People shout slogans during protests against controversial remarks made by Nupur Sharma about Prophet Muhammad in Ranchi
Highlights
- Majority of those using hashtags on Twitter are non-verified users
- More than 7,100 accounts have been identified from Pakistan
- Oman's Grand Mufti has announced a boycott of Indian products was one such incorrect claim by Pak
Prophet remarks row: Pakistan is once again using social media to defame India after a row over remarks on Prophet Mohammad by suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma during a TV debate. According to a report with Digital Forensics Research and analytics centre (DFRAC), a majority of those who posted tweets using related hashtags were from Pakistan.
Out of more than 60,000 users analysed, a majority of them were non-verified users interacting with related hashtags. More than 60,000 were non-verified accounts from different nations, all who interacted on hashtags, with more than 7,100 accounts from Pakistan.
Prophet row: Pakistan spreads misinformation against India
According to DFRAC, several media houses including Pakistani Ary news had run misleading and incorrect news stating Oman's Grand Mufti has announced a boycott of Indian products.
Likewise, Pakistan's former ambassador Abdul made wrong claims stating that expelled BJP leader Naveen Jindal is the brother of Industrial Jindal.
Further, a fake screenshot in the name of English cricketer Moen Ali, in which he is talking about boycotting IPL also went viral.
#Stopinsulting_ProphetMuhammad, #boycottindianproduct were some of the most commonly used hashtags on Twitter.
Several countries including Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar, and Iran have strongly condemned Sharma's remark on Prophet Mohammed while Iran, as well as Qatar, have released statements that they are satisfied with the Indian government's actions against the leader who made the controversial remark about the Prophet Mohammed, DFRAC stated.
However, hate-mongers like Khaled Beydoun, Moinuddin Ibn Nasrullah, and Ali Sohrab got another opportunity to spread hate and communalism.
Beydoun even posted tweets with the hashtag #BoycottIndianProduct and dragged the Kashmir issue.
Remarks by Nupur Sharma on a TV debate drew flak nationally and internationally. Meanwhile, the BJP has suspended the membership of Nupur Sharma and expelled Naveen Jindal.
(With inputs from ANI)
