WebQoof Recap: Of US Elections & Arnab Goswami’s Arrest

A quick recap of all that misled the public this week.

(Photo: Shruti Mathur/The Quint)

From disinformation around the United States presidential elections to Indian media falling for a fake tweet to claim that France revoked 183 Pakistani visas, here’s a quick recap of all that misled the public this week.

1. No, the Images Don’t Show Maharashtra Cops Thrashing Arnab Goswami

Two photos which show a cop thrashing a man are being circulated with a false claim that it is the Maharashtra Police thrashing senior journalist and Republic TV Founder Arnab Goswami, who was arrested on Wednesday, 4 November, in connection with a 2018 abetment to suicide case.

The photos were shared by BJP leader Gaurav Goel on his official Twitter account with a claim, “Can't believe he is #ArnabGoswami. If it's real.....Maharashtra Govt has asked for the dooms day (sic).”

An archived version of the tweet can be found here.(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

But in reality, this photograph is from a video which went viral in January 2020, and it shows police personnel at a police station in Deoria, Uttar Pradesh, thrashing a man, identified as Sumit Goswami, who was brought in on charges of mobile piracy.

You can read the full story here.

2. Biden Draws Lesser Crowd Than Trump? Here’s The Missing Context

With the US Elections in full swing, images from rallies of US President Donald Trump and Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden are being shared to compare the ‘support’ for each candidate, in an attempt to discredit those predicting Biden’s win.

The picture was shared with the caption, “It's hard to trust pollsters when your own eyes see this day after day...”

You can view an archived version here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

However, a comparison of the crowds at the rallies of respective candidates is misleading as Democratic and Republican campaigns have employed opposite campaigning strategies due to the ongoing pandemic. While Trump continues to hold in-person rallies drawing out huge crowds, Biden has stuck to socially-distanced drive-in rallies.

You can read the full story here.

3. Old Video of Muslims Offering Namaz on Streets of France Revived

An old video which claims to show disruptions while Muslims offer prayers in France on the roadside is being shared on social media.

The claim along with the video reads: “फ्रांस मे मुस्लिमो को नमाज पढ़ते हुए कैसे परेशान किया जा रहा है. धर्म कोई भी मगर ये गलत है” (Translated: In France, how Muslims are facing troubles while offering namaz. Irrespective of religion, this is wrong.)

The video uploaded by ‘Only Famous Things here’ had garnered nearly two lakh views and 3,000 shares at the time of publishing the article.

You can view the archived version here.(Source: Facebook/ Screenshot)

However, we traced the video back to 2017 and establish that the video is from Clichy-la-Garenne Town Hall, in the northwestern suburbs of Paris.

You can read the full story here.

4. Indian Media Falls for Fake Tweet on France Revoking 183 Pak Visas

Several Indian media outlets, including DNA, Zee News, TV9 Bharatvarsh and News18 published a report on 1 November, Sunday, falsely claiming that France had “cancelled visitor visas of 183 Pakistani nationals and 118 nationals have been forcibly deported”.

This comes after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan accused French President Emmanuel Macron of “attacking Islam” by encouraging the display of Prophet Muhammad’s cartoons.

An archive of the post can be found here.

An archive of the post can be found here.

An archived version can be found here.

However, the reports were based on a tweet from an imposter account called Consulate General Of Pakistan France (@PakConsulateFr). The original Twitter account of the Embassy of Pakistan in France (@PakInFrance) clarified that the tweet by the imposter account was not true.

You can read the full story here.

5. False News About Kapil Dev’s Death Goes Viral on Social Media

The 1983 cricket World Cup-winning captain, Kapil Dev, has become the latest victim of a death hoax. The rumour about his death came shortly after the 61-year-old underwent a successful emergency coronary angioplasty on 23 October 2020, after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Social media users posted Dev's photo along with captions that claimed that the cricketing giant had passed away.

One of the captions read, “भारत का पूरे विश्व में नाम चमकाने वाले और हरियाणा की आन बान व शान पुर्व क्रिकेटर श्री कपिल देव जी के ह्रदयघात से निधन होने पर भावभीनी श्रद्धांजलि |” [Translation: Tribute to ex-cricketer Shri Kapil Dev Ji - Haryana's pride, the man who made India proud around the world - who died because of a heart attack.]

An archive of the post can be found here.(Photo: Screenshot/Facebook)

However, the rumours were quashed by Dev himself when he released a video of himself thanking his well-wishers and appeared in a televised cricket analysis show.

You can read the full story here.

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