Media spreads fake news claiming singer Sonu Nigam asked to stop dubbing Kannada movies into Hindi, uses tweets of a different person with similar name
In a ridiculous act, several prominent mainstream media outlets ended up spreading fake news after they attributed remarks made by a different person to singer Sonu Nigam. The media outlets, including India Today, the Times of India, and the Indian Express, claimed that singer Sonu Nigam has said that Kannada movies should not be dubbed into Hindi, and Kannada movies should not be released all over India.
The news reports shared a tweet saying, “Don’t dub Kannada movies in Hindi! Don’t release Kannada movies pan-India! Do you have the guts to say this to Kannada film stars, Mr. @Tejasvi_Surya, or you are just another language warrior?” Notably, Sonu Nigam is already embroiled in controversy over his remarks at a concert after a fan asked him to sing in Kannada.
However, the reports used the tweet of Sony Nigam Singh, a different person with the word ‘swayamsevak’ in the bio, assuming it to be the X account of the singer. They did so without verifying the identity of the X user making the comments, including the surname Singh in the name.
Notably, singer Sonu Nigam has clarified earlier that he does not have an account on X. In fact, he had shared screenshot of the X account of Sonu Nigam Singh on Instagram, saying that a a single controversial Post from this Sonu Nigam Singh can put his or his family’s life in danger.
The X user had posted several comments regarding the recent controversy about the imposition of the Kannada language on non-Kannada-speaking people working in Karnataka. In one of his posts, the X user called out BJP MP Tejasvi Surya for condemning an SBI manager working in Karnataka for refusing to speak in Kannada.
The X user’s comments were quickly picked up by the media outlets, believing that it was singer Sonu Nigam calling out Surya. In no time, the media outlets published reports claiming that the singer lashed out at the BJP leader.
India Today published a report with the headline, “Don’t dub Kannada movies in Hindi: Sonu Nigam slams BJP leader over language row”. However, on realising that the remarks were not made by singer Sonu Nigam, the media house removed the report.
Sceenshot showing the India Today headline
Similarly, the India Express also attributed the X user’s remarks to singer Sonu Nigam and published a report.
Screenshot of the Indian Express report
The Times of India also jumped on the bandwagon and published a report misrepresenting the X user’s remarks as the singer’s remarks without verifying.
Screenshot of the TOI report
Interestingly, none of the media portals bothered to verify the identity of the X user before publishing the misleading reports.
Coincidentally, Bollywood singer Sonu Nigam was recently embroiled in a controversy regarding the Kannada language after he called out a fan who was trying to disrupt the singer by asking him to sing in Kannada during his concert. The controversy erupted during a music event held in April at East Point College of Engineering and Technology in Virgonagari, where the singer performed. During his performance, a person from the audience interrupted him and kept pestering him to sing a Kannada song. Nigam perceived the person’s behaviour as rude and exhibiting linguistic chauvinism. The singer schooled the person, saying that he had been singing Kannada songs since much before the fan might have been born. He also urged people not to create differences based on language, caste, or religion.
However, the singer issued an apology after he was hounded with FIRs and was banned from the Kannada film industry.
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