Debunking fake news on lockdown & UPI transactions, 1 message at a time

Customers would be charged an extra 2. 1% fee on Rs 2000 or above transactions through UPI. ” This was among thousands of forwarded messages including, “Indian Government announces lockdown from 12th April 2023 amid the recent spike in Covid cases” and “Rahul Gandhi’s conviction by Surat Court was dropped on 7th April, allowing him to contest for Lok Sabha Elections 2024”, that TOI recently busted as fake.
Under the ‘Times Verified’ campaign, readers send suspicious messages circulating on social media to TOI on the WhatsApp number 9819888887. To verify their credibility, our expert panel — made up of reporters, editors and representatives from the municipality and government — taps into its network of trustworthy sources.

Launched nationally on November 21 last year, the ‘Times Verified’ initiative aims to break the chain of viral misinformation and disinformation on social media groups. Since the launch, TOI’s editorial team has received over 1. 4 lakh messages, over a half of which turned out to be false.
Besides misleading international headlines such as, “The central government is providing a cash amount of Rs 52,000 to all women under ‘Pradhan Mantri Nari Shakti Yojana”, the deluge of misinformation also included messages like “Crypto is now a legalised and accepted by RBI currency in India”.
Recently, Union minister of state for skill development & entrepreneurship, and electronics & IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar stressed the need for stricter-than-ever provisions to deal with online disinformation and misinformation, stating that these rank as other forms of internet criminality. “Our government and agencies have determined that the velocity of misinformation and disinformation can be 8, 10, sometimes 20 times faster in reach and significance than normal information,” he said.
In this scenario, the role of our chain-breakers becomes significant. The vigilant army includes Bihar’s Saurabh Jain, Tamil Nadu’s Renjit Joseph, Maharashtra’s Vivek Haridas and Rintu and Gujarat’s Jayesh Kapadia. To join them, send anxiety causing headlines doing the rounds of social media networks to our expert panel who, in turn, promise to ‘inoculate’ you against lies.