Digitally Altered images from PM Modi’s Italy visit shared with misleading claims

Edited photos from PM Modi’s recent visit to Italy are being shared on social media to falsely claim that Modi had to travel in a taxi.

A couple of images related to PM Modi’s 5 day visit to UK and Italy is doing rounds on social media, claiming the Italian government did not provide any car to pick up India’s Prime Minister from the airport which is why he is seen travelling in a taxi. The images show PM Modi getting out from a Volkswagen car, which has Taxi written in yellow and black on it. Another image shows the backside of the car where we can see a blue board carrying the logo of an Italian Taxi service.

The caption of the image states that “Modi is travelling in a Taxi in Italy…Being the opposition party we are feeling bad after looking at this situation then imagine how the bhakts must be feeling right now to see their idol like this. Imagine how they must be tolerating this insult. #Taxi #Modi #Italy” (sic)

Facebook Post 

The image is widely circulated on Facebook with the same caption.

The image is also viral on Twitter.

Fact Check-

We started our investigation by running a reverse image search on Google whose results led us the original images published by ANI on October 30. The tweet mentions that the images show India’s PM Modi departing from Vatican after meeting Pope Francis. Upon carefully observing the images, we found that the logo of Taxi has been digitally edited to the original images.

The second viral image was also published by ANI on October 30 where the backside of the car is visible. The caption of this image mentions that it shows Prime Minister Modi arriving at the Vatican City to meet Pope Francis. We can clearly see that the blue board in the viral image is not visible on the original image.

You can see the comparison image between the viral image and the original image below. One can clearly see that the word “Taxi” has been digitally edited.

Another image also went viral with the same claim showing the backside of the Volkswagen car with a blue board carrying the logo of itTaxi, which is an Italian Taxi service provider. One can spot PM Modi getting down from this car. We found that the blue board with the Taxi logo is also digitally edited. You can see a comparison image below.

Conclusion-

Fact Crescendo found that the images viral on social media has been shared along with false claims. The images are digitally altered to claim that PM Modi was travelling in a taxi during his visit to Italy. The claims made in the above post is misleading and false.

If you find any such photos/videos forwarded to you on WhatsApp and you are suspicious about it, then forward such content to us on our Fact Line Number +91 9049053770. Our team will verify the content for you and tell you whether it is true or false.