A message is going viral with a link which claims that the ministry education 5,00,000 free laptops to the students. The fact-checking department of Press Information Bureau (PIB) has now informed that the message is fake and no such scheme is being introduced by the government.
PIB shared a screenshot of the viral post through its Fact Check Twitter handle and wrote in the caption, “A text message with a website link is circulating on social media claiming @EduMinOfIndia to all 5, 00,000 free laptop. student. The caption further read, “The circulated link is #Fake. The government is not running any such scheme.”
A text message with a website link is circulating on social media which claims that @EduMinOfIndia Giving 500,000 free laptops to all students #PIB Fact Check
️operated link #fake
Government is not running any such scheme pic.twitter.com/m8rGGXG7l9
— PIB FactCheck (@PIBFactCheck) 11 July 2022
The message also tells recipients to open a link that reads: “To check eligibility.” Apart from the message being fake, it can also be a trap for the users to phish their personal details. PIB Fact Check warned netizens about any such messages claiming freebies.
This is not the first time such a message has spread on social media. In August last year, PIB Fact Check had busted another fake news story. The message read, “The Ministry of Education has a distribution program to give laptops to families to help support virtual learning.” The PIB also warned people against sharing such messages and spreading them further.
Such messages have the potential to create a bubble of information which can be harmful to the readers. One term that has become quite popular in the era of fake news is “WhatsApp University.” It is a derogatory term which highlights the issue of fake news spread through WhatsApp. Such messages create a division of opinion on the basis of trivial facts and one should avoid forwarding or heeding them.
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