Fact Check: Truth behind Congress claim of Arnab's post-attack video's 'metadata mismatch'

CLAIM: Metadata shows video shot before incident / Attackers not handed to the Police

The National Coordinator of Digital Communications and Social Media of Congress and their leaning Twitter handles claimed metadata of Republic Media Network Editor-in-Chief Arnab's video message suggested the video was shot before the attack on him and Republic TV Editor Samyabrata Ray. Take a look at this:  

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RATING - FALSE / FAKE NEWS

The claim by the top Congress functionaries falls apart as Mumbai Police was witness to Arnab recording the video at the parking lot of his residence post the attack.

• An amateur reporter would do well to get the official version from the Mumbai Police which was present on the spot.
• Fact that the attackers were jointly nabbed by the Mumbai Police Protection and Republic's security guard in the tailing car has been ignored.
•  Moreover, an amateur fact-checker will know how to adjust time zones when checking for metadata. The tweets are drafted to confuse and make it appear like the video was shot earlier. Read on:

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METADATA FACTS:

1. Metadata2Go.com is a free online tool that allows you to access the metadata of your files.
2. The URL shared on social media of the data is: https://www.metadata2go.com/result/A3aad539-65c4-4452-b344-d59b932be59d
3. Under 'TAGS' the Creation Time is 20:17:11.000000Z (screenshot shared)
   
4. 000000Z indicates Zulu Time Zone which is GMT time zone (00:00) and IST is +5:30.
5. If you convert the Time in JavaScript, it will show you the time in IST which is 1:47:11 am

Some users were also quick to correct the facts for Congress.

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Another claim that people were tweeting out in support of Arnab, before the incident was announced on Republic, is also false. The screenshots claimed that Republic had announced the incident on Twitter at 1:06 am, while Patra and Pandit tweeted about it before.

Truth is, the attack was announced on Republic TV at least 40 minutes before the tweet was made. The screenshot below shows the attack being announced on the ticker at 12:35 am, during a replay of The Debate.

THE ATTACK CHRONOLOGY:  

• 12:15 am: Arnab & Samyabrata attacked by Youth Congress goons
• 12:18 am: Arnab & Samyabrata arrive at the parking lot of their residence
• 12:25 am: Mumbai Police Protection team arrives, informs Arnab of attackers' identities
• 12:35 am: Police Inspector from NM Joshi Marg Station arrives, gets briefed by Mumbai Police Protection team
• Around 1 am: DCP Abhinash Kumar arrives, also gets briefed by Mumbai Police Protection team
• 1:25 am: Arnab records a video message in English
• 1:38 am: Video message is shared, uploaded on social media
• 3:30 am: Arnab arrives at NM Joshi Marg Police Station after confirmation from DCP
• 6:55 am: Complaint finally signed and accepted by the Mumbai Police
• 10:15 am: FIR handed over to the Republic TV team, no mention of Youth Congress despite Mumbai Police Protection Team mention  

EDITORIAL TAKEAWAY:

To defend an attack on two journalists, it's despicable to go to the extent of spinning conspiracies. 'Fact-checkers' better get some net practice on basics of gathering facts, in this case, the Mumbai Police was a call away. For those who continue to spread misinformation, fake news, and concocted propaganda, given that these facts are in the public domain, a continued campaign of fakery is only a defence of violence.

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(Author of this article, Niranjan Narayanaswamy is the Editor of Republic TV and was present at the site when Arnab Goswami's video message was shot, he was at the Police Station when the complaint was filed and received the FIR in the newsroom)