On the 75th Republic Day celebrations, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin presented the state’s Communal Harmony Award to Mohammed Zubair, the fact-checker and co-founder of AltNews. The award was given “in recognition of his contribution to the prevention of violence” by debunking claims on social media regarding alleged attacks on migrant workers in Tamil Nadu.
After verifying the reality of videos, AltNews found that the claims were false, thus halting the spread of rumors against the Tamil Nadu government. “Thus, he stopped the spread of rumors against Tamil Nadu and acted to prevent violence caused by caste, religion, race, and language,” the citation read.
Zubair shared a thread on March 3, 2023, addressing the false claims: “IMPORTANT THREAD! There are several scaremongering tweets & videos viral with a false claim that Hindi-speaking migrant workers from Bihar are being attacked in Tamil Nadu. Many news channels misreported with similar misleading claims. @NitishKumar @bihar_police @tnpoliceoffl”
Zubair expressed gratitude after receiving the award: “Didn’t know this thread and multiple fact checks by my team debunking dangerous Fake News… would be recognized by the government.
[Read more on radiancenews.com]