Digital Disinformation War: MLA Aadi Srinivas Forced to Debunk Viral Rolex Hoax
The misinformation spread so widely that Srinivas was forced to hold a press conference
Hyderabad: In Telangana, political fake news has become a powerful weapon on social media, with troll networks suspected of operating from overseas to avoid scrutiny. A recent case targeted Vemulawada Congress MLA Aadi Srinivas after a parody account posted a fabricated claim that he wore a ₹1 crore Rolex watch to the Assembly. The doctored graphic went viral across platforms, portraying him as corrupt and extravagant.
The misinformation spread so widely that Srinivas was forced to hold a press conference, where he displayed his actual watch and confirmed it was inexpensive, not a luxury item. The episode highlights how parody accounts and anonymous handles manufacture controversies with impunity, flooding the digital space with falsehoods faster than they can be debunked.
Observers note that the Congress party’s social media wing has been slow to counter such attacks. The incident underscores the growing influence of unchecked fake news in Telangana’s political discourse, where viral fiction often outpaces fact.