The Maha Kumbh event and recently-concluded Delhi assembly elections have inspired a flurry media misreporting in February, with BOOM fact-checking mainstream media outlets on seven different instances. Furthermore, BOOM's fact-check database has revealed a persistent rise in media misreporting in the past four months.
In February, 2025, BOOM published 94 original fact-checks in English, Hindi, Bangla and Tamil.
Of the total fact-checks, the majority of misinformation we encountered was related to the Maha Kumbh, which took place from January 13 to February 26 in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. This was closely followed by false claims concerning the Delhi Assembly elections and the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
Individuals attending or following the Kumbh festival were the primary targets of misinformation, accounting for 11.7% of all false claims. This was followed by claims aimed at the Muslim community (6.4%) and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta (5.3%).
We published eight AI-related fact-checks during this period, which included four focused on the Kumbh event, two addressing ongoing communal tensions in Bangladesh, and one related to the ICC Champions Trophy. Among these eight, half involved AI-generated images, while the other half consisted of deepfake videos.
39.3% of all fact-checks addressed claims that were shared by verified accounts on X.
Additionally, misinformation in 34.4% of the total fact-checks were peddled using old and unrelated videos.
Theme Assessment
Media misreporting
Our analysis of data from January 2024 to February 2025 revealed a spike in media misreporting during specific events. In August 2024, the misreporting was particularly high, coinciding with the Bangladesh unrest and the RG Kar rape case, which led to several news outlets publishing misleading information. Additionally, the first two months of 2025 saw a surge in media misreporting, mainly related to the Maha Kumbh event and the Delhi Assembly elections.
Several media outlets misreported information regarding the Maha Kumbh and the Delhi elections, leading to a total of seven fact-checks.
ABP News featured at the top of the misreporting list with three instances of misreporting in one month, followed by NDTV, Times of India, The Economic Times, among others.
For instance, at least 19 news outlets misreported a viral story claiming that a bride's father canceled her wedding in Delhi after the groom performed to the Bollywood song "Choli Ke Peeche."
Prominent media organizations such as The Times of India, The Indian Express, The Economic Times, Mint, Navbharat Times, NDTV, News 18, Republic, Deccan Herald, Times Now, India TV, Hindustan Times, Deccan Chronicle, ABP Live, Mathrubhumi, One India, News9 Live, Gujarat Samachar, and DNA, along with several regional outlets, inaccurately reported this as a real incident.
BOOM found that the fake story originated as part of an advertisement by MX Player, an Amazon-owned streaming platform. It appeared in a newspaper and quickly gained traction, leading to widespread misreporting by various media outlets.
In another instance, outlets such as India Today, News X, Mirror Now, CNBC TV 18, Deccan Herald, Republic TV, ETV Bharat, The Economic Times, Times of India, Vartha Bharati, Money Control, and Times Now reported a false claim that a wedding was held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi for the first time in history.
However, BOOM was able to confirm that the Rashtrapati Bhavan has served as a venue for several weddings over the years, with photo archives available on the official website dating back to 2016.
Delhi Assembly Elections 2025
BOOM published 19 fact-checks about the Capital’s elections in February. Of these, the newly elected chief minister Rekha Gupta (26.3%) was the main target followed by former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal (15.8%).
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chose first-time MLA Rekha Gupta as the Chief Minister of Delhi after winning after 27 years. Gupta, an experienced councillor with connections to the RSS and ABVP, previously led the party's Mahila Morcha wing. She took her oath on February 20, 2025, becoming the ninth Chief Minister and the fourth woman to hold the position in Delhi. After her appointment, several videos showing someone dancing and swordfighting went viral, claiming they were her.
Similarly, a video of a black MG Gloster luxury car went viral with the false claim that Gupta had purchased it within 48 hours of taking office. However, we found that the car had actually been in use by the Delhi Chief Minister's office since the time of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal, and it was also used by Atishi during her brief tenure.
Further, false claims directed at the former CM Kejriwal were also viral.
A morphed letter claiming that Kejriwal wrote to the Election Commission of India (ECI) ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls, requesting special facilities for Muslim voters, began circulating. We contacted AAP's chief media coordinator, Vikas Yogi, who confirmed that Kejriwal did not write any such letter.
Additionally, an official from the Election Commission confirmed to BOOM that they did not receive any such communication.
Alarming misinformation circulated around the Kumbh
Apart from AI-generated misinformation featuring various national and international celebrities attending the Kumbh, BOOM also observed a rise in content featuring unrelated accidents being misrepresented as the stampede that occurred at Kumbh.
One viral video showed a funeral procession, falsely linking it to the stampede and claiming that three family members had died, with the family forced to carry the body home on foot due to the government not providing an ambulance. However, we found that this video is actually from Nepal and has no connection to the Maha Kumbh stampede.
Another viral video showed a bus accident, falsely claiming that a bus carrying passengers to the Kumbh had fallen into a drain, resulting in the deaths of 10 devotees. However, BOOM investigated and found that the claim was false. The incident had occurred in Pakistan. While there have been bus accidents related to the Maha Kumbh, this particular viral video was not connected to the event.
Similarly, a video from 2021, taken during the second COVID-19 wave, was circulated as if it were an incident at the Kumbh. However, the video was shared by YouTuber Brajbhushan Dubey on his channel in May 2021. During that wave, reports of bodies floating in the Ganga River emerged from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, Buxar in Bihar, and other areas, but the video had no connection to the Kumbh.
Medium, Intent & Type of Deception
66% of the 94 fact-checks were shared via videos containing texts, followed by images and text (28.7%), and only text (5.3%).
Regarding the intent behind spreading mis/disinformation, 92.6% of the total fact-checks were under the “Sensationalist” category. This was followed by “Smear Campaigns” against Indian political leaders (5.3%) and the intent of spreading “Demographic Anxiety” (2.1%).
61.7% of the total fact-checks consisted of false content, followed by misleading content (21.3%), manipulated content (8.5%) and fabricated content (8.5%).