Ever since the start of the novel coronavirus outbreak, rumours and fake news were rampant on social media platforms.
In light of this, an official Twitter account was launched by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) to fact check and debunk claims on ‘Govt. policies/schemes’.
But questions were raised when PIB Fact Check on May 22 took to the microblogging site to rubbish a report from The Wire based on govenrment sources. According to the tweet, The Wire’s report on ventilators at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital being purchased and substandard was ‘Fake News’.
Claim-@Rohini_sgh claims in @thewire_in that the Dhaman-I ventilators at #Ahmedabad Civil Hospital are substandard and were purchased#PIBFactCheck-#FakeNews According to Govt of Gujarat,the said ventilators were not purchased but donated & are based on required medical standards pic.twitter.com/5SCTeuznZK
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) May 22, 2020
The PIB also tagged author of the report, Rohini Singh, in the tweet. The tweet said that the claim made in the article that ‘that the Dhaman-I ventilators at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital are substandard and were purchased’ was not true.
The Wire article is titled ‘Behind Ahmedabad’s Ventilator Controversy, a Backstory of Connections to Top BJP Leaders’ and was published on May 21.
Singh replied to the tweet and called it a ‘fake fact check’. ‘Second, the Gujarat Health Secretary claims the government of India through HLL Lifecare has given an order to purchase these faulty ventilators,’ Singh wrote.
She also said that The Wire was not claiming the faulty ventilators were purchased by the Gujarat government.
‘It reports how despite complaints on faulty ventilators by doctors at the hospital, the Gujarat government kept defending them. Like PIB is defending them now,’ she added in a follow-up tweet.
The @thewire_in story quotes doctors writing to the Gujarat govt stating that the ventilators are substandard. Second, the Gujarat Health Secretary claims government of India through HLL Lifecare has given an order to purchase these faulty ventilators. Fake #PIBFactcheck https://t.co/6tcGh49zKI
— Rohini Singh (@rohini_sgh) May 22, 2020
Also @thewire_in doesn’t claim the faulty ventilators were purchased by the gujarat government. It reports how despite complaints on faulty ventilators by doctors at the hospital, Gujarat government kept defending them. Like PIB is defending them now.
— Rohini Singh (@rohini_sgh) May 22, 2020
Further, founding editor of The Wire, Siddharth Varadarajan also tweeted regarding the Fact Check.
‘PIB/PMO, u had the whole day to refute The Wire story by Rohini Singh and THIS is your ‘fact check’?! My response: 1. It is Guj Govt docs who said ventilator is no good. 2. We never said Guj ‘bought’ them. 3. GoG’s JRavi is quoted saying GoI ordering 5000 (sic)’ he wrote.
PIB/PMO, u had whole day to refute @thewire_in story by @rohini_sgh and THIS is your ‘fact check’?! My response: 1. It is Guj Govt docs who said ventltr is no good. 2. We never said Guj ‘bought’ them. 3. GoG’s JRavi is quoted saying GoI ordering 5000 https://t.co/CBGv0SjJML
— Siddharth (@svaradarajan) May 22, 2020
Without providing any other evidence, simply based on the word of the state government of Gujarat PIB put a fake seal on the report by The Wire.
The Gujarat State government was the very body that The Wire had alleged was part of the problem.
Netizen Calls Out Fact Check
After the PIB’s response to the report, several netizens pointed out the fact-check was a meagre claim by the Gujarat government which PIB reiterated.
Why would Gujarat govt respond otherwise and how is this a ‘fact-check’? https://t.co/QZm4Ush8c2
— Siddharth (@DearthOfSid) May 22, 2020
PIB response says ‘According to the Govenrment of Gujarat’ lol some credible sources that is to counter a report which found so many blunders in the same Gujarat Government actions !! Wah
— IIIIIIIIII (@_NairFYI) May 22, 2020
Best thing about the idiotic fact check is ‘ According to Govt of Gujarat…’
— Abhisar Sharma (@abhisar_sharma) May 22, 2020
How is this fact check and not just Gujarat govt’s claim in response to the story?
— Stuti (@StuteeMishra) May 22, 2020
This #PIBFactcheck will make the article nore popular.PIB should hv dropped the link too
— amit pandey (@reachAmitPandey) May 22, 2020
Bizarre !Is this a joke ?Instead of Govt of Gujarat responding , Union Govt – PIB has done a specious fact check of @rohini_sgh ‘s report . https://t.co/abmRp0VD1s
— Mohd. Singh Azad (@MohdSinghAzad) May 22, 2020
Question- Why are Central Govt resources being used to fact check an article on a state Govt’s healthcare? How many other states is this done for? https://t.co/y5VxO6M5Jj
— Aditya Paul (@adityampaul) May 22, 2020
Hello @PIBFactCheck, sorry to burst your fact-check bubble but ‘not purchased’ means the same as ‘supplied free of cost’. ♀️ https://t.co/8Ev6Cfd1Aj pic.twitter.com/fJ8IkzdaSk
— SamSays (@samjawed65) May 22, 2020Also Read: At 3%, India’s COVID-19 Mortality Rate Nearly Half Of Global Av…
