TikTok launches #MatKarForward campaign with Virat Kohli and Kriti Sanon to fight fake news
Tech

TikTok launches #MatKarForward campaign with Virat Kohli and Kriti Sanon to fight fake news

Actors Ayushmann Khurana, Sara Ali Khan, Kriti Sanon and cricketer Virat Kohli have teamed up with the app to discourage people from forwarding unverified videos.

   
(Clockwise from top left) Kriti Sanon, Virat Kohli, Sara Ali Khan and Ayushmann Khurrana feature in TikTok's anti-fake news campaign video | Screengrab

New Delhi: India’s favourite video-sharing app TikTok has launched a campaign called #MatKarForward to create awareness against the circulation of fake news.

Actors Ayushmann Khurrana, Sara Ali Khan, Kriti Sanon and cricketer Virat Kohli have teamed up with TikTok to encourage social media users to stop forwarding videos that don’t have verified information.

TikTok, in its campaign banner, writes about ‘fake news’, ‘misinformation’, and ‘inflammatory content’, and that “they’re spreading through our country like wildfire and hold the potential to destroy lives and tear us apart. Do your bit — double-check, report, block. And when in doubt about the credibility of a message, #MatKarForward”.


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Video about ‘dangerous virus’

For this campaign, TikTok has released a short video of the celebrities, which was tweeted out by its Twitter handle on 4 May.

The video is directed by Anurag Basu, wherein Khurrana, Khan, Sanon and Kohli are speaking about the dangers of misinformation. The video begins with the celebrities seemingly seated around a table discussing a dangerous virus and how it can spread.

A few seconds into the video, it turns out that they are actually talking about misinformation and fake news. The celebrities then urge people to not forward content that may seem unverifiable and fake to them, and that this would be in the best interests of everyone’s safety.

This video was shot by these celebrities in their own homes, and was later edited by Basu.


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