Indian social media churn out fake NYT image to cover up flop Modi show at UN

Indian social media churn out fake NYT image to cover up flop Modi show at UN – United Nations.

The social media pages carried fake images of the Indian Prime Minister’s huge portrait on the upper half of the main page of the New York Times.

That went viral on Indian social media accounts – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp groups with praise for the PM Narendra Modi and for making India proud.

Indian social media churn out fake NYT image to cover up flop Modi show

They did so to cover up the flop visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United Nations General Assembly and meeting with the US leadership.

Images with a fake interview of the head Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the New York Times.

State Awardee Cine Actor and Disability Rights Activist Jitendra K Biswal @JBiswal posted his reaction in a tweet.

“I’ve never seen a more lowly & mean entity than the BJP IT Cell. To show their “mai-baap” Modi in good light, they don’t even hesitate to create a fake New York Times cover story. And, who cares if in all their hurry, they write the date of the publication as SETPEMBER 26, 2021..”

The screenshot featured a large photograph of PM Modi along with the headline “Last, Best Hope of Earth” and the strap “World’s most loved and most powerful leader is here to bless us”, referring to Modi’s US visit on September 24-25. The edition is dated September 26, 2021.

The image of the purported NYT front page was circulated en masse on Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp group chats, with messages like “Proud of my PM” accompanying it.

One of the widely shared WhatsApp groups forwarded the photograph with a caption: “Modi ji on the front page of the United States’ biggest newspaper. What could be a greater matter of pride than this?”

Comparison

Unlike Prime Minister Imran Khan who was on the front page of Newsweek, and is the most sought-after world leader by the international media, Prime Minister Modi got a blunt ‘ignore; from the US media.

The front page of the original New York Times paper of September 26 in fact did not carry any story on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The social media posts did not share any link to the purported post, while even a cursory glance at the image clearly showed that it has been doctored.

The font of the headline in the fake image did not match the New York Times stylesheet, while the date of the story featured a typo — “26 Setpember” instead of 26 September.

The image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi first appeared in a news story published by the Zee News last month; “PM Modi to chair UNSC high-level open debate on enhancing maritime security.”

Fake news

The fake news on social media handles created an uproar in India where Modi’s critics lambasted the BJP for yet another fake news item.

Over the years, the pattern of churning out fake news from Indian media and its social media handles being operated by its intelligence network places it among the most unreliable categories.

A Twitter handle @PeaceMonger143 commenting on the fake news said “It’s ain’t New York time, it’s New #yogi times. It’s not Last Hope but After #Modi india 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲.”

GTV