Dalai Lama cancelled JD Vance’s meeting? Another case of misinformation goes viral!
Delhi/Dharamsala: A new viral report has created a buzz on social media, which says that Buddhist leader Dalai Lama quietly cancelled his meeting with US Vice President JD Vance, after the death of Pope Francis. But this claim is completely wrong.
What is the whole matter?
JD Vance, who is a Republican and former Ohio Senator, is currently on a four-day official tour of India from 21 to 24 April. During his visit, he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. Apart from this he also attended some other official meetings.
Dalai Lama, who is residing at his residence in Dharamsala, has not said anything about cancelling any meeting. No official meeting was scheduled from his side with JD Vance, so the question of cancellation does not even arise.
Real source of misinformation – Satirical website Babylon Bee
The real source of this claim is a satiretical website – Babylon Bee, which is famous for creating humorous and fictional content. Babylon Bee wrote in its post that Dalai Lama’s representatives publicly called the cancellation a coincidence, but privately said that Dalai Lama just wanted to live! This was a part of the satirical tone, which some people believed to be true.
Babylon Bee also made reference to a “spokesmonk”, in which it was said that Dalai Lama was double-booked, due to which the meeting could not take place. This too was a joke, which is not real.
Fake news going viral on social media
Ever since this report came out, a big discussion has started on social media. A user, Anna Komsa, posted on X (the first Twitter) – “Dalai Lama quietly cancels scheduled meeting with JD Vance.”
Along with this post, she also shared a screenshot of an article by Babylon Bee. This post has been retweeted more than 100 times and has received more than 400 likes. But people took it as truth without verifying the source, and misinformation started spreading.
Difference between satire and misinformation
This case is a perfect example of how people sometimes fail to understand the difference between satire and misinformation. People who don’t understand Babylon Bee’s humorous nature think that this is real news. This is why sometimes fake news goes viral without any intention.
In this case also some people believed Dalai Lama’s meeting being cancelled without verification, which is not true. Dalai Lama didn’t cancel any meeting, and Babylon Bee’s article was just a joke which became misinformation!
Conclusion
Misinformation and fake news spread rapidly on social media. One should always verify the source before reading any news or report, so that one does not fall prey to any misleading information. Babylon Bee’s report was a satire, not a real news.
Do you feel that it is difficult to distinguish between satire and misinformation? 🤔