This headline about Indonesian singer Rhoma Irama has been digitally altered
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on August 12, 2019 at 06:40
- Updated on August 12, 2019 at 06:42
- 3 min read
- By AFP Indonesia
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The doctored screenshot was published in this July 26, 2019 Facebook post about Indonesian singer Rhoma Irama. It shows a purported news report from Indonesian news outlet Liputan6.com.
The Indonesian language headline translates to English as: “Rhoma Irama: This Is My Fault, I Told Him Not to Touch Alcoholic Drinks, Not Even a Drop.. But He Ended Up Consuming Crystal Meth.”
The post’s Indonesian-language caption translates to English as: “Pak Haji, please be clear when you advise your son... So that he can fully understand what you mean….”
“Pak Haji” is an Indonesian term widely used to address a Muslim man who has gone on the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. Rhoma went on the Hajj pilgrimage in 1975, according to his biography on Encyclopedia Britannica.
Below is a screenshot of the misleading post:
The image was also shared hundreds of times in posts here, here and here.
The claim is false. A keyword search found this fact-check article published by Liputan6.com about the image on Facebook.
Liputan6.com operates a fact-check team which has been verified by the International Fact Checking Network (IFCN).
The article's headline translates to English as; “A hoax misusing a Rhoma Irama statement in a Liputan6.com article”. The article states the image was doctored from this Liputan6.com news report published on July 13, 2019. The headline translates to English as: “Rhoma Irama accepts the fact that Ridho Rhoma is detained again.”
The first two paragraphs of the original report translate to English as: “Ridho Rhoma has to go to prison for the second time. Based on a Supreme Court ruling, Ridho Rhoma must return to the detainment centre for eight months for drug abuse.
“Ridho Rhoma will be detained at the Salemba detention center, Central Jakarta. As a father, Rhoma Irama found it difficult to accept this reality. But the King of Dangdut said he had finally accepted it.”
Dangdut is a popular genre of Indonesian music that mixes local, Indian and Malay traditions. “The King of Dangdut” is a nickname given to Rhoma.
Ridho’s detention was also reported by Indonesian news site Kompas on July 12, 2019, here. This is his Instagram account.
Below is a screenshot of the original news report:
It has the same layout, byline, publishing date and time as the Facebook image -- but the headlines are different.
Below is a comparison of the original Liputan 6 report (L) and the misleading Facebook image (R):
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