After Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, Katrina Kaif and Yo Yo Honey Singh, veteran Bollywood actor Farida Jalal became the latest victim of death hoax on social media. Twitter was flooded with condolence messages for the 67-year-old actor after her Wikipedia page announced her dead on Sunday.
Shocked by the messages, Jalal took to Twitter to confirm that she is very much alive. In the post, she said, “I am here to confirm you that i am alive. news of my death is nothing more than a rumour. Stop spreading fake & false news.”
The incident, once again, turns our attention to the perils of social media, which could be an efficient messenger of fake news, as much as it is for credible information. The massive reach of fake news was evident from the fact that condolences kept pouring in even after the actor's clarification on Twitter.
Here are some posts from the Twitter users:
Innalillahi wainnailaihi rojiun,.. thankyu Farida Jii.. May Allah always with youu 💜🙏🏼😇#faridajalal #ripfaridajalal #kkkg #kkhh #ddlj pic.twitter.com/UylKpr6CDU
— Debbysoemarwanto (@debbysumarwanto) February 19, 2017
Farida Jalal is no more, I cannot believe this 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 she always remain a legend in the hindi film industry #RIPFaridaJalal
— αяια 🌸 (@Ariaa2000) February 19, 2017
RIP Farida Jalal. You will be greatly missed on the big screen! #bollywood #ripfaridajalal #ddlj #k3g
— Amnah❤️ (@officialamnah) February 19, 2017
Interestingly, it took almost a day for social media media users to realise their folly and now Twitter is abuzz with posts reacting to the hoax.
