Modi Time Magazine Cover is Fake
The Claim
Time Magazine published a cover featuring a photo of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with “SUPERSPREADER” below the image.
News posted on
Emerging story
The claim took off on social media in late April 2021, as India experienced a devastating second wave of COVID-19 that many say Modi could have prevented.
Misbar’s Analysis
The coronavirus pandemic has led to more than 211,000 deaths in India. Many blame Modi for failing to prevent the spread. His critics say that his refusal to cancel election events and religious festivals, as well as his focus on yoga and alternative remedies rather than other preventative measures, mean that he is largely to blame for India’s COVID-19 crisis.
However, Misbar discovered that the image of Time magazine calling Modi a superspreader has been digitally manipulated. We searched the Time vault for 2020 and 2021 and found that Modi was never on the cover. Further, we searched for superspreader and found that, while there are articles about Modi and the COVID-19 crisis, there are no covers calling him a superspreader. Modi was, however, named one of Time’s 2020 100 most influential people.
We also conducted a reverse image search of the image used on the fake cover and found that it is from a speech at Puducherry.
