#FactCheck-Video of Police Lathi-Charging Workers in Bangladesh Falsely Shared as Tripura Police Beating Accused in BSF Attack

On June 5th, the world comes together to reflect on how the way we live impacts the environment.  We discuss conserving water, cutting back on plastic, and planting trees, but how often do we think about the environmental impact of our digital lives?

The internet is ubiquitous but invisible in a world that is becoming more interconnected by the day. It drives our communications, meetings, and recollections. However, there is a price for this digital convenience: carbon emissions.

A Digital Carbon Footprint: What Is It?

Electricity is necessary for every video we stream, email we send, and file we store on the cloud. But almost 60% of the electricity produced today is generated from burning fossil fuels. The digital world uses an incredible amount of energy, from the energy-hungry data centres that house our information to the networks that send it. Thus, the greenhouse gas emissions produced by our use of digital tools and services are referred to as our "digital carbon footprint." 

To put it in perspective:

• Up to 150–200 grams of CO₂ can be produced by streaming an hour-long HD video on your phone.

• A typical email sent can release about 4 grams of CO₂, and more if it contains attachments.
• Comparable to the airline industry, the internet as a whole accounts for 1.5% to 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Why It Matters 

Ironically, despite the fact that digital life frequently feels "clean" and weightless, it is backed by enormous, power-hungry infrastructures. Additionally, our online activity is growing at a rapid pace as digital penetration increases. Plus, with the advent of AI and big data, the demand for energy is only going to rise. The harms of air, water, and soil degradation, and biodiversity loss are already upon us.  It's high time we reconsider how we use technology on World Environment Day.

What Can You Do? 

The good news is that even minor adjustments to our online conduct can have an impact. 

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🗑️ Clear out your digital clutter by getting rid of unnecessary emails, apps, and files.

📥 Unsubscribe from mailing lists that you no longer use.

📉 When HD is not required, stream videos with lower quality.

⚡ Make use of energy-saving gadgets and disconnect them when not in use.

🌐 Make the move to renewable energy-powered, environmentally friendly cloud providers.

🗳️ Support informed policy by engaging with your elected representatives and advocating for greener tech policies. Knowing your digital rights and responsibilities can help shape smarter policies and a healthier planet.

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We at the CyberPeace Foundation think that cyberspace needs to be sustainable. An eco-friendly digital world is also a safer one, where all communities can thrive in harmony. We must promote digital responsibility, including its environmental component, as we work towards digital equity and resilience.

On this World Environment Day, let's go one step further and work towards a greener internet as well as a greener planet.

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Introduction

Delhi is Delhi-ing these days — whether it's the protest, the monsoon weather, the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament, metro disruptions, or just the general chaos of it all. Amid everything else, it's been over 30 days, starting from late June 2026, since the large public march organised in part by the group known as the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) converged near Parliament and on Jantar Mantar, and the city hasn't quite exhaled since. Like every large, fast-moving public event, it's come with a parallel flood online: photos, video clips, injury claims, and hot takes pouring in from participants, bystanders, and news outlets alike, all competing for your instagram scroll.

CyberPeace is a non-partisan digital trust and safety organisation, and what we do care about is the online information environment building up around the event — helping people spot misinformation and manipulated media, and encouraging a bit more caution before hitting "share" while rumours are moving faster than facts.

Delhi Police has already made a public appeal along similar lines, asking citizens against online spread of unverified rumours, noting that misinformation could make an already tense situation worse. This advisory builds on that, with some practical guidance for everyday citizens navigating the protest in light of social media.

Why This Matters Right Now

30 plus days in, the story has layers: the original hunger strike, the march itself, police action, viral clips, and now a second wave of commentary reacting to the reactions. Old footage resurfaces relabelled as "live." Numbers get inflated or deflated depending on who's sharing them. Screenshots go around stripped of context. The longer a protest runs, the murkier the timeline gets for anyone just scrolling past — which is exactly when misinformation finds the most room to spread.

