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Good Morning . A rumour started an online ponzi game in Bihar which was introduced to the villagers through WhatsApp forwards. Then, one day it stopped and everyone lost their money.

This, and a bit of rampant media misinformation debunked by BOOM this week + Tinder's report on GenZ dating style. Read on!

Usually, when we search for something online, we find some media reports related to that particular incident/ topic and believe them. 

Mostly because: 

• It's a credible media outlet

• It's a published report

• It's online

But, can we always believe them? Let me make it easier for you. 

Exhibit 1:

Several Indian media outlets ran a hoax message claiming that an explosion had occurred near the Pentagon - the headquarters of the United States Department of Defence. 

Basis of the claim: An AI-generated image of an explosion in front of the Pentagon

Exhibit 2:

Several mainstream media outlets fell for a viral staged video and falsely claimed a Bengaluru woman got her husband's name tattooed on her forehead. 

Basis of the claim:  A video showing a man tracing a woman's forehead with the name 'Satish' and then using a stencil to convert it into a tattoo. 

But wait, should we not trust media outlets/ online links at all? 

No, that's NOT what I am saying. All of this is just to draw your attention towards questioning the information before believing (no matter where you're reading it).

🤥 The Lie Count

29

Fact-Checks Published

41% of the claims investigated during this week are communal in nature. This is followed by political claims, which account for 28% of the data.  

🎯 Muslims and the state of Kerala are the biggest targets of false claims. Other targets include: J&K, Central Government, Sanjjanaa Galrani, among others.

Read our Twitter thread to know the detailed analysis by Debraj Sarkar.

🐷 Bihar's 'Farmville': How Locals Lost A Fortune To An Online Ponzi Game

🔖 Buy pig, get rich. A rumour started an online ponzi game in Bihar.

• The game was introduced to the villagers through WhatsApp forwards. Soon, the villagers started to buy virtual pigs and chickens with their hard earned money. 

• For a few days, they got back some money every day, which encouraged them to invest more in the game. 

• But one day, when they tried to log in to the app, it showed an error. The game was no longer available. Their money was gone.

Read this story by Umesh Kumar Ray to know how it all started.  

Read More

💘 How Is Gen Z Changing The Way We Date? Tinder's Report May Have Answers

🔖 Popular dating app, Tinder released its Future of Dating Report 2023 recently. The report highlights how Gen Z has been challenging the traditional methods of dating. 

Sample size: 4,000 actively dating singles from the US, UK, Australia and Canada. 

Key highlights: 

• 55% of the dating app users came into a relationship after meeting someone on Tinder.

• As many as 37% knew someone who started their relationship after they found a match on the dating app. 

• The ‘top green flag’ for a relationship for people aged 18-24 is when they are being themselves with their match. 

Read this detailed explainer by BOOM's Hera Rizwan. 

Read More

🚫 Fake News You Almost Fell For

🔍 A video showing injured women being rescued from a camp by military personnel is viral on the internet as a footage of Hindu women from India and Bangladesh being held as sex slaves by the Islamic State (ISIS). The video was purportedly shared as evidence of the claim made in film "The Kerala Story" of Hindu women being abducted from India into sex-slavery by ISIS. Read this fact-check by 🔗Archis Chowdhury↗️. 

🔍 BOOM's 🔗Nivedita Niranjankumar↗️ debunked a viral video of a man slapping and assaulting a power supply employee in Koppal, Karnataka after he was asked to clear unpaid dues. The video was shared with a false claim that the customer refused to pay his bill because Congress promised free electricity in the state.

🔍 The photo of a clock tower from Nepal was falsely shared as the one in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir which was restored ahead of the G20 meet in the city. Read this fact-check by 🔗Hazel Gandhi↗️. 

🅱️ Recommends

📖 This week's recommendation is: Detecting fake news using Machine Learning and Deep Learning Algorithms by Abdullah-All-Tanvir, Ehesas Mia Mahir, Saima Akhter, Mohammad Rezwanul Haq

A comparative look at different algorithms to check efficiency in detection of false information on Twitter. In addition, this paper also delves into conceiving a model for recognising fake news messages from Twitter posts.

Read More

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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.👋

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