A screenshot of a tweet allegedly done by UK-based newspaper ‘The Independent’ is being widely shared on social media claiming that singer Rihanna has named her baby after Bharatiya Kisan Union’s national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait.
The tweet text in the viral screenshot reads, “Rihanna named her baby after Indian farmer protester Tikait.”
The image is shared on Facebook with a Hindi caption, “यह किसान नेता राकेश टिकैत के लिए एक बड़ी उपलब्धि है…!! उन्हें इस पर बयान जारी करना चाहिए”
(English translation: This is a big achievement for the farmer leader Rakesh Tikait…!! they should issue a statement on this)
Here’s the link to the above post.
The image has gone viral on Facebook.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim and found it to be FALSE.
Starting with our investigation, we did a keyword search that directed us to a tweet by The Independent dated March 14, 2022, that carried an image similar to the viral screenshot. But the tweet text here read “Rihanna reflects on ‘rebellious’ pregnancy style” not “Rihanna named her baby after Indian farmer protester Tikait” as claimed in the viral screenshot. We also scanned through the Twitter profile of The Independent with the advanced search but could not find any such tweet.
Rihanna reflects on ‘rebellious’ pregnancy style https://t.co/1t7NwVRhR1
— The Independent (@Independent) March 14, 2022
Searching further, we found the article published by The Independent with the headline “RIHANNA REFLECTS ON ‘REBELLIOUS’ PREGNANCY STYLE: ‘I’M NOT GOING TO BUY MATERNITY CLOTHES’”. This article also had no mention of Rihanna naming her baby after Rakesh Tikait.
We compared the viral image with the original tweet and found certain discrepancies. For instance, the verified blue Twitter mark was on a darker shade in the viral tweet whereas in the original tweet, it was on a lighter shade.
More searches directed us to a news report that stated “Pregnant Rihanna Wants to Honor Her Barbados Heritage When Naming Baby.”
Moreover, we could not even find any credible media report that corroborated the viral claim.
Thus it can be concluded from the above information that the viral claim is false.
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