On 7 September, the Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) lost contact with the Chandrayaan-2's lander, minutes before its scheduled touchdown.
Mistaking a tweet from a fake ISRO handle as the official one, Malini, a ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentarian shared the tweet claiming the successful landing of Chandrayaan-2’s lander Vikram.
Update on Chandrayaan 2 pic.twitter.com/3wXlxv3hj3
— Hema Malini (@dreamgirlhema) 8 September 2019
The fake handle, with more than 10,000 followers had further claimed that India has now become the first country to successfully land on the Moon’s South Pole.
Social media users have been keeping a close eye on news and updates about Chandrayaan-2, ever since the Indian space agency lost contact with the Vikram lander. Thus, it didn't take netizens long to point out to Malini that she had shared a fake tweet. The Twitterati also opined that as a parliamentarian, she should be more responsible on social media.
Madam,
— Pradeep പ്രദീപ് (@Pradeep_tk) 9 September 2019
At least why don't you consult the IT cell before you publish such things
That’s why we need educated people in government not dramabaz (no offense).. before retweet at google to validate the info🐃
— Truth prevails (@hoque_robiul) 8 September 2019
As of now there is no official confirmation from @isro ..The tweet which @dreamgirlhema ji is showing is not official Twitter handle.
— Siddhant Anand (@JournoSiddhant) 8 September 2019
Sharing a SS of fake ID which claims to be ISRO official update. Please check the credibility of such IDs before sharing anything. @isro is the official ID and they never said that they have landed Vikram on moon. They just said orbiter cpatured thermal image of lander.
— Aman Srivastava (@AmanSriv30) 9 September 2019
However, other users were more receptive towards the former actress who enthralled audiences over the past several decades with her hit Bollywood flicks like Sholay and Dream Girl. They citied other personalities who too mistook ISRO’s fake handle as the official one and stated that the Twitterati shouldn’t be too harsh on Malini.
To all haters..even ANI is sharing same news pic.twitter.com/lT89TpTvcI
— Archez (@Trellecres) 8 September 2019
Even @NMenonRao also retweeted a misleading tweet from same handle.
— A V A N T G A R D E (@avantgardebhu) 9 September 2019
Even Lutyen media journos welcomed fake ISRO chief on Twitter n followed him.....
— Vinod Kumar (@vkr802) 10 September 2019
At that time @ThePrintIndia didn't write any article ridiculing them...
O how u can ridicule fellow Lutyen gang..@dreamgirlhema @BJP4India
After losing contract with the lander, ISRO chief K. Sivan announced on Sunday (8 September) that the organisation had found the location of the Vikram lander on the Moon's surface a day after losing contact with the module.
The mission is particularly important for the country, because, if successful, it would make India the first country to soft-land on Moon’s South Pole.
