Fake Tweet About Brahmastra Cast Donating Funds For Pak Floods Goes Viral With Misleading Claims

According to a screenshot of a tweet reportedly from news outlet British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hindi, stars Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor contributed one crore each to flood-stricken Pakistan, and Bollywood director Karan Johar donated five crores. The claim further says that if their movie is successful, they have pledged to contribute ₹51 crores.

However, this is a fake tweet.The format contains a number of errors that prompted an alarm. BBC Hindi also posted a clarification on Twitter stating that they had not made any such claim.

Claim:

The tweet in Hindi says, "Karan Johar, the producer of the film Brahmastra, came forward to help for the floods in Pakistan and donated five crores, while Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Kapoor donated one crore each. They also said that if their film is a hit, they will donate 51 crores. Bollywood is an example of humanity."

An archived version of the post can be seen here.

Another user on Facebook with the name, "Dilip Kumar" shared the screenshot of the same tweet with the caption, "making money in india if an artist Helps Pakistan to watch its movie for nothing less than treason #आलिया_My_Foot".

Another user on twitter with the username, "@Optimismoflove" shared the screenshot of the same tweet with the caption, "#आलिया_My_Foot Dawood connection again prove How many time you be a sicular hindu Enough #BoycottBrahamastra #boycottbrahamastramovie #BoycottbollywoodForever."

Fact Check :

We identified several warning signs in the structure of the now-viral tweet. We found anomalies, such as the format of the time and date, when we compared it to Twitter site, TweetDeck, iOS, and Android. The date of the trending tweet is written as "1 Sep 22," which is not how any of the devices will display it. The time format is also inconsistent with the standard format.

A comparison of the date formats used by tweets from various platforms can be seen below.

(Source: The Quint)

Conclusion:

Additionally, we noted that the dots that normally separate the time and date from one another in a tweet are absent in the viral message. Further, the tweet misidentifies Ranbir Kapoor as 'Ranveer' Kapoor, the lead actor in the movie Brahmastra.

When we checked BBC Hindi's Twitter account, there were no tweets on the Pakistan flood to be discovered, but we did find a message that refuted the claims and made it clear that the screenshot going viral on social media was bogus.

The tweet in Hindi read, "This tweet is fake and no such tweet or such news has been made by BBC Hindi."

Evidently, an edited screenshot was shared as a tweet made by BBC Hindi about the cast of Brahmastra donating a certain sum of money for Pakistan floods.

If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.

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