Govt orders probe into posting PM’s morphed photo on Facebook

New Delhi

The government is looking into the posting of a morphed picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Facebook by a journalist working with a private TV channel.

The journalist, who later expressed regret for the “error”, had posted a picture in which the Prime Minister is seen bowing before a Saudi leader. Modi returned from a visit to Saudi Arabia past last midnight.

The fake post led to anger on the social media, with BJP MP Mahesh Giri drawing the attention of the I&B ministry.

Responding to Girri’s tweet, in which he sought action against the person who had posted the fake picture, Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said, “Dear Shri MaheishGirri Ji, I have instructed MIB_India to review the violations.”

Rathore added in his tweet that he would also seek help of Communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in this regard.

Meanwhile, the journalist involved, expressed regret for his act in a tweet, saying “I sincerely regret posting a morphed picture of the PM on my Facebook page. I should have also verified its authenticity before tweeting it.”

“I apologise to everyone concerned for this unfortunate error on my part,” he said in another tweet.

The private TV news channel also said that a morphed picture had been posted by one of its staff.

“The organisation was not aware of this unfortunate lapse of judgement. We apologise to everyone for this confusion & deeply regret the error,” the channel tweeted.

PTI