In today's era of social media, from government organisations to private companies and NGOs, everyone has their own official social media handle. But with the growing social media platforms, fake handles are also surfacing on the internet. Most of the times, the fake handle is so similar to the original one that users accept it as true, due to which the company or person has to bear the consequences.
India is one of the largest digital market in the world. Currently, everyday countless content is published and shared from social media to website. Many of these also contain fake content, which is detected by the Fact Check team of the Government of India-run Press Information Bureau (PIB) and works to curb the spread of misinformation.
This time a fake ID of the same organisation has been created by some unknown mischievous users. Not only one government institution has become a victim of fake handles, fake handles are also being run in the name of Intelligence Bureau (IB).
Claim
Many channels are being run on Telegram under the name PIB Fact Check. Some of those channels are copying and sharing the content available on PIB's official social media handle, while some are sending movies and personal promotion type information. The profile picture of those channels is the official logo of PIB, which matches with the original channel of PIB.
Channel
When we came to know about fake channels being run in the name of PIB on Telegram, we searched by typing PIB Fact Check keywords in Telegram's search bar. A total of 4 channels were seen in the suggestion, in which a verified channel was visible at the top, which had more than 18 thousand subscribers. Which is the original channel of PIB Fact Check. Rest three channels are fake. When we inquired about this on the official Twitter handle of PIB Fact Check, these channels were told to be fake.
PIB is an organisation that works to stop fake news spreading on social media and to provide correct information. It also has its official social media, which you can find by visiting PIB's website (https://pib.gov.in/aboutfactchecke.aspx). We are giving you the username of the official handle below. PIB is active on Twitter, Facebook, Koo, Telegram and Instagram.
These are all the handles of PIB
Twitter - @PIBFactCheck
Instagram - /PIBFactCheck
Koo - @PIBFactCheck
Telegram - t.me/PIB_FactCheck
Facebook - /PIBFactCheck
A fake Insta account is being created and run in the name of Intelligence Bureau, which has more than 67 thousand followers. When we searched the keyword Intelligence Bureau on Google, many accounts were found. None of them have been verified. The official handle of IB is on Twitter from @NIA_India.
The point to be noted here is that along with fake news on social media, the trend of making fake handles is being seen a lot these days. That's why never identify social media as official by seeing followers. Try to cross check once from the official website of that department. There you will get the right information. India TV team will always try to protect you from fake news.
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