The allegations that Pakistan cricket captain Babar Azam was “sexting” another player’s girlfriend are all over the Indian media. The issue is that the misleading information came from a parody account’s “joke” tweet. Media either failed to detect — or deliberately decided to ignore — the fact that the Twitter account was not intended to be taken seriously, illustrating how false information can turn into accepted truth and explode online.
Azam, who has kept mute throughout, received an apology from the spoof account’s anonymous creator, who also criticised India’s “clown media” on Twitter. The original tweet from the “Dr. Nimo Yadav” account on January 15 claimed that Azam had been “sexting with gf (girlfriend) of another Pakistan cricketer,” albeit it has since been removed.
Additionally, the athlete “promised her that her guy (boyfriend) won’t be kicked off the squad if she keeps texting with him… The account tweeted to its more than 27,000 followers, “I hope Allah is monitoring all of this.
Cricketer Babar Azam Scandal with Hamiza Mukhtar FAKE or Realhttps://t.co/BohkuwBo0B#PCB #pakistanicricketer #baberazamgirlfriend #baberazamexpose #hamizamukhtar #BabarAzamGfExposed #BabarAzamScandal #cricketerBabarAzamGfExpose #BabarAzamcontroversy #RohitSharma #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/a7YQffQVz0
— Naureen Amber (@naureen_amber) December 2, 2020
The tweet contained a topless man in bed who allegedly resembled Azam in a screenshot with a heart overlaid on it. The Twitter user claimed to have downloaded the image and video from a since-deactivated Instagram account. The post was spread widely across the media in India, Pakistan’s fiercest adversary on and off the cricket field, despite the fact that the Twitter profile is marked as a “parody account.”
Even though the owner of the Twitter account reiterated that the post was incorrect when deleting it the next day, as of Wednesday, the bogus claims were still being made in articles on at least eight Indian news websites.
An international sports website – which even features the “verified Twitter account Dr. Nimo Yadav” – withdrew her article after the Pakistan Cricket Board tweeted displeasure with its “media partner” for reporting the “baseless personal allegations”, Whereas Social media users showed their support for Azam by making the hashtags #WeStandWithBabar and #StayStrongBabarAzam trend on Twitter.
The owner of the parody account said “My followers know my tweets and they realised it wasn’t in bad taste and it was a joke/satire.”
“I frequently receive abusive DMs (direct messages) addressed to myself and my family. Although I’ll exercise caution moving ahead, I don’t believe I need to include a disclaimer in my tweets.
These kind of activities on social media should be controlled as misinformation can spread like wildfire and occasionally has fatal results.
