Introduction
Sri Lankan local news agency JVP news published an article on 2nd April, 2022 claiming Indian Military Aircrafts arrived in Columbo, Sri Lanka amid ongoing protest.
After the article was published, the news of Indian military aircraft went viral on social media in Sri Lanka.
The article says that, “Three planes with soldiers from India have arrived in Colombo to protect Sri Lanka in view of the tense situation in Sri Lanka last night.
Meanwhile, a plane carrying 180 Indian soldiers from the Indian Air Force base in Delhi, a plane with 215 soldiers from the Punjab Regiment and 200 soldiers from the Madras Regiment Brigade from the Tamil Nadu and Tambaram Indian Army bases have landed at Colombo Katunayake Airport in the first phase”.
(Screenshot from JVP news website)
(Screenshot from Facebook post)
Same Article was also published by BigFm Jaffna.
(Screenshot from BigFm Jaffna post)
Debunked Sources
Archives
https://web.archive.org/web/20220402180458/https://www.thebigfm.com/local/25239
https://www.facebook.com/tamilcommunityhub/posts/1201373833732015
https://www.facebook.com/bigfmjaffnar1/posts/2794501224180167
Fact Check
Our research team did a reverse search of the image using AI Assisted Tools, given in the article and found that old picture was shared with false context. The image was taken back in 22nd January, 2013 when India purchased C-17 aircrafts from USA.
(Metadata of the original picture)
We further checked press release from Indian High Commission, Sri Lanka official website to check the claim. It was found that Indian High Commission has denied the claim terming it as False/Misleading.
(Screenshot from India high commission website)
We found that India did send Humanitarian Aid amid Sri Lanka’s economic crisis but it did not send any military assistance for Sri Lanka.
(Screenshot from India high commission website)
(Screenshot from NDTV website)
Source
Indian High Commission, Sri Lanka
Indian High Commission, Sri Lanka
https://www.airforce-technology.com/news/us-support-india-c-17-aircraft/
Rating
Disinformation
Conclusion
Our research confirms that news of India sending military aid to Sri Lanka amidst economic crisis is false. Upon investigating the matter, we found that India did send Humanitarian Aid amid Sri Lanka’s economic crisis but it did not send any military assistance for Sri Lanka. Such news is circulated on social media to mislead the general public and spread chaos amidst severa economic crisis in Sri Lanka.
ABCDE Framework-Based Analysis
| Actor | Sri Lankan media outlet, independent social media accounts primarily on Facebook are involved in disseminating the misleading content. |
| Behavior | False news on social media and articles are posted by multiple news outlets of Sri Lanka, old pictures with fake news are posted on Facebook by individuals to mislead the general public and create distress. |
| Content | Social Media post, Web articles, YouTube videos with misleading captions to instill chaos in general public of Sri Lanka regarding ongoing situation. |
| Degree | Disinformation is spreading hoaxes on Sri Lanka’s current scenario. It is misleading the citizens of Sri Lanka; the government is facing economic crisis along with overflow of fake news on mainstream media and social media. |
| Effect | Journalists, activists, and independent fact-checkers are playing their part in debunking spread of fake news amid the ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka, but before they debunk it with evidence the damage of misleading public through false claims has been done, fake news circulate faster than facts which is creating chaos in general public as they are not equipped with the skills to analyze information critically. |
| Analysis | Media outlets and social media users are spreading fake news in Sri Lanka to mislead the general public which leads the government of Sri Lanka to fight with two crises at same time; economic crisis and spread of disinformation. |