Before Phogat could delete the fake news tweet, it had at least 111 retweets and 192 replies.
New Delhi: Commonwealth gold medalist and wrestler Babita Phogat Monday tweeted that UNESCO has declared Indian national anthem as the best in the world.
The tweet said, “Many congratulations friends. Our national anthem “Jana Gana Mana Adhinayak Jaya He Bharat Bhagyavidhata”, has been declared as the best anthem in the world, UNESCO has declared it. As an Indian I am proud of it. Let’s share this moment of happiness and pride with each other.”
However, UNESCO has never made any such declaration. This particular fake news was started in 2008 through email and caught Unesco’s attention. As reported by India Today at the time, the UN official had said, “We are aware of several blogs in India reporting this story, but can assure you that Unesco has made no such announcement concerning the anthem of India or any country.”
The piece about the Unesco declaration had also made it to the top 10 fake news by The Indian Express in 2016.
The wrestler deleted the tweet by Tuesday morning. However, before it could be deleted, the tweet had at least 111 retweets and 192 replies.
Phogat has around 277,000 followers on Twitter.
When contacted by ThePrint, Phogat wasn’t available for comment. The copy will be updated with her response once received.
In collaboration with SM Hoaxslayer.