Fake messages and WhatsApp forwards can make anyone land in trouble, proved Anand Mahindra, and Amitabh Bachchan. The Indian megastar and the renowned industrialist are the recent unfortunate victims for the fake messages and forwards with bizarre contents that flow in via WhatsApp and other such social media platforms.
A petition on Change.org has been initiated after the celebrated figures on Twitter have taken the social media platform to comment on bizarre content.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's parody account on Twitter by the username 'RoflGandhi_' was the flag bearer on filing the petition to Mark Zuckerberg with a view to uninstall WhatsApp from the phones of the Bollywood actor and the Indian billionaire businessman.
According to the petition, "A megastar and a renowned industrialist are falling prey to fake news & bizarre content being fed to them via Whatsapp. We need to restore the dignity of two gentlemen. Through this petition we are requesting Mark Zuckerberg to disable Whatsapp on their numbers."
A petition becomes the top trend
No soon did this petition against the two figures turn to trend on Twitter.
What kindled the flames up to the petition was the series of fake news, misinformation, and insensitive forwards shared by the two senior-most personalities.
WhatsApp to be uninstalled?
On Sunday, Anand Mahindra took to his Twitter account to share an image of a mother and toddler wearing masks made out of leaves, which, the 64-year-old Twitterati, known for his humorous and interesting posts, thought to be an iconic image during these days of the pandemic.
"Don't know who took this and the location but I hope this photo becomes one of the most iconic images and memories of the pandemic. It's not just about #MaskIndia but also about a greener world. A reminder that nature already provides us with all that we need," wrote the post which was soon deleted as he realised the grave folly.
An 'insensitive' tweet
Termed as 'insensitive', most of his followers, particularly comedian Aditi Mittal pointed out these people had to choose leaf masks "because govt's who were supposed to provide them this life-saving mask have forsaken them."
"Anand, this is NOTHING to be celebrated. There is NO EVIDENCE that wearing a leaf provides ANY kind of protection. They are not doing this environmental awareness," she wrote.
Big B faces backlash for quoting misinformation
In another similar incident, the Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan also faced backlash for quoting misinformation. According to Bachchan's knowledge, sound vibrations and clapping can ward of coronavirus (just as many believed on the Janata Curfew day), very interestingly has landed him along with Mahindra on the petition charges of uninstalling WhatsApp from his phone!
Excitingly, nearly 800 persons have signed the petition that targets a sum of 1000 signatures. The petition, now the most trending in Twitter, registers how the megastar and the industrialist have publicised 'fake news' and 'bizarre content' via WhatsApp and demands on the immediate uninstalling of the app from their phones.
Numerous tweets, memes and trolls have been filling the social media sites against the two great men for their folly statements. While some are serious judgments, most of the memes and trolls laugh at their ignorance.
