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Verified By BOOM 52

A Court Case Can Change The Way Govt Blocks Info on Censorship

June 17, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

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Good Morning, . In March this year, a journalist received an email from Twitter with the subject line “Twitter Notice of Withholding”.

However, he doesn’t know the exact grounds for this. But, a Delhi High Court case may help change practices around internet censorship in India.

Read on!

There is news and then there is fake news. There have been multiple instances when the news cycle is followed by a misinformation cycle.

One such example is cyclone Biparjoy. Several old videos were shared on the internet falsely linking it to the cyclone that made a landfall in Gujarat recently.

While we, as fact-checkers, keep seeing old videos being resurfaced and hence, we kind of have that instinct about what's old and what's not; but what about the general public who is not really in this space?

Why should you question these videos?

Exhibit 1:

Let's consider this video. It shows a bridge almost submerged in the sea.

Always look for replies/ comments on that post. Sometimes, social media users start pointing out that they have seen the video before.
In this case, multiple users replied saying it's an old video.
Note: Take this just as a hint. Just because people think it's an old one, doesn't mean it is. It only suggests that one should verify before believing.

Exhibit 2:

In this video, a tree can be seen shaking near a building.

In this case as well, people started pointing out that it's an old video.

Also, apart from going through the replies/ comments/ quote-tweets, you should also question whether you have seen the same visual on some credible handle/ channel that is reporting on the news event otherwise.
Even if a credible outlet/ handle is reporting, do look for the source they are attributing the information to.
Lastly, you can always send it to us on our WhatsApp tipline number 7700906588 if you are suspicious about anything on the internet and we'll fact-check it for you.

Read all our fact-checks on cyclone Biparjoy.

22 Fact-Checks Published

Communal claims were most predominant (46%), followed by Political claims (32%) and Alarmist ones (14%).

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

#BOOMWeeklyReport | This week, BOOM published a total of 22 fact-checks. Of these, Communal claims were most predominant (46%), followed by Political claims (32%) and Alarmist ones (14%). (1/n)
#BOOMFactCheck#Thread 🧵
— BOOM Live (@boomlive_in)
8:16 AM • Jun 16, 2023

🏛️ Court Case Can Change The Way Government Blocks Info On Censorship

🔖 On 31 March this year, Kalim Ahmed, a journalist by profession, received an email from Twitter with the subject line “Twitter Notice of Withholding”.

The social media giant informed him that it received a “legal removal demand” from the government of India to take down a Twitter thread he posted on 22 February 2023.

However, neither Twitter nor government told him the exact grounds.

A Delhi High Court case may help change practices around internet censorship in India. Read more about the case in this Decode story by Saurav Das.

🛵 Takeout Delivery Drivers Face Attacks But There’s Little Help

🔖 Meanwhile, Decode's Kaisar Andrabi spoke with 18 food delivery agents, 12 of them shared their experiences of facing attacks, both physical and verbal, accidents caused by reckless driving during night shifts, and feeling humiliated while carrying out their duties.

🚫 Centre Vs Jack Dorsey: RTI Data Shows Rise In Twitter Takedown Requests

🔖 In an interview with a YouTube channel, ex-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said the Indian government made several requests to take down tweets supporting the 2020 farmers’ protest and gag journalists critical of the ruling dispensation.

As per the Indian government, Dorsey's claims are “outright lies”.

However, reply to an RTI filed by BOOM on the number of social media accounts—particularly those on Twitter—blocked, says otherwise.

Read this report by Ritika Jain to know what the RTI reply indicates.

🌀 Frequent And Prolonged: Cyclones In The Arabian Sea Show A Trend

🔖 Originating in the Arabian Sea, Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall in Gujarat recently. This is not the first time that a prolonged intense cyclone has developed in the Arabian Sea.

Research indicates that the frequency, duration, and intensity of cyclones in the Arabian Sea have increased significantly.

BOOM's Hera Rizwan spoke to experts to know the reason behind this change in trend.

🚫 Fake News You Almost Fell For

🔍 A video showing a physical altercation between a group of people and a few horse and mule operators in Kedarnath, Uttarakhand went viral with a false and communal claim that the clip shows Muslim men attacking Hindu devotees at the pilgrimage site. BOOM's 🔗Srijit Das & Runjay Kumar↗️ debunked the claim.

🔍 The woman in sunglasses posing for a photo in London was misidentified as Karnataka's pro-hijab protester Muskan Khan. BOOM's 🔗Archis Chowdhury↗️ debunked the claim.

🔍 An edited video created by splicing two clips - the first showing a rebel militant group operating a drone in Myanmar and the second video of drone visuals from Manipur is being shared with a false claim that it shows Kukis using drones to attack local police. Read this fact-check by 🔗Anmol Alphonso↗️.

🔍 No, this video of a man dancing on a beach does not show the son of a Supreme Court judge named Kripal Singh. Read this fact-check by 🔗Archis Chowdhury↗️ to know more.

🅱️ Recommends

📖 This week's recommendation is: Demographics and topics impact on the co-spread of COVID-19 misinformation and fact-checks on Twitter by Gregoire Burel, Tracie Farrell, and Harith Alani

This article deals with the question of how opposing forces such as misinformation and fact-checking interact with each other in the backdrop of a crisis. The authors take into consideration variables like agency characteristics (e.g., gender, group/individual interaction with content), time frame of spread, topics (causation, authority blaming) to reach interesting conclusions regarding this phenomenon.

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