Date : 26-04-2024
New Delhi: A video circulating widely across social media platforms depicts a woman, purportedly a polling agent, allegedly influencing two women during voting. The video has been associated with the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, with captions implying that the voters were coerced to support the BJP.
Upon investigation by PTI Fact Check, it was revealed that the video in question is not recent but rather dates back to 2019. Despite claims suggesting its relevance to current elections, the video’s origin is unrelated to the ongoing electoral process.
On April 23, a Facebook user shared the aforementioned video, attributing it to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, accompanied by a caption indicating support for a specific electoral outcome.
Initial analysis involved running the video through the InVid Tool Search, which yielded several keyframes. Further examination through Google Lens identified multiple posts sharing the same video with similar assertions.
Additionally, various Facebook posts and archived links were discovered, alluding to the video’s earlier circulation in 2019, unrelated to present electoral activities.
Furthermore, a post by Vinod Sharma, Political Editor at Hindustan Times, dating back to May 15, 2019, highlighted the same video, expressing concerns about electoral integrity.
Subsequent searches led to the discovery of a YouTube video uploaded by the official channel of Siasat Daily on May 18, 2019, describing a similar incident in West Bengal.
Comparing visuals between the recent social media posts and the 2019 video confirmed their identical nature, establishing the misrepresentation of the older footage as current.
Despite efforts to ascertain the video’s origin, no contemporary reports corroborating the incident were found. However, its linkage to events preceding the ongoing Lok Sabha elections was established, refuting claims of its relevance to current electoral proceedings.
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