Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
Claim
Video allegedly shows CPN-UML leader Mahesh Basnet hitting out at Prime Minister and his party Chairman KP Sharma Oli.
Fact
Viral video is edited by combining old and unrelated clips.
A video allegedly showing CPN-UML leader and former minister Mahesh Basnet criticising the appointment of his party Chairman KP Sharma Oli as the new Prime Minister is going viral on TikTok.
TikTok user @trloken posted a video carrying two different clips alongside. The left clip shows Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli saying, “You can criticise me if you want.” Another clip shows CPN-UML leader Mahesh Basnet saying, “We have appointed a clown as the prime minister of our country. It would be a disgrace to call the person our prime minister. We have made courtyards in Bhaktapur and Ratnapark where they can perform their drama, such a clown won’t be able to steer the nation.” Text superimposed on the video reads, “Mahesh launches a scathing attack on his own party leader KP Sharma Oli. 21-gun salute to Mahesh Basnet.”
The video posted on July 20 has garnered 8145 likes, 660 users have shared and 699 people have commented until the last count.
The archived version of the TikTok video can be seen here.
Fact Check /Verification
To check the authenticity of the claim made in the viral video, Newschecker split both the clips into several key frames and ran reverse searches on them. A reverse search on a frame from the second clip showing Mahesh Basnet didn’t yield any result matching the viral video.
We then conducted a search on YouTube by using clues from the viral clip and found a video, dated August 19, 2023, published on a YouTube channel named Sunaulo Nepal TV. On checking the video, we found that the video frame from 0.46-minute to 1.2-minute exactly matched the second clip of the viral video. We listened to the longer speech of Basnet and found that he was actually criticising then Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahala ‘Prachanda’.
Further, a reverse on a frame showing Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli led us to a video posted on Shilapatra online’s official X (formerly twitter) handle in January 2023. The video frame and the background resembled the frame of a viral clip depicting Oli. On checking the 1.32-minute video, we found that Oli was speaking in a different context. Though the video frame matched the viral video, we couldn’t establish the origin of the video.
We, then, took a key frame from the video posted by Shilapatra and ran a reverse search on Bing which led us to an article, dated January 1, 2023, published on Shilapatra online. We noticed that image carried in the article and Oli’s speech resembled the viral clip. On checking the article, we found that Oli was speaking during a programme titled ‘Former Prime Minister with Students: Inspiration and Life Philosophy’ organised by Global Management College on January 1, 2023.
The article carried a Facebook live video published on the Facebook page of Shilapatra online. On Checking the video thoroughly, we found that the clip from 1hr 40.28-minute onwards exactly matched the clip used in the viral video.
Thus, our findings clearly showed that unrelated video clips from different times and places were edited to make a false claim.
Conclusion
No, CPN-UML leader Mahesh Basnet did not criticise his party leader and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. Old and unrelated video clips from different contexts were edited to make a misleading claim.
Result: False
Sources
Sunaulo Nepal TV /YouTube, August 19, 2023
Shilapatra /X, Jan 2, 2023
Shilapatra, Jan 1, 2023
Shilapatra /Facebook Live, Jan 1, 2023
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Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
