On Friday (23rd February), YouTuber Shyam Meera Singh resorted to peddling fake news about the Delhi police amid the ongoing ‘farmers protest’ in the National Capital.
The propaganda artist shared a picture from 2016 and claimed that it was taken during the demonstrations carried out by ‘farmers’. Singh accused the Delhi police of brutally hitting a farmer’s face with pellets.
In a tweet, the YouTuber claimed, “It is difficult to even see this picture. The image is of a boy who was injured during the ongoing farmers’ protest.”
However, nothing can be farther from the truth. The image belongs to a man named Mohammad Imran Parray. The picture was clicked by the Associated Press on 13th July 2016.
At the time of clicking the image, Parray was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Srinagar after being hit by pellets during violent protests in the Kashmir Valley.
Nonetheless, this did not stop Shyam Meera Singh from posting the 8-year-old image and falsely claiming that it was taken during the ongoing farmers’ protest. His tweet was further amplified by former ‘radio jockey’ Sayema.
ये तस्वीर अभी के किसान आंदोलन की नहीं है। कृपया इसे शेयर ना करें। ये तस्वीर जुलाई 2016 की है। तस्वीर में- Mohammad Imran Parray हैं। जो कश्मीर से हैं। चेहरे पर पैलेट गन के निशान हैं। जैसे अभी किसान आंदोलन के दौरान किसानों के शरीर पर मेडिकल जाँच में भी प्रूव हुए। pic.twitter.com/Xc6R4CQgeA
— Shyam Meera Singh (@ShyamMeeraSingh) February 23, 2024
The YouTuber did not bother to verify the picture or make a simple reverse image search before making the unsubstantiated claims. This was despite the fact that such disinformation has the potential to trigger untoward incidents of violence and create a law and order situation.
Following outrage on social media, the controversial YouTuber posted, “This picture is not from the ongoing farmers’ protest. Please do not share this. This picture is from July 2016. The picture is of Mohammad Imran Parray, Who is from Kashmir. There are marks of pellet guns on his face. During the farmers’ movement, it was also proved in the medical examination of the bodies of the farmers.”
As expected, Shyam Meera Singh did not post any apology for peddling fake news. Earlier, he was directed to remove ‘defamatory tweets’ and videos against convicted rape and murder accused Gurmeet Ram Rahim.
It must be mentioned that several X (formerly Twitter) accounts have previously been withheld for peddling fake news. It is about time that similar action is taken against the likes of Shyam Meera Singh and Sayema for peddling disinformation.
