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A social media user posted a picture of a TV anchor expressing concern about religious freedom in India, amid Nupur Sharma’s blasphemous remarks about the Holy Prophet. As Qatar sanctioned India over blasphemous remarks, A BoycottQatar campaign was started, Indian users widely shared this image questioning women’s freedom in the country. 

(Screenshot from Twitter post)

(Screenshot from Twitter post)

Debunked Source

Fact Check

In order to check the claim, we performed a reverse image search and found that the picture belongs to an Afghan news channel ‘Tolo News’ and the female anchor is Khatereh Ahmadi from Afghanistan. Taliban passed a ‘non-negotiable’ order enforcing face-cover for female TV anchors.

(Screenshot from Ahram online website)

Source

https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/466636.aspx

https://www.newsy.com/stories/taliban-enforcing-face-cover-order-for-female-tv-anchors/

https://nypost.com/2022/05/23/taliban-enforcing-face-cover-order-for-female-tv-anchors/

Rating

Misinformation/False Context

Miscaptioned

Conclusion

Our fact-check confirmed that the picture has nothing to do with Qatar. Social media users from India wrongly associated the Afghan anchor’s picture with Qatar to question women’s freedom there. It was an attempt to mislead the general public about the poor living condition of women in Qatar. 

ABCDE Framework-Based Analysis

Actor Independent social media users involved in spreading disinformation.   
Behavior A woman anchor’s picture from Afghanistan was shared linking it to Qatar. 
ContentSocial media posts. 
DegreeThe shared picture was not authentic, it was not edited or forged, but wrongly linked to Qatar. 
Effect The post was an attempt to mislead the public about the poor living condition of women in Qatar. It gave the impression that Qatar has no religious freedom itself.