrested. मंदसौर के बाद लखनऊ में नाबालिग बच्ची से दुष्कर्म… आरोपी खालिद और इरफान गिरफ्तार… वीडियो भी बनाई (After Mandsaur, minor girl raped in Lucknow. Accused Khalid and Irfan arrested… they also made a video- translation), said the message.
The claim that the two accused in the case are Khalid and Irfan is a lie. SSP Lucknow, Deepak Kumar has stated that the two accused in the case are Bhola Chandrakar and Kushmesh Kanaujiya. According to reports, the accused Chandrakar hails from Chhattisgarh while Kanaujiya is from Sitapur district in UP. The duo was caught while trying to escape after the victim raised an alarm.
Fake news of march by Muslims demanding release of Mandsaur rape accused
The brutal rape of an 8-year old in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh in June 2018 was given a brazenly communal spin on social media. Thousands of users shared a message according to which members of the Muslim community rallied on the streets of Mandsaur demanding that the perpetrator of the crime be released because the Quran sanctions rape of non-Muslim women. This claim had appeared in the form of an article by a website IndiaFlare.
The above picture is photoshopped. While the image is indeed of Mandsaur, the rally was in support of the victim and demanded the harshest punishment for the accused. The article also wrongly claimed that no Muslim groups had descended on the streets in solidarity with the victim.
Photoshopped image of madrasa teacher portraying Islam as superior to Hinduism
In June 2018, a photograph was shared widely on social media. It showed a teacher apparently demonstrating to students via the black board how Islam is a superior religion to Hinduism.
As expected, this photograph turned out to be photoshopped. It is a photo from a madrasa named Darul Uloom Husseini in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. Many news organisations had reported the story and carried the photograph in April 2018, out of which an article from Outlook reported, “This Madrasa has become a center for modern education, where along with Arabic and English, Sanskrit is also taught (translated from Hi…
