Claim: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), an Indian political party, is considered the party with the largest propaganda and misinformation network in the world, followed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Fact: The index being alluded to by viral posts was shared by a parody account, South Youthia Index, on Twitter.
Fact or Fiction?
On 7 February 2023, Twitter user Nabeel Khadim shared a graphic claiming that India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been declared the biggest political party with the largest propaganda and misinformation network in the world, followed by the PTI in Pakistan, the Republican party in the US and Liberal Party in Brazil.
Soch Fact Check found the claim to be misleading because the graphic was first posted by a parody account, South Youthia Index (@SouthYouthIndex):
“Just IN:— India’s BJP declared political party with largest propaganda and misinformation network in the world,” their tweet read.
Just IN:— India’s BJP declared political party with largest propaganda and misinformation network in the world pic.twitter.com/TWkzgYLYD6
— South Youthia Index (@SouthYouthIndex) February 7, 2023
The account describes itself as a “Data driven parody account of @SouthAsiaIndex.”
A number of users reposted the parody accounts graphic as real news.
Soch Fact Check is not investigating the claim of BJP engaging in spreading disinformation and propaganda in this article.
Virality:
The claim was shared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here on Facebook.
Conclusion: The viral posts picked up a tweet posted by a parody account, South Youthia Index.