TMC MP Saket Gokhale tweeted a news article from DNA that claimed that the Indian government was buying 50 bulletproof Audi cars for the G20 summit, which would cost over Rs 400 crore. The tweet was accompanied by a hashtag that said "#ModiGovtsPREvent".
Claim
The article was published by DNA and was titled "Indian government buying 50 bulletproof Audi cars for G20 Summit, may cost over Rs 400 crore".
The Press Information Bureau (PIB) fact-checked the claim and found it to be false. The PIB tweeted that the government is not buying 50 bulletproof Audi cars, but has leased 20 such cars for Rs 18 crore. The PIB also said that the provision of bulletproof cars is a standard protocol for all Heads of State/Heads of Government visits.
Gokhale has since deleted the tweet, but the damage was already done. His tweet was widely shared on social media, and many people believed it to be true. This is just one example of how fake news can be harmful. It can spread misinformation and sow discord among people. It is important to be critical of the information we see online and to verify it before sharing it.
Saket Gokhale has not yet responded to the PIB's fact-check. This is not the first time that Saket Gokhale has been accused of sharing fake news. In December 2022, he was arrested by the Gujarat Police for sharing a fake news tweet about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Morbi.
It is important to be aware of fake news and to verify the information that we come across before sharing it. We can do this by checking the source of the information, looking for other sources that corroborate the information, and using fact-checking websites.
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