On June 26, influencer and YouTuber Akshat Shrivastava fact-checked Alt News’ co-founder and “fact-checker” Mohammed Zubair on a misleading tweet. Shrivastava called out Zubair for doing “half-baked research” and hurling “baseless accusations”. His reaction came after Zubair insinuated that Shrivastava criticised free bus service in Karnataka two days after meeting Union Minister Piyush Goyal during an initiative by the Government of India to utilise influencers’ reach to inform the public about Government programs.
Zubair made a claim that the Union Government was using taxpayers’ money to pay YouTubers to promote their initiatives. However, there is no evidence that any of the influencers or YouTubers invited by the Ministry were indeed paid. Despite the lack of proof of payment, Zubair insinuated that the videos were published by them as a result of payment to create a controversy around their authenticity.
In the tweet, Shrivastava wrote, “Doing half-baked research. And hurling baseless accusations has become a fashion. I had already released a video on May 16 on my YouTube channel, where I talked about the Freebie culture in the context of the Karnataka elections. The video is still there- you can go & check.
Doing half baked research. And, hurling baseless accusations has become a fashion.
— Akshat Shrivastava (@Akshat_World) June 26, 2023
I had already released a video on 16th May on my YouTube channel, where I had talked about the Freebie culture in context of Karnataka elections. The video is still there- you can go & check.… pic.twitter.com/ZiaKDrtaxe
This had nothing to do with the event invite from Piyush Goyal ji. This event was held on June 24. Almost 40 days after, I did a video criticising the freebie model. Meanwhile, I have made enough Tweets/Videos where I have analysed the Indian economic policies–ranging from freebies, taxes, inflation etc.
Also, check my Tweets (like literally today’s tweets: I have spoken about two different parties; you simply picked one to peddle your narrative). Unlike you, I give a balanced commentary without siding with any political party.“
OpIndia confirmed that there is a video on Akshat’s channel from May 16, 2023, that talks about freebie culture in India. In the video, he talked about freebies offered by the Karnataka government and named Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and Union Governments to participate in the freebie culture.
Zubair targeted YouTubers for joining hands with Union Government
In a series of tweets, Zubair targeted YouTubers for joining hands with the Union Government to promote Government Schemes. In a tweet, quoting The Hindu report, he said, “50 YouTubers were invited by Piyush Goyal to popularise several incentives of Indian Govt. According to top Sources, Opindia CEO & @ANI chief’s name was mentioned in the list of 50 YouTube influencers who were invited”.
50 YouTubers were invited by Piyush Goyal to popularise several incentives of Indian Govt. According to top Sources, Opindia CEO & @ANI chief's name was mentioned in the list of 50 YouTube influencers who were invited. 🙃 pic.twitter.com/fEs7Nj4YSs
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) June 26, 2023
In a follow-up tweet, he specifically targeted Akshay and wrote, “So Influencer who was recently invited by Piyush Goyal has a problem with Free bus travel and other freebies because ‘we as taxpayers will pay the price’. But have no problem if tax money is being handed over to influencers? Nice, no?”
So Influencer who was recently invited by Piyush Goyal has problem with Free bus travel and other freebies because 'we as tax payers will pay the price'. But have no problem if tax money is being handed over to influencers? Nice no? 🙃 https://t.co/b4pPgbycMt pic.twitter.com/phrR3ErCKn
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) June 26, 2023
Essentially, a Union Minister called a group of YouTubers to apprise them of Government Schemes that help the people and explore how they could collaborate for better dissemination of information. This practice is not uncommon and happens across governments and political spectrums. Over the years, even the Congress government or the political party itself while in opposition has met several journalists, YouTubers and other professionals to explore how their message can be disseminated better.
Zubair insinuated that just because there was such a meeting, it would automatically amount to those individuals being paid by the government using taxpayers’ money and therefore, their opinions would be a product of that payment. That insinuation is only meant to discredit opinions that disagree with Congress schemes in any manner and insinuate that those individuals hold those opinions only because they accepted money for it. Interestingly, if Zubair’s understanding was true, then it would also mean that any opinion that is given by him against BJP and in favour of Congress is also a paid one, however, sans proof, one can’t make that insinuation or allegation.
