Unverified photos, videos go viral on social media as row simmers

NEW DELHI: Spreading unverified photos and videos has never been easier, thanks to social media. A couple of days ago, a video of JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar shouting antiIndia slogans had added fuel to the raging JNU row fire. On Friday, a photograph showing Kumar giving a speech in front of a map of India — where parts of Kashmir, Punjab and Gujarat were shown as part of Pakistan — in the background went viral.

Both the video and the photo were shared widely on social networking sites, even as a question mark remained on their authenticity.

Two versions of Kumar’s photo, one with a plain white background and the other with the ‘doctored’ map was seen doing rounds of social media on Friday. Social media users on both sides of the argument alleged that the photo shared by them was original.

A similar clash of opinions was also witnessed with regard to Kumar’s anti-India slogan video too, with television channels too joining the debate. One side claimed that the video was original, while the other group asserted – with a second version of the video as ‘proof ’ — that Kumar was shouting slogans for freedom from casteism and poverty and not for the freedom of Kashmir. Hindustan Times on Thursday had reported that police were using videos broadcast by a news channel to gather evidence against Kumar and other accused in the sedition case. The spread of unreliable photos and videos and their broadcast by media now has raised the question whether such media can be relied on as evidence by the police.

Police Commissioner BS Bassi has denied allegations that the tapes might be doctored. “I do not go by rumours. My officers are probing the case on merit,” he said.

The JNU Students’ Union vice president, Shehla Rashid, called photos and videos that showed Kumar in a bad light morphed and condemned the media for running them without confirming their authenticity.