A lodge converted into a quarantine centre in Andhra Pradesh was claimed to be a temple in a video widely circulated on social media, which has been exposed as fake news by a website of the Telangana government.
A Facebook post had claimed that Kanipakam Sri Varasiddhi Vinayaka Swamy temple was converted into an isolation centre and Muslims are wandering inside the temple with their footwear on. Factchecking of the post by https://factcheck.telangana.gov.in revealed that the facility shown is not the temple, but a lodge by the name Sri Ganesh Sadan. The Andhra Pradesh government is using the lodge as a quarantine centre.
An image of a woman lying on a hospital bed is being shared with the claim that Dr Vandana Tiwari died in the attack by Muslims in Uttar Pradesh when she went to screen them for COVID-19. Factcheck found that Vandana Tiwari was a pharmacist in Madhya Pradesh and was working against the spread of COVID-19 in the State and she died due to brain haemorrhage.
Officials said nearly 78,000 users visited the Factcheck portal since its launch on April 2 to check the spread of fake news, misinformation and rumours in the backdrop of coronavirus spread and the consequent lockdown.
The Information Technology, Electronics and Communication (ITE&C) of Telangana partnered with Factly Media and Research to develop the dedicated web portal to check the veracity of news being circulated on social media platforms.
Around 500 users reported fake news on the portal. Some of them were answered and others are being investigated for their authenticity.
The fakenews checked on the website include a video of dead bodies being lifted by a crane and then thrown into a mass grave. This was attributed to the current situation in Italy but Factcheck has found out that the video clip is part of a 2013 movie – ‘The Flu’.
A circular purportedly issued by the Ministry of Tourism ordering the closure of hotels, restaurants and resorts in the country till October 15 was also found fake.
A message with a few lines purportedly written by Ratan Tata was found to be fake. The industrialist himself clarified through his official twitter account that the viral message in question was neither said nor written by him.
