(Source: Social media screenshot)
(Source: Social media screenshot)

Fact Check: Images of Maldives islands shared as images from India

Social media users share photos of Maldives, calling them Indian islands.

 After three Maldives leaders allegedly shared offensive remarks on social media against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his recent Lakshadweep visit, it caused an uproar across the country with people calling for the boycott of Maldives tourism.

Many people have canceled their trips to the Maldives and EaseMyTrip, an online travel company, suspended their flights and hotel bookings to the Maldives. 

Amid this rage against the Maldives, many prominent personalities took to Twitter to boycott Maldives tourism and simultaneously promote various tourist spots in India.

But here is a catch. Many images shared by them promoting Indian tourism were actually images of the Maldives.

Here are some of those images fact-checked by SouthCheck.

Fact Check 1:

An X user tweeted two images of a row of beach houses with the caption, “Discovering the enchanting allure of #Lakshadweep through Prime Minister @narendramodi’s recent visit has left me utterly spellbound! Adding this hidden gem to the top of my travel wishlist. #ExploreIndianIslands #BoycottMaldives (sic)”

Image 1:

We found the first image on a website that mentioned that the first image is in one of the ‘50 Best Places To Visit In Maldives In 2022’.

The image was also found in an article titled “6 Best Places to Visit in Maldives to make your trip Wonderful”

Image 2:

For the second image in the tweet, we found that MakeMyTrip had uploaded the image with the caption that reads, “Maldives Home to sun-kissed beaches, swaying palms, sculpted coral reefs, luxury resorts and thrilling water sports, the tropical paradise called Maldives is a string of beautiful islands.”

Regency Holidays also uploaded the image with an article titled ‘Places to Visit in Maldives for A Luxe Outing With Fam!’

Fact Check 2:

Kiren Rijiju, Minister of Earth Sciences of India, also shared two images of island beaches claiming them to be from India.

A website, Cinnamon shared the first image with the caption, “Canoe On Blue Lagoon In Maldives Tropical Island Sea Beach.”

Another website also shared the same image with a caption, “Canoe on Blue Lagoon in Maldives, exotic, holiday, Maldives, ocean, canoe, atoll, kayak, sea, lagoon, beach, boat, sand, paradise, island, tropical, HD wallpaper.”

The second image was found on a photo stock website called iStock. It uploaded the image with the caption, “Maldives, Snorkeling, Snorkel, Tahiti, Underwater Diving.”

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