The Congress party on Friday (June 14) said that it filed an FIR against an X handle, which goes by the name of 'Befitting Facts', for spreading fake news about senior Congress leader KC Venugopal. The Congress said that the said handle in question used a video of KC Venugopal to make 'false claim' about the leader that he was having alcohol at a restaurant. The party in its post said that KC Venugopal's picture showing him having tea was used to mislead viewers that he was consuming alcohol.
"A fake news is being circulated by the account @BefittingFacts. It falsely alleges that the black tea being consumed by Shri @kcvenugopalmp is alcohol in a restaurant. This has been purposely done to malign his image. We have taken congnisance of this mischief and Congress MLC Dr. Venkat Narsing Rao Balmoor has lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crimes Police Station in Hyderabad. Here is a copy of the FIR. Fake news won’t be tolerated and the guilty will be made to bear the consequences," Congress said in its post.
Here is the screenshot by the handle that claimed KC Venugopal was consuming alcohol at a restaurant. The handle also tagged Kerala Police in its post and demanded action against the leader saying that the restaurant didn't have licence to sell alcohol.
Congress' aggressive stand against 'fake news' is in line with recent reports that the party has decided to go all out against news portals and handles it deems are unfair to the party. A few days back, addressing a press conference after the Lok Sabha elections 2024 results were announced, Rahul Gandhi was seen taking a dig at the media for getting the exit polls wrong. The Congress party also demanded action aginst pollsters and alleged that the exit polls wer done at the behest of the ruling party for ulterior motives.
