No, this photo does not show an Indian stock exchange telling people to vote against PM Modi

  • This article is more than one year old.
  • Published on April 26, 2019 at 10:00
  • 2 min read
  • By AFP India

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Multiple posts on Facebook and Twitter, shared thousands of times, contain an image purporting to show an Indian stock exchange ticker displaying a message which tells people to vote against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 elections. The image has been doctored; in the original photo the ticker displays share prices; the doctored image was posted on Twitter by an Indian comedian who clearly said it was not real.

The posts, for example this one published April 18, 2019, and shared more than 15,000 times since, contain the image showing the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai. Here is the bourse’s website.

An electronic ticker on the building's exterior appears to display a message in red capital letters that says: “Don’t vote for Modi”.

Prime Minister Modi is running for re-election in India’s national polls which began April 11, 2019. Here is an AFP report about the election. 

Below is a screenshot of the false post:

Screenshot of false Facebook post

The post’s caption, translated to English, says: “Mumbai’s share market has also written don’t vote for Modi. Zoom in and see for yourself.”

The same misleading image has been shared elsewhere on Facebook, for example here and here, and on Twitter for example here.

However the image has been doctored from an original photograph that appears here on the ‘about’ page of the Bombay Stock Exchange website.

The image below compares screenshots of the picture in the misleading post (L) with the original image as it appears on the bourse’s site (R):

Comparison of misleading image (L) and original photo (R)

The verified Twitter account of the Bombay Stock Exchange addressed the doctored image in this tweet dated April 19, 2019.

It says: “A fake morphed photo against a political party using BSE building has been shared by @kunalkamra88.

“BSE is extremely disappointed at unfortunate,unauthorized & illegal use of BSE buildg fr nefarious activities.BSE reserves right to take appropriate legal action agnst @kunalkamra88”.

The tweet is embedded below:

@kunalkamra88 is the Twitter handle of Indian stage artist and comedian Kunal Kamra. Here is his verified Twitter account and here is his website.

In this tweet published April 14, 2019, Kamra shared the doctored image of the bourse alongside other images containing the words “Don’t vote for Modi”.

The caption made it clear he did not believe the images were real. It said: "These photos are as real as Modiji’s promises…”

Ji is a term used to show respect to elders.

Kamra’s tweet is embedded below:

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