#FactCheck - "Deepfake Video Falsely Claims of Elon Musk conducting give away for Cryptocurrency”

Executive Summary:

A video has gone viral that claims to show Hon'ble Minister of Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah stating that the BJP-Led Central Government intends to end quotas for scheduled castes (SCs), scheduled tribes (STs), and other backward classes (OBCs). On further investigation, it turns out this claim is false as we found the original clip from an official source, while he delivered the speech at Telangana, Shah talked about falsehoods about religion-based reservations, with specific reference to Muslim reservations. It is a digitally altered video and thus the claim is false. 

‍

Claims:

The video which allegedly claims that the Hon'ble Minister of Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah will be terminating the reservation quota systems of scheduled castes (SCs), scheduled tribes (STs)  and other backward classes (OBCs) if BJP government was formed again has been viral on social media platforms. 

‍

English Translation: If the BJP government is formed again we will cancel ST, SC reservations: Hon'ble Minister of Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah

‍

Fact Check:

When the video was received we closely observed the name of the news media channel, and it was V6 News. We divided the video into keyframes and reverse searched the images. For one of the keyframes of the video, we found a similar video with the caption “Union Minister Amit Shah Comments Muslim Reservations | V6 Weekend Teenmaar” uploaded by the V6 News Telugu’s verified Youtube channel on April 23, 2023. Taking a cue from this, we also did some keyword searches to find any relevant sources. In the video at the timestamp of 2:38, Hon'ble Minister of Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah talks about religion-based reservations calling ‘unconstitutional Muslim Reservation’ and that the Government will remove it.

Further, he talks about the SC, ST, and OBC reservations having full rights for quota but not the Muslim reservation. 

While doing the reverse image, we found many other videos uploaded by other media outlets like ANI, Hindustan Times, The Economic Times, etc about ending Muslim reservations from Telangana state, but we found no such evidence that supports the viral claim of removing SC, ST, OBC quota system. After further analysis for any sign of alteration, we found that the viral video was edited while the original information is different. Hence, it’s misleading and false.

Conclusion:

The video featuring the Hon'ble Minister of Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah announcing that they will remove the reservation quota system of SC, ST and OBC if the new  BJP government is formed again in the ongoing Lok sabha election, is debunked.  After careful analysis, it was found that the video was fake and was created to misrepresent the actual statement of Hon'ble Minister of Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah. The original footage surfaced on the V6 News Telugu YouTube channel, in which Hon'ble Minister of Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah was explaining about religion-based reservations, particularly Muslim reservations in Telangana. Unfortunately, the fake video was false and Hon'ble Minister of Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah did not mention the end of SC, ST, and OBC reservations.

• Claim: The viral video covers the assertion of Hon'ble Minister of Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah that the BJP government will soon remove reservation quotas for scheduled castes (SCs), scheduled tribes (STs), and other backward classes (OBCs).
• Claimed on:  X (formerly known as Twitter)
• Fact Check:  Fake & Misleading

‍

‍

‍

Introduction

Social media has become integral to our lives and livelihood in today’s digital world. Influencers are now strong people who shape trends, views, and consumer behaviour. Influencers have become targets for bad actors aiming to abuse their fame due to their significant internet presence. Unfortunately, account hacking has grown frequently, with significant ramifications for influencers and their followers. Furthermore, the emergence of social media platforms in recent years has opened the way for influencer culture. Influencers exert power over their followers’ ideas, lifestyle choices, and purchase decisions. Influencers and brands frequently collaborate to exploit their reach, resulting in a mutually beneficial environment. As a result, the value of influencer accounts has risen dramatically, attracting the attention of hackers trying to abuse their potential for financial gain or personal advantage.

Instances of recent attacks

Places of worship

The hackers have targeted renowned temples for fulfilling their malicious activities the recent attack happened on The Khautji Shyam Temple, a famous religious institution with enormous cultural and spiritual value for its adherents. It serves as a place of worship, community events, and numerous religious activities. However, since technology has invaded all sectors of life, the temple’s online presence has developed, giving worshippers access to information, virtual darshans (holy viewings), and interactive forums. Unfortunately, this digital growth has also rendered the shrine vulnerable to cyber threats. The hackers hacked the Facebook page twice in the month, demanded donations and hacked the cheques the devotes gave to the trust. The second event happened by posting objectional images on the page and hurting the sentiments of the devotees. The Committee of the temple has filed an FIR under various charges and is also seeking help from the cyber cell.

Social media Influencers

Influencers enjoy a vast online following worldwide, but their presence is limited to the digital space. Hence every video, photo is of importance to them. An incident took place with leading news anchor and reporter Barkha Dutt, where in her youtube channel was hacked into, and all the posts made from the channel were deleted. The hackers also replaced the channel’s logo with Tesla and were streaming a live video on the channel featuring Elon Musk. A similar incident was reported by influencer Tanmay Bhatt, who also lost all the content e had posted on his channel. The hackers use the following methods to con social media influencers:

• Social engineering
• Phishing
• Brute Force Attacks

Such attacks on influencers can cause harm to their reputation, can also cause financial loss, and even lose the trust of the viewers or the followers who follow them, thus further impacting the collaborations.

