Political rallies give people more, they are news and controversy. In Jorhat, for example, people put on so much noise that some came and said at Gaurav Gogoi’s nomination rally in Jorhat saw an alcohol bottle in his helicopter after he got out. It got across very rapidly on Facebook and what happened immediately in the social media was a hot topic in our lives and the debates continued up so late. But when we look closely, the facts tell a different story.
The rumor began with a few posts suggesting that a bottle was spotted inside Gogoi’s helicopter. It was taken to be proof that he had consumed alcohol before the rally. Others carried it out without having checked its origin without emotion in terms of “shamelessness” and “this needs to go viral.” In a fast‑moving social media era, those allegations can spread more widely even without evidence.
Mainstream news reporters reporting on Gogoi’s rallies were mostly concerned about his speeches and nomination filing and he got to know people in different communities. Alcohol was not mentioned at all in any of those reports. There’s no evidence to support the story given by credible sources, so it sounds like it might very well be a rumor and not reality. Objects seen on photos or video are misinterpreted so often when there’s a lot of emotion around the scene.
Rumors like that are spread due to dramatic and easy to spread. And if one image or statement is taken out of line you can make one tweet on one day and turn it into a viral piece. In politics, making the claim can hurt your reputation or it is something that’s not really our business so I would look at someone with that in mind. And without much care someone comes forward telling facts of their situation with no basis for factual evidence people could believe it and perpetuate it.
That is, the importance of verifying information before sharing it is a point that this situation brings to light.
- Be looking in very credible sources, it may not be news coverage but just like well known newspapers or news channels.
- Be careful with visuals: A bottle or object in a photo might not mean what we think it means.
- Importantly, do not spread rumors that are unsavoury: Unverified claims threaten reputations in a way that is unbalanced to a person’s reputation.
The claim about an alcohol bottle in Gaurav Gogoi’s helicopter remains unverified and unsupported by credible evidence. The rally itself was true and quite well publicized. But it is only that the story of alcohol is so fake that it seems like a piece of baloney. In this age of viral social media we need to distinguish rumor from reality and tell the ones that matter.
