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Verified By BOOM 96

Prajwal Revanna Sexual Abuse Case Shows Gag Orders’ Misuse

May 03, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

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Janata Dal (Secular) leader Prajwal Revanna’s June 2023 request for a gag order on tape recordings of alleged sexual abuse has put the spotlight on gag orders. Experts told BOOM that gag orders go against public interest, are usually accused-centric and are used to create a chilling effect. Read on!

Photo of Indian Army Soldiers Eating In The Heat Is AI-Generated

This went viral: A photo purporting to show Indian women soldiers eating together in the scorching heat in Barmer, Rajasthan.

Fact: BOOM found that the photo has been created using generative-AI and is not real.

Here’s how we found:

We noticed several irregularities in the viral image akin to the ones seen in AI-generated images. For example, two of the soldiers had an extra set of hands.
We also tested the viral image on two AI image detectors, AI or Not and Hive Moderation, both of which predicted that the photo was likely AI.

Prajwal Revanna Sexual Abuse Case Shows How Gag Orders Are Misused

🔖 The spotlight: Janata Dal (Secular) leader Prajwal Revanna’s June 2023 request for a gag order on tape recordings of alleged sexual abuse has put the spotlight on gag orders. Revanna successfully secured a court-issued gag order against 86 media outlets and three individuals from speaking about the videos which, he alleged, are “fake” and “morphed”.

Expert’s take: Experts have firmly opposed gag orders. Geeta Seshu, Editor of the Free Speech Collective said on the whole gag orders are in bad faith and cannot be justified even as advocate Vrinda Bhandari said they are “blunt instruments” and must be passed “under very narrowly tailored circumstances”.

Do note: Revanna's case cannot be termed a sex scandal.

Do gag orders in sexual assault cases stand on a different footing? Read Ritika Jain’s story.

Betting Apps Are Banned But Indians Are Still Losing Money This IPL Season

🔖 Betting et al: Rishabh Singh has lost over 50,000 rupees on illegal betting websites since the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) last month. Although it's not a big amount for the 35-year-old from New Delhi, who runs a real estate business, it is also not his first time losing money on such websites.

The ban: Last year, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) banned 174 gambling and betting websites under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

The loophole: Decode’s Adnan Bhat found out that many of these betting websites are not only still operating in India but are also openly advertising their platforms on social media using influencers and paid promotion.

That’s not all: Even though most of these websites are said to be operated by offshore betting companies, Decode’s investigation reveals almost all of them are using various Indian banks to accept payments.

Towers To Trees: The Ingenious Ways Manipuris Survived The Internet Shutdown

🔖 Swami Laimayum, who was in Manipur when the internet was completely shut down in the aftermath of violence on 3 May 2023, was surprised to find that his sim card still has internet access.

As people started to notice glitches in the Vodafone sim cards, there was a temporary rise in demand for buying new vodafone sim cards in the market.

Context: As ethnic tensions broke out in 2023, the state government of Manipur ordered a complete blanket ban on the Internet. But people found ways to get around it. Read Donald Takhell’s story.

🚫 Fake News You Almost Fell For

🔍 A video of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra talking about late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was shared with a misleading claim that she said that voters in Amethi criticised him for not building a road in his parliamentary constituency. Read 🔗 Anmol Alphonso’s ↗️ fact-check.

🔍 A video of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray being persuaded by local party members to address the crowd for a few minutes before leaving, went viral claiming that he was not allowed by Congress workers to give a speech. 🔗 Hazel Gandhi ↗️ debunked the claim.

🔍 An old and unrelated video of a shootout in New Orleans, United States, was falsely shared on social media as footage of the assassination of Canada-based gangster Satinderjeet Singh, also known as Goldy Brar, the alleged mastermind behind the killing of Punjabi singer Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, also known as Sidhu Moose Wala. Read 🔗 Archis Chowdhury’s ↗️ fact-check.

🅱️ Recommends

📖 This week's recommendation is: How AI-generated disinformation might impact this year’s elections and how journalists should report on it

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