Fact Check: Hoardings carrying Arvind Kejriwal message are photoshopped
An image of a hoarding featuring a message by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal praising his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government for installing dustbins
By Newsmeter Network Published on 4 Aug 2021 7:25 AM GMT
Hyderabad: An image of a hoarding featuring a message by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal praising his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government for installing dustbins in the Kirtinagar Industrial Area is going viral on social media.
The photograph shows a hoarding at what appears to be a Delhi metro station.
The text on the hoarding reads: "Congratulations Delhi — ten new dustbins have been installed in Kirti Nagar Industrial Area."
Original claim: बधाई हो दिल्ली कीर्तिनगर इंडस्ट्रियल एरिया में दस नए डस्टबिन की व्यवस्था)
(archived link: https://archive.ph/vGo1B)
Several Bharatiya Janata Party leaders including Kapil Mishra, BJP's Youth National Secretary Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga and BJP Delhi's social media-in-charge Naveen Kumar Jindal took a dig at Kejriwal for 'congratulating himself for installing 10 dustbins.'
The link to their tweets can be seen here
Archived link:
Fact Check:
NewsMeter found a few replies to the tweets by the verified handles which pointed out that the viral image has been edited. Netizens also posted an original image of the hoarding showing a Delhi government advertisement about financial help provided to the families who lost their loved ones to COVID-19.
We found Fact-checker SM Hoaxslayer who found that "@drapr007" had tweeted a higher resolution of the doctored image (2048 x 2048 pixels). Using the same doctored photo used in the tweet, we found several anomalies in the image.
We found that the original text has been photoshopped by blending the blue background of the hoarding. The smidges of the original text can be seen in the far left corner of the photo.
After that when we zoomed in to see the details, we found that the Hindi word हो (बधाई हो) is not covered by the light reflecting on the hoarding. This suggests it has been digitally added on top of the image.
Another noticeable difference is that when zoomed in, the Delhi government (दिल्ली सरकार) logo at the top right corner of the photo is blurred. However, the morphed text is clear. The contrast in clarity is also an indication that the image has been tampered with.
Fact check websites which debunked the claim mentioned that they went to 5 Delhi metro stations to check the hoardings by the state government.