The internet access was also restricted in parts of the city during the march, which has itself become a point of attention.

Given how much unverified information is already circulating, it's worth treating any single account of "what actually happened". The full picture will likely take time to emerge through credible reporting and scrutiny. 

Why This Moment Is Especially Prone to Misinformation

A few things are working together here to make mis-information spread faster than usual: Emotions are running high. Clashes, injuries, and confrontations naturally provoke strong reactions, and content that makes people angry or afraid tends to get shared quickly, with far less scrutiny than a calm, verified report would get.

There are information gaps. Reports of internet restrictions in parts of the city leave holes that get filled with speculation  or worse, old footage recycled and passed off as live updates.

The event is politically charged, which means competing narratives are synthetically being pushed from multiple directions, sometimes deliberately, making it harder to find neutral ground.

There's simply a huge volume of content. Thousands of clips and photos are being posted from one event, which makes it easy for unrelated or out-of-context material to slip in alongside the real thing. And then there's satire. Part of this movement has roots in political satire, so parody posts and meme accounts can easily be mistaken for genuine news if they're shared without context.

Common Types of Misleading Content to Watch For

A few patterns tend to show up again and again during events like this:

1. Old footage getting relabelled -  Photos or videos from a completely different protest, city, or even country, re-shared with a caption claiming it's from this event.
2. Clips taken out of context - A short moment, like a scuffle, shown without what happened right before or after it, changing how it reads.
3. Doctored images - Photos edited to add, remove, or exaggerate people, banners, injuries, or crowd size.
4. Fake official statements - Screenshots or graphics designed to look like they came from Delhi Police or a government department, but never actually issued.
5. Made-up casualty numbers - Figures shared with no real source, often vaguely attributed to "eyewitnesses."
6. Impersonation accounts - Handles designed to look like an official police or organiser account, sometimes just one letter off from the real one.
7. AI-generated visuals - Fully or partly synthetic images and videos showing scenes or crowds that never actually happened.
8. Rumours about shutdowns - Unverified claims about internet blackouts, road closures, or metro shutdowns that may be old, exaggerated, or simply untrue.

What Citizens Should Do:

• Pause before you forward. If a clip or claim makes you feel an instant, strong reaction, that's often the moment to slow down, not speed up.
• Check the timestamp and source. A five-day-old protest generates a lot of recycled footage. Reverse image/video search before assuming something is "breaking."
• Cross-check with more than one outlet. If only one account or page is reporting something dramatic, wait for corroboration.
• Be wary of numbers without sources. Injury counts, crowd sizes, and arrest figures are easy to exaggerate in either direction.
• Don't share unverified visuals of injuries or violence. Beyond accuracy concerns, this can also cause real harm to the people shown.
• When in doubt, don't repost — verify first, or simply sit it out.

How to Check a Claim Before You Share It:

A checklist goes a long way here:

1. Pause for a second. Content built to provoke a strong reaction is often designed to get past your defenses before you think twice. Just slowing down is itself protective.
2. Ask where it actually came from. Is this from a named journalist or outlet you can verify, or an anonymous forward with no clear origin? Messages that have clearly been passed around many times deserve extra suspicion.
3. Look for more than one source. If something significant is genuinely true, you'll usually find several independent, reputable outlets reporting it not just one channel or account.
4. Check the date and place. A quick reverse image or video search can tell you if a photo or clip has shown up online before, and what it was originally about.
5. Wait for official confirmation. For anything involving police action, injuries, or arrests, check verified accounts like Delhi Police, PIB, established news wires before treating a claim as settled fact.
6. Be suspicious of absolute language. Words like "confirmed," "breaking," or "exposed," used without naming any actual source, are a classic misinformation tell.
7. Look at the account, not just the post. New accounts with no history, or ones that only ever post about this one topic, deserve a second look.
8. Notice when something feels too satisfying. If a claim perfectly confirms what you already believed, that's exactly when you should slow down and check it; it's the content you're least likely to question on your own.

