Published 11:52 IST, April 17th 2020
Fact Check: Is government going to drop money from helicopters in every town?
Fact Check: There have been rumours flying around that the government will be dropping money in towns using helicopters, which was shared by a regional channel.
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Due to the current situation of the world where coronavirus has made people stay at home in a lockdown, social media has joined official news sources as the place where people get all their information on news and updates from. There are many rumours and hoaxes that are present on social media which can be misleading and give out false information. A claim that caught the eye of the people online is that the Government of India will be dropping money from helicopters.
Claim
People started sharing tweets and Facebook posts which talked about a rumour that the government will be dropping wads of notes from a helicopter for people to use. They shared pictures from their TVs where regional news channels talked about how the government is sending out money through dropping it from helicopters. People shared on Twitter asking for official sources to confirm the news. One of these news channels was Public TV, which is a regional channel from Karnataka.
ಹೆಲಿಕಾಪ್ಟರಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದು ಆಕಾಶದಿಂದ ಕಂತೆ ಕಂತೆ ನೋಟ್ ಹಾಕ್ತಾರಂತೆ ಮೋದಿ.
— Prathap ಕಣಗಾಲ್ (@Kanagalogy) April 16, 2020
ಜನ ಏನೇಳಿದ್ರು ನಂಬತಾರೆ ಅನ್ನೋ ಇವರ ನಂಬಿಕೆ, ಅದನ್ನ ಪದೇ ಪದೇ ಪ್ರೋವ್ ಮಾಡೋ ನಮ್ಮ ಜನ, ಹೆಡ್ಡರು ಇರೋವರೆಗೂ ಇಂತ ಮೋಸ ಮಾಡೋವರೆಗೇನು ಕಡಿಮೆ ಇಲ್ಲ.
ನಮ್ಮಲ್ಲಿ ಈಗ ನ್ಯೂಸ್ ಚಾನೆಲ್ ಯಾವು ಉಳಿದಿಲ್ಲ ಈಗ ಉಳಿದಿರೊವು ಇಂತ Naptol ತರದ ಟೆಲಿಶಾಪಿಂಗ್ ಚಾನೆಲ್ಗಳು. pic.twitter.com/k1OQcFith1
Rating: False
The Press Information Bureau's Fact Check account was quick to respond to these claims. They tweeted that the claim by Public TV about how the government is going to drop money from helicopters in every town is fake. They also added a picture from the channel where one can see the news flash.
Claim: Government is going to drop money from helicopters in every town#PIBFactCheck: Government is going to do no such thing pic.twitter.com/on7ZNsEXgT
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) April 16, 2020
The Press Information Bureau takes action against Public TV
Origin:
This claim was made by Public TV and then it spread throughout social media as people started questioning it. After PIB's fact check account tweeted about how the news is false, the Press Information Bureau's Bengaluru division took action. They gave notice to Public TV, asking them to send out a reason why the channel must continue going on air and not be taken out. They are given 10 days to do so. The channel is being charged for spreading false information and creating panic and social unrest.
PIB under Ministry of I and B has issued a notice to Public TV for Violation of Cable Television Network (Regulation)Act and Codes by Broadcasting "Helicopter Money - Helicopternalli Surithara Modi".@PrakashJavdekar @MIB_India @PIB_India @PIBFactCheck @DG_PIB pic.twitter.com/KxYJ3LFAKY
— PIB in Karnataka 🇮🇳 #StayHome #StaySafe (@PIBBengaluru) April 16, 2020
11:51 IST, April 17th 2020