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Verified By BOOM | 110

Verified By BOOM | 110

VPNs Rescue Bangladesh Protesters From Internet Shutdown

August 09, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

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Hello,

On 4 August, when the Bangladesh government announced the second round of mobile internet restrictions in three weeks by blocking social media sites and apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, YouTube and Telegram, a student activist from Dhaka still managed to communicate with Decode. How? Read on to find out!

False Claim Of Vinesh Phogat Disqualified Due To Cheating Goes Viral

Wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification from the Paris Olympics has sparked a viral social media claim alleging that she was caught cheating.

Claim: On X, Anupam Kumar Singh, assistant editor of the right-wing news website OpIndia, wrote, "Vinesh Phogat has been caught cheating; her weight was found to be more than the standard. She can be disqualified from the medal. Now don't let anyone say that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has bought the entire Olympics."

Fact: BOOM found this claim to be misleading. Phogat was disqualified for being 100 grams over the weight limit, and there was no evidence of cheating or dishonesty involved.

How we found

We ran a keyword search on Google and found a report by The Hindu, Vinesh Phogat's weight slightly exceeded the 50-kg limit before the women's 50-kg finals. Despite efforts by the WFI and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to seek an exemption, they were unable to secure one.
Apart from this, we also found an X post by sports journalist Jonathan Selvaraj, in which he had posted the official statement of the Olympic Committee.
According to the official statement of the Olympic Committee, Vinesh was disqualified under Article 11 of the International Wrestling Rules. In the final match, Vinesh Phogat was replaced by Cuba's Guzman Lopez, whom Vinesh defeated in the semi-finals.

Internet Freedom: Bangladesh Protesters Defy Shutdown With VPNs

🔖 Student agitators and their supporters who gathered at Shahbag Square in Dhaka used a pocket router to provide free Wi-Fi service to the members of the gathering.

For 10 days since July 17, the government enforced a complete internet shutdown, including broadband services. Even after lifting the restrictions, platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram remained blocked.
As the protesters were equipped with pocket routers and VPN apps, the mobile internet suspension and blocking of specific sites/platforms did not impact communication between the protesters the way the government wanted to.
The Digital Security Act of 2018 was widely criticised as the government's tool "to crack down on its critics and dispel online dissent."

Read Snigdhendu Bhattacharya’s story.

Vinesh Phogat Disqualified From Paris Olympics: What Are the Rules?

🔖 In an unexpected development just hours before her historic gold medal bout, Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the women's freestyle 50 kg wrestling competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics after being found overweight on the morning of the event.

So, what do the rules say and has it happened before? Find out in Hera Rizwan’s explainer.

🚫 Fake News You Almost Fell For

🔍 A video of a restaurant burning in Bangladesh's Satkhira district had surfaced online with a false claim that it shows a Hindu temple under attack amid the ongoing violence in the country. Read 🔗 Srijit Das & Sista Mukherjee’s ↗️ fact-check.

🔍 A viral video from July of a group of women tying up two other women to a pillar, was shared with a false and communal claim that it shows violence being meted out to Hindu women in Bangladesh. 🔗 Nivedita Niranjankumar ↗️ debunked the claim.

🔍 An old and distressing video of a gangrape of a woman in Bengaluru resurfaced on Bangladeshi Telegram channels with false claims that Muslim students of Dhaka University sexually assaulted a Hindu woman. Read 🔗 Swasti Chatterjee’s ↗️ fact-check.

🅱️ Recommends

📖 This week's recommendation is: Q&A: How India’s Shakti project fact-checked the largest election in history at scale

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