The year of 2021 witnessed major news events that directly had an impact on the fake news and misinformation cycle - West Bengal Assembly polls, the raging second wave of COVID-19 and India's performance in the Olympics. International headlines including the Taliban militia's takeover of Afghanistan, communal violence in Bangladesh and the conflict between Israel and Palestine also had an impact on the fake and misleading news being shared about it in India.
BOOM analysed the fact checks done by us and lists 12 of the fake narratives that went viral around big news events of 2021.
West Bengal Polls
Touted to be the biggest political event of 2021, West Bengal went to polls in eight phases between March 27 to April 29. BOOM found fake news started trickling in from the early days of the campaign from old images and videos being shared as recent. The fake news cycle of post poll violence in Bengal turned murkier, with photo of a rape victim shared with a political narrative and doctored videos falsely shared as violent victory celebrations by the winning Trinamool Congress (TMC)
Here's listing the top fact checks from Bengal polls that were viral.
1. BJP MP Locket Chatterjee's car window broken from inside during elections?
During the fourth phase of polls in Bengal's Hooghly, a video of Bharatiya Janata Party MP Locket Chatterjee's car being attacked allegedly by angry locals near a polling booth surfaced. Viral posts claimed that the car window was broken by someone...
Mombasa County Commissioner Mohamed Noor said investigations conducted so far have found no evidence that any victim had actually lost their genital organs despite widespread rumours circulating ...