{"id":13477,"date":"2023-01-19T15:04:43","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T15:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/?p=13477"},"modified":"2023-01-19T15:04:43","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T15:04:43","slug":"joke-tweet-lands-babar-azam-in-fake-sexting-media-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/sports\/joke-tweet-lands-babar-azam-in-fake-sexting-media-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Joke\u2019 tweet lands Babar Azam in fake sexting media storm"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;Joke\u2019 tweet lands Babar Azam in fake sexting media storm. Indian media is awash with articles on how Pakistan captain <a href=\"http:\/\/Babar Azam\">Babar Azam<\/a> was allegedly \u201csexting\u201d another player\u2019s girlfriend. The problem: it\u2019s false news that originated in a \u201cjoke\u201d tweet from a parody account.<\/p>\n<p>Illustrating how misinformation can morph into accepted reality and explode online, as well as the bitter enmity between India and Pakistan, the media failed to notice \u2014 or chose to overlook \u2014 that the Twitter account was not meant to be taken seriously.<\/p>\n<p>The person behind the parody account, who remains anonymous, apologised on Twitter to Azam \u2014 who has remained silent throughout \u2014 and attacked what he called India\u2019s \u201cclown media\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The original tweet \u2014 which has since been deleted \u2014 by the \u201cDr Nimo Yadav\u201d account on January 15 said that Azam had been \u201csexting with gf [girlfriend] of another Pakistan cricketer\u201d.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I am sorry <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/babarazam258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@babarazam258<\/a>, I have deleted that post on the request of an Indian cricketer in DM <\/p>\n<p>Peace \u262e\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Dr Nimo Yadav Commentary (@niiravmodi) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/niiravmodi\/status\/1615063861874544640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 16, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Not only that, but the player was \u201cpromising her that her bf (boyfriend) won\u2019t be out of team if she keeps sexting with him\u201d, the account tweeted to its more than 27,000 followers.<\/p>\n<p>The tweet carried a purported screenshot of Azam superimposed with a heart, and a video of a topless man in bed resembling the star cricketer. The Twitter account holder said he took the image and video from a since-deactivated Instagram account.<\/p>\n<p>The Twitter handle is marked \u201cParody account\u201d, but that did not stop the tweet from being viewed almost 850,000 times and being sprayed across media in India and elsewhere.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"ht\" dir=\"ltr\">Bhai maine toh apni tweet delete kar di.<\/p>\n<p>Fox News, aajtak, ndtv, HT times, Abp, News 18 aur local news papers etc etc tum log apna apna dekh lo<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Dr Nimo Yadav Commentary (@niiravmodi) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/niiravmodi\/status\/1615257757707563009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 17, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Even after the holder of the Twitter account highlighted again that the tweet was fake when he deleted it the next day, stories carrying the false claim were still available on at least eight Indian news websites on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>One international sports website \u2014 which even cited the \u201cverified Twitter account Dr Nimo Yadav\u201d \u2014 took down its article after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) tweeted its displeasure at its \u201cmedia partner\u201d for reporting on the \u201cunsubstantiated personal allegations\u201d.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">GOAT we stand with you.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WeStandWithBabarAzam?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WeStandWithBabarAzam<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dCOPExplU2\">pic.twitter.com\/dCOPExplU2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; RoHan Ahmad (@YasirAhmad798) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/YasirAhmad798\/status\/1615534208989921282?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 18, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Internet users expressed solidarity with Azam, with #WeStandWithBabar and #StayStrongBabarAzam trending on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/TabaniNaeem\/status\/1615707676188758022?s=20&#038;t=jZSFmQPL2I5zw-bsM8EAFg<\/p>\n<p><strong>Blue tick \u2018verification\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The parody account\u2019s Twitter profile had a blue checkmark, with a message explaining that the account was \u201cverified\u201d because its owner had paid for the new Twitter Blue subscription introduced by the site\u2019s owner, Elon Musk.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">On a serious note, to all who are saying you should not have done this <\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t enjoy when I do this to people or party you don\u2019t like <\/p>\n<p>Second I don\u2019t go to anyone here to RT or like my tweet in DM<\/p>\n<p>Third it\u2019s not my job Media is picking what news<\/p>\n<p>Fourth I use twitter for my fun<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Dr Nimo Yadav Commentary (@niiravmodi) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/niiravmodi\/status\/1615221760366096385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 17, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>According to Twitter\u2019s eligibility rules, to obtain the blue checkmark the account \u201cmust have no signs of being deceptive or misleading\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy followers know my tweets and they knew that it was not in bad taste, and it was a joke\/satire,\u201d the parody account\u2019s owner said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am getting a lot of abuse in DMs [direct messages] for me and my family. I will be careful in the future, but I don\u2019t think I need to give a disclaimer on my tweets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>WhatsApp lynchings<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Internet usage and mobile phone ownership have exploded among India\u2019s 1.4 billion population in recent years, and so has disinformation.<\/p>\n<p>False information can spread like wildfire \u2014 with sometimes deadly consequences.<\/p>\n<p>In 2018 and 2019 there was a spate of lynchings by mobs inspired by fake rumours of child kidnappings that circulated on WhatsApp.<\/p>\n<p>India has the largest number of certified fact-checking organisations in the world, according to the International Fact-Checking Network, but they can only chip away at the mountain of fake news generated every day.<\/p>\n<p>The Hindu nationalist ruling party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been accused not only of failing to fight misinformation, but also of spreading it itself.<\/p>\n<p>Indian TV and online news outlets are \u201cin a hurry\u201d to broadcast or publish \u201cviral or sensational stories especially when they are related to Pakistan, which results in fake news dissemination through their platform\u201d, said Nadim Akhter, a researcher on misinformation at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, most of them are not following the basic code of conduct of the newsroom, which is fact verification. \u201c<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;Joke\u2019 tweet lands Babar Azam in fake sexting media storm. Indian media is awash with articles on how Pakistan captain Babar Azam was allegedly \u201csexting\u201d another player\u2019s girlfriend. The problem: it\u2019s false news that originated in a \u201cjoke\u201d tweet from a parody account. Illustrating how misinformation can morph into accepted reality and explode online, as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":13483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,6],"tags":[694,459,364],"class_list":["post-13477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-sports","tag-babar-azam","tag-pakistan-cricket-board","tag-pcb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}