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Verified By BOOM 92

Influencers Drum Up Publicity For Govt Sans Disclaimers

April 05, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Browser View | April 6, 2024 | Subscribe

Hello,

In the run up to the elections, content creators are collaborating with the government. While that’s pretty much on the expected lines, their paid posts do not have disclaimers. What does Instagram’s vague policy on ‘paid partnership’ mean for content creators partnering with the government?

Read on!

📣 Decoding Deepfakes & Elections

Time is running out! Deepfakes threaten election 2024. Decode discusses solutions with experts on 15 April at 6:30 pm at the Foreign Correspondents' Club, New Delhi. Have you registered yet?

Viral Circular Warning About Thieves Entering Homes Not Issued By Govt

This went viral: A circular issued by the managing committee of a residential housing complex in Delhi warning residents about a gang of thieves posing as government officials trying to enter homes. Apparently, it is an order issued by the police and the government for all housing societies in the country.

The truth: BOOM found that it is an old hoax that has been in circulation since 2016 with different versions of the same going viral each year.

Fact-checking is not just about tools:

We visited the location, the housing complex mentioned in the letterhead 'Central Government Service Cooperative Land and Group Housing Society Limited' in Vikaspuri area of West Delhi, where the committee members clarified that it was an internal circular issued to alert residents.
Rajesh Syal, vice president of the housing society committee, told BOOM: "This is not a notification from the government in any way…We had heard of cases of fraud by collecting biometric data in the name of Ayushman Bharat Yojana, so we issued this notice to alert the residents of our society."
We also noticed that the housing complex was called 'Vikas Kunj' and is not a government department or government housing complex.
Also, the letter itself had several errors with names of government departments changed and misspelt.

Influencers Drum Up Publicity For The Government Without Disclaimers

🔖 The ‘Culture’ Creator On Instagram

From 5 August 2020 to 22 January 2024, Hardhvardhan Patel, popularly known as @ayodhyawale has diligently documented every significant phase of the Ram Temple construction in Ayodhya, from the arrival of the initial batch of bricks to partially completed corridors. His reels showcase Patel navigating among sculpted bricks, cranes, and loaders during the ongoing construction of the temple. These reels collectively garnered over 50 million views.

When questioned about how he gained access to the restricted areas despite stringent security measures, Patel explained, "The government provided me with the access to the temple premises.”

Inside look or Instagram loophole?: According to Instagram's policies, “current elected and appointed government officials, political candidates, political parties and political committees cannot use branded content”.

While the creators acknowledged receiving remuneration from the state governments for promoting their “culture”, they ditched mentioning “paid partnership” or "ad" over the reels.

This is a part of Decode series ‘Viral For Votes’, where we track content creators and their role in the election campaign.

Investigating India: How Smaller, Independent News Outlets Are Digging into Politics in a Key Election Year

🔖 Our Decode series #ViralForVotes and BOOM’s work on covering the elections has been featured in the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN). "BOOM journalists are working this season to unravel the knotty relationship between politics, money, technology, and social media," wrote Bhavya Dore in her piece for GIJN on the role of independent newsrooms in this election. Do read about our investigations and how we are covering the elections.

Arvind Kejriwal Refuses To Share iPhone Password With ED: Will Apple Comply?

🔖 The Right to Share: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who has been in custody for over a week now has refused to share his phone’s password with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials, according to reports. So, the investigating officers of ED have reportedly reached out to Apple to help gain access to his iPhone.

To Comply or Not to Comply: In several cases in the past, Apple has refused to share details of a user’s phone. Back in 2016, Apple had been ordered to help the FBI circumvent security software on San Bernardino gunman Syed Rizwan Farook’s iPhone.

Experts Say: Speaking to BOOM’s Hera Rizwan, tech policy expert Prasanto K Roy, said that it is very unlikely that Apple would comply with ED’s request. He said, “If the company complies, it will open a pandora box where all the governments in the world will demand access to the iPhones of any suspect.”

🚫 Fake News You Almost Fell For

🔍 A photo of President Draupadi Murmu standing while Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former deputy Prime Minister LK Advani are seated went viral online with the claim that the president was disrespected by the PM and Advani. But, what’s the truth? Find out in 🔗 Hazel Gandhi’s ↗️ fact-check.

🔍 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionaries posted an audio visual clip of Arvind Kejriwal made up of AI generated photos showing him playing a guitar in jail and overlaid with a singing AI voice clone of the Delhi chief minister. Read 🔗 Nivedita Niranjankumar’s ↗️ fact-check.

🔍An old video of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sujata Mondal being chased with lathis by a group of people in the middle of a field resurfaced with the misleading claim that it is a recent incident of people chasing her away in Arambagh, West Bengal. 🔗 Anmol Alphonso ↗️ debunked the claim.

🅱️ Recommends

📖 This week's recommendation is: The end of photographic truth by Gian Volpicelli

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