Reliable Fact-Checking Platforms and AI Detection Tools:

These resources can help you check specific claims, images, or videos:

1. For fact-checking: PIB Fact Check (factcheck.pib.gov.in) for anything involving government statements or orders; Alt News (altnews.in) and BOOM Live (boomlive.in), two independent Indian outlets that regularly cover protest- and politics-related claims.
2. For reverse image and video searches: Google Images, Google Lens, and TinEye can show you where a photo first appeared and in what context. InVID-WeVerify is a free browser plugin built for journalists that breaks videos into keyframes and lets you reverse-search individual frames.
3. For AI and synthetic media detection: Hive Moderation and Sensity AI offer public tools for checking images and video. Deepware Scanner focuses specifically on deepfake video. And most major platforms like Meta, YouTube, X are now labeling some AI-generated content automatically, though the absence of a label doesn't mean something's real.
4. A few terms worth knowing: A cheapfake is misleading media made with simple editing, cropping, slowing down, re-captioning rather than AI. These are still far more common than actual AI deepfakes. A deepfake is synthetic audio, video, or image content made with AI to convincingly show someone saying or doing something they didn't. Synthetic media is the broader umbrella term for any AI-generated content, whether or not it's being used to deceive.

Reporting Mechanism ~ If You Come Across Suspected Misinformation

Don't share it further, even to mock or correct it  any engagement can boost its reach. Check it against the fact-checking tools above before deciding what you think is true. Report it directly on the platform. If it falls  under the category of ‘Unlawful Content’ as per IT Rules, you can reach out to the grievance officer of the platform for removal of such content.

If it involves a government statement or order, send it to PIB Fact Check. If it looks like incitement, impersonation, extortion, or another cybercrime, report it to the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in) or call 1930. 

Further Steps & helplines

1. To file a cybercrime complaint: National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal - 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in 
2. To flag a fake government-related claim: PIB Fact Check - factcheck.pib.gov.in
3. For an on-ground emergency: dial 100 / 112 
4. CyberPeace Helpline: +91 9570000066 or helpline@cyberpeace.net
5. For fact check and debunking of any suspicious viral information, you can reach out to cyberpeace at helpline@cyberpeace.net
6. If this advisory feels useful, consider sharing it in family WhatsApp groups, community networks, or student and youth organisations as it helps slow the spread of unverified content when more people are thinking about it.

CyberPeace's Message to Citizens

Being first to share something isn't the same as being right. In moments like this, the most useful thing any of us can do is slow down, verify before sharing, be a little suspicious of content that confirms exactly what we already believed, and trust named, accountable sources over anonymous forwards. Misinformation during civic unrest doesn't just mislead people; it can raise tensions, put individuals at risk, and chip away at trust in both the media and the institutions meant to maintain public order.Our goal is simply to help people navigate the information around it a little more safely and critically.

Conclusion

Protests and public unrest always generate a flood of information, and not all of it will be accurate. What keeps that information environment healthy isn't any single authority or platform, it's the everyday habits of the people deciding, one post at a time, whether to check something or just pass it along.  Delhi's news cycle will keep moving, and this advisory isn't asking anyone to disengage from it. It's just a nudge to stay a little more careful with what you believe and what you pass on in this social media age. Pause. Verify. Scroll healthy. Stay CyberPeaceful.