Safeguards

Social media influencers need to be very careful about their cyber security as their prominent presence is in the online world. The influencers from different platforms should practice the following safeguards to protect themselves and their content better online

Secure your accounts

Protecting your accounts with passphrases or strong passwords is the first step. The best strategy for doing this is to create a passphrase, a phrase only you know. We advise choosing a passphrase with at least four words and 15 characters.

To further secure your accounts, you must enable multi-factor authentication in the second step.

To access your account, a hacker must guess your password and provide a second authentication factor (such as a face scan or fingerprint) that matches yours.

Be careful about who has access

Many social media influencers collaborate with a team to help generate and post content while building their personal brands.

This entails using team members who can write and produce material that influencers can share themselves, according to some of them. In these situations, the influencer is the only person who still has access to the account.

There are more potential weak spots when more people have access. Additionally, it increases the number of ways a password or account access could fall into the hands of a cybercriminal. Only some staff members will be as cautious about password security as you may be.

Stay up-to-date on the threats

What’s the most significant way to combat threats to computer security? Information.

Cybercriminals constantly adapt their methods. It’s crucial to stay informed about these threats and how they can be utilised against you.

But it’s not just threats. Social media platforms and other service providers are likewise changing their offerings to avoid these challenges.

Educate yourself to protect yourself. You can keep one step ahead of the hazards that cybercriminals offer by continuously educating yourself.

Preach cybersecurity

As influencers, cyber security should be preached, no matter your agenda.

This will also enable users to inculcate best practices for digital hygiene.

This will also boost the reporting numbers and increase population awareness, thus eradicating such bad actors from our cyberspace.

Acknowledge the risks

Keeping a blind eye will always hurt the safety aspects, as ignorance always causes issues.

Risks should be kept in mind while creating the digital routine and netiquette

Always inform your users of risk existing and potential risks

Monitor threats

After the acknowledgement, it is essential to monitor threats.

Active lookout for threats will allow you to understand the modus Operandi and the vulnerabilities to avoid criminals

Threats monitoring is also a basic netizens’ responsibility to ensure that the threats are reported as they emerge.

Interpret the data

All cyber nodal agencies release data and trends of cybercrimes, understand the trends and protect your vulnerabilities.

Data interpretation can lead to an early flagging of threats and issues, thus protecting the cyber ecosystem by and large.

Create risk profiles

All influencers should create risk profiles and backup profiles.

This will also help protect one’s data as it can be stored on different profiles.

Risk profiles and having a private profile are essential to safeguard the basic cyber interests of an influencer.

Conclusion

As we go deeper into the digital age, we see more technologies emerging, but along with them, we see a new generation of cyber threats and challenges. The physical, as well as the cyberspace, is now inter twinned and interdependent. Practising basic cyber security practices, hygiene, netiquette, and monitoring best practices will go a long way in protecting the online interests of the Influencers and will impact their followers to engage in best practices thus safeguarding the cyber ecosystem at large.

Executive Summary:
‍‍

A video circulating on social media claims that people in Balochistan, Pakistan, hoisted the Indian national flag and declared independence from Pakistan. The claim has gone viral, sparking strong reactions and spreading misinformation about the geopolitical scenario in South Asia. Our research reveals that the video is misrepresented and actually shows a celebration in Surat, Gujarat, India.

‍

‍

Claim:

‍

A viral video shows people hoisting the Indian flag and allegedly declaring independence from Pakistan in Balochistan. The claim implies that Baloch nationals are revolting against Pakistan and aligning with India.

‍

Fact Check:

‍
After researching the viral video, it became clear that the claim was misleading. We took key screenshots from the video and performed a reverse image search to trace its origin. This search led us to one of the social media posts from the past, which clearly shows the event taking place in Surat, Gujarat, not Balochistan.

‍

‍

In the original clip, a music band is performing in the middle of a crowd, with people holding Indian flags and enjoying the event. The environment, language on signboards, and festive atmosphere all confirm that this is an Indian Independence Day celebration. From a different angle, another photo we found further proves our claim.

‍

‍

However, some individuals with the intention of spreading false information shared this video out of context, claiming it showed people in Balochistan raising the Indian flag and declaring independence from Pakistan. The video was taken out of context and shared with a fake narrative, turning a local celebration into a political stunt. This is a classic example of misinformation designed to mislead and stir public emotions.

To add further clarity, The Indian Express published a report on May 15 titled ‘Slogans hailing Indian Army ring out in Surat as Tiranga Yatra held’. According to the article, “A highlight of the event was music bands of Saifee Scout Surat, which belongs to the Dawoodi Bohra community, seen leading the yatra from Bhagal crossroads.” This confirms that the video was from an event in Surat, completely unrelated to Balochistan, and was falsely portrayed by some to spread misleading claims online.

‍

Conclusion:

‍
The claim that people in Balochistan hoisted the Indian national flag and declared independence from Pakistan is false and misleading. The video used to support this narrative is actually from Surat, Gujarat, India, during “The Tiranga Yatra”. Social media users are urged to verify the authenticity and source of content before sharing, to avoid spreading misinformation that may escalate geopolitical tensions.
‍

• ‍Claim: Mass uprising in Balochistan as citizens reject Pakistan and honor India.
• ‍Claimed On: Social Media
• ‍Fact Check: False and Misleading