Verified By BOOM | 105

Rahul Gandhi's Speech Expunged: Does It Matter In The Digital Age?

July 05, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Browser View | July 06, 2024 | Subscribe

Hello,

On 1 July 2024, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi gave his maiden speech as the Leader of Opposition. Speaker Om Birla directed 14 cuts in his speech. But by then, it was already seen LIVE by millions. So, in the era of ‘likes’ and ‘shares’, does the expunction notice really matter? Read on!

How to find out the date, time and location of a viral image?

  • Perform a reverse image search using Google, Yandex, Tineye, or any other search engine.

  • Trace the photo to the primary source. This could be a photographer working for a media outlet/ news agency or any social media user who claims to have captured the photo. Reach out to them.

  • Ask them for the RAW file of the photo via mail. (Not social media app since the original metadata of the image gets lost when we share it on WhatsApp, etc)

  • Once you have the RAW file, find the EXIF information using online available EXIF data viewers.

  • This will tell you the date, time and other details about the image.

  • If the GPS of the device was ON when the image was captured, the EXIF data will also tell you the location.

  • These are just some of the ways. Depending on the nature of the image, let's say, you can see a monument/ building/ some shops, you can also geo locate the visual using Google Earth, Google Maps, etc.

The term deepfake is a portmanteau of ‘deep learning’ and ‘fake’, used to denote synthetic media in the form of image, video or audio, that has been digitally altered using AI to create the likeness of an individual.Track them through BOOM's deepfake tracker.

Saving Lives Through Screens: Doctors Use WhatsApp to Fight Snakebites

🔖 The issue: In India, snakebites are a significant public health issue, with the World Health Organization estimating about 5 million bites annually, resulting in 81,000 to 138,000 deaths and up to 400,000 amputations and other disabilities.

WhatsApp to the rescue: Recognising the potential of social media, Dr Dayal Bandhu Majumdar, a veteran of the West Bengal health department, launched a WhatsApp group called Snakebite Interest Group, now boasting over 450 members, including doctors and activists from 17 Indian states, Nepal, and Bangladesh. The group operates as a real-time support network where experienced doctors assist their colleagues in diagnosing bites and recommending treatments for snakebites.

The challenge: In rural areas where snakebites are common and resources are limited, young doctors often struggle to accurately diagnose and treat snakebites due to insufficient training and the absence of protocols.

Read Puja Bhattarcharjee’s story.

Government’s Promised Lifeline E-Shram Is A Maze For Gig Workers

🔖 Suresh’s family believed that they could receive some financial assistance from the government. He was enrolled on the e-shram portal. Almost three years on, there is hardly any breakthrough.

  • "The state departments themselves are clueless about the execution and delivery of e-shram benefits to the gig workers."

  • There are uncountable gig workers who are not even aware of the portal’s existence. Read Aman Singh & Udisha Srivastav’s story.

Rahul Gandhi's Speech Expunged: Does It Matter In The Digital Age?

🔖 Relevant or not: Ever since Speaker Om Birla expunged portions of Rahul Gandhi’s maiden speech in the Lok Sabha as Leader of Opposition, it has been widely debated if such a move is relevant in the digital age where parliamentary proceedings are telecast live via Sansad TV, the official public broadcaster.

Seen on social media: However, the expunction notice was circulated post-midnight by when the speech was already seen live by millions, was reported by newspapers, debated upon and still is available online for all to read and see in the form of recordings, live tweets, reportage on news channels and digital media.

Expert’s take: “In the digital age, expunction has become somewhat anachronistic, when millions have seen and heard the speech,” Devender Singh Aswal, former additional secretary Lok Sabha told BOOM’s Ritika Jain.

What Is The Fast Track Immigration Programme And Why Is It Raising Concerns?

🔖 Union Home Minister Amit Shah has introduced a new initiative aimed at expediting the immigration process for pre-verified Indian nationals and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders.

  • The programme will initially launch at 21 major airports, starting with seven airports in the first phase, including Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.

  • Critics highlight the potential for surveillance risks and the need for robust data protection measures amidst the programme's rollout.

  • Speaking to BOOM’s Hera Rizwan, Disha Verma from Internet Freedom Foundation highlighted why programmes, such as FTI-TTP, built on biometrics are more vulnerable to risks. She said, "One of our biggest biometric exercises is the Aadhaar which takes our fingerprint and eye scan as biometric. We have seen multiple incidents of breach of Aadhaar related information and the associated biometric data."

Join us on 11 July at 5 pm IST for an online roundtable discussion on Arunachal Pradesh in the north-eastern region of India.  Listen to a distinguished panel of experts from various fields wherein they address commonly held misunderstandings and knowledge deficit about the state.

🚫 Fake News You Almost Fell For

🔍 Did Anjali Birla, daughter of Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla clear the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination without appearing for it? Find out in 🔗 Swasti Chatterjee’s ↗️ fact-check.

🔍 A post with photos of three Muslim men arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) (NEET-UG) paper leak scandal was shared with a false and communal claim insinuating that the investigative agency has arrested only Muslim accused in the case. 🔗 Anmol Alphonso ↗️ debunked the claim.

🔍 Viral social media posts featuring a Malayalam newspaper advertisement of students and their National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) scores, was shared online with a false and communal claim that Muslim NEET aspirants were the main beneficiaries of the question paper leak fiasco. Read 🔗 Srijit Das’ ↗️ fact-check.

🅱️ Recommends

📖 This week's recommendation is: Dispatches on Tech and Democracy: Five Things We Can Learn from India's 2024 Elections

↪️ Was this forwarded to you? Subscribe Now

Verified By Boom is written by Divya Chandra, edited by Adrija Bose

and designed by H Shiva Roy Chowdhury.

If you have suggestions about this newsletter or want us to conduct workshops on specific topics, drop us a line at 👉 [email protected] and we will get back to you in a jiffy. Thanks for reading. See you next week.👋

🖤 Liked what you read? Give us a shoutout! 📢

↪️ Become A BOOM Member. Support Us!↪️ Stop.Verify.Share - Use Our Tipline: 7700906588↪️ Join Our Community of TruthSeekers

Copyright (C) " target="_blank">unsubscribe