References

1. https://rajkaran.in/delhi-police-urges-calm-amid-cjp-protest-warns-against-rumours-as-clashes-erupt-during-chalo-sansad-march
2. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0kkSCYrjRGc
3. https://factcheck.pib.gov.in/
4. https://www.altnews.in/
5. https://www.boomlive.in/
6. https://www.vishvasnews.com/
7. https://www.factcrescendo.com/
8. https://cybercrime.gov.in/

Contributors

1. Neeraj Soni, Sr. Research Analyst, Policy & Advocacy, CyberPeace
2. Ritika Goswami, Intern - Policy & Advocacy, CyberPeace

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Introduction

Mr Rajeev Chanderashekhar, MoS, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, on 09 March 2023, held a stakeholder consultation on the Digital India Bill. This bill will be the successor to the Information technology Act 2000 and provide a set of regulations and laws which will govern cyberspace in times to come. The consultation was held in Bangalore and was the first of many such consultations where the Digital India bill is to be discussed. These public stakeholder consultations will provide direct public feedback to the ministry, and this will help create a safe and secure ecosystem of Indian Cyber Laws.

What is the Digital India Act?

Cyberspace has evolved the fastest as compared to any other industry, and the evolution of the growth cannot be presumed to be stagnant or stuck as we see new technologies and gadgets being invented all across the globe. The ease created by using technology has changed how we live and function. However, bad actors often use these advantages or fruits of technology to wreak havoc upon the nation’s cyberspace. The use of technology is always governed by the application of usage and safeguard policies and laws. As technology is growing exponentially, it is pertinent that we have laws which are in congruence with today’s time and technology. This is keenly addressed by the Digital India Act, which will be the legislation governing Indian Cyberspace in times to come. This was the need of the hour in order to have the judiciary, legislature and law enforcement agencies ahead of the curve when it comes to cyber crimes and laws.

What is the Digital India Bill’s primary goal?

The Digital India Bill’s goal is to guarantee an institutional structure for accountability and that the internet in India is accessible, unhindered by user harm or criminal activity. The law will apply to new technologies, algorithmic social media platforms, artificial intelligence, user risks, the diversity of the internet, and the regulation of intermediaries. The diversity of the internet, user hazards, artificial intelligence, social media platforms, and intermediary regulation are all discussed.

Why is the Digital India Bill necessary?

The number of internet users in the country currently exceeds 760 million; in the upcoming years, this number will reach 1.2 billion. Despite the fact that the internet is useful and promotes connectivity, there are a number of user damages nearby. Thus, it is crucial to enact legislation to set forth new guidelines for individuals’ rights and responsibilities and mention the requirement to gather data.

Major Elements of the Digital India Act

Major Elements of the Digital India Bill, which will eventually become an Act, which will contribute massively towards a safe cyber-ecosystem, some of these elements aim towards the following-

• The legislation attempts to establish an internet regulator.
• Women and Child safety.
• Safe harbour for intermediaries.
• The right of the individual to secure his information and the requirement to utilise personal data for legal purposes provide the main obstacles to data protection or regulation. The law tries to deal with this difficulty.
• A limit will be placed on how far a person’s personal information can be accessed for legal reasons.
• The majority of the bill’s characteristics are contrasted with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.

The Way Ahead

As we ride the wave of developments in cyberspace regarding emerging technologies and automated gadgets, it becomes pertinent that the state takes due note of such technologies and the courts take cognisance of offences committed by using technology. Law enforcement agencies must also train police personnel who can effectively and efficiently investigate cybercrime cases. The ministry also released a few bills last year, such as – the Telecommunication Bill, 2022, Intermediary Rules and the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022, to better address the shortcomings and the issues in cyberspace and how to safeguard the netizens. The Digital India Act will essentially create a synergy between the current bills and the new ones to come in order to create a wholesome, safe and secure Indian cyber ecosystem.

Conclusion

Digital India Bill is necessary to address the challenges of cyberspace, like personal data and privacy, and policies related to online child and women safety to create a and create a modern and comprehensive legal framework that aligns with global standards of cyber laws. The draft of the bill is expected to come out by July. The ministry looks forward to maximising the impact of the bill through such continuous and effective public consultation to understand and fulfil the expectations and requirements of the Indian netizen, thus empowering him/her equivalent to the netizen of a developed country.