Chennai

Freedom of speech hit the pinnacle post abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir by the Indian government. It wasn’t surprising when social media was flooded with opinions all around the globe about India’s shocking, yet tactful move.

The platform was also not short of fake news and memes alongside sensible comments. One such meme started going viral. The meme showed a white-eyed, fair complexioned girl amidst a rock background. The meme included a caption which stated that the girl belongs to Kashmir, her family were hit by the pellet guns which also made her blind, her sister was raped by Indian army men and now the girl is begging on the streets of Srinagar. After so much accusations, the meme also questioned ‘Where is humanity?’. The post received numerous comments and retweets.

Here comes the twist. The girl in the meme is Maisie Williams, who played ‘Arya Stark’ in the popular HBO series ‘Game of thrones’. The irony is people fell for this fake news. The post was shared by countless in Twitter and Facebook, even some enquiring about her current status. The user who created this post has already mentioned in his twitter account bio that "All Tweets are for fun 100% fake, imaginary, resemblance to any person dead or alive is purely coincidental."

Prominent academician and writer Madhu Purnima Kishwar became a victim of this fake news. She tweeted that, the picture looks too filmy to be true. She also questioned the efficacy of Zakat funds over this issue. “What are Zakat Funds used for if not for poor and vulnerable?,” tweeted, the writer. (Zakat funds are religious funds treated as an obligation or tax in Islam) 

However, many GOT fans replied to the post, revealing its falsehood. Twitter has suspended the fake news user’s account for violating the rules.

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