#FactCheck - "Viral Video Falsely Claimed as Evidence of Attacks in Bangladesh is False & Misleading”

Introduction

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AI is transforming the way work is done and redefining the nature of jobs over the next decade. In the case of India, it is not just what duties will be taken over by machines, but how millions of employees will move to other sectors, which skills will become more sought-after, and how policy will have to change in response. This article relies on recent labour data of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS, 2023-24) and discusses the vulnerabilities to disruption by location and social groups. It recommends viable actions that can be taken to ensure that risks are minimised and economic benefits maximised.

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India’s Labour Market and Its Automation Readiness

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According to India’s Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), the labour market is changing and growing. Participation in the labour force improved to 60.1 per percent in 2023-24 versus 57.9 per cent the year before, and the ratio of the worker population also improved, signifying the increased employment uptake both in the rural and urban geographies (PLFS, 2023-24). There has also been an upsurge of female involvement. However,  a big portion of the job market has been low-wage and informal, with most of the jobs being routine and thus most vulnerable to automation. The statistics indicate a two-tiered reality of the Indian labour market: an increased number of working individuals and a structural weakness.

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AI-Driven Automation’s Impact on Tasks and Emerging Opportunities 

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AI-driven automation, for the most part,  affects the task components of jobs rather than wiping out whole jobs. The most automatable tasks are routine and manual, and more recent developments in AI have extended to non-routine cognitive tasks like document review, customer query handling, basic coding and first-level decision-making. There are two concurrent findings of global studies. To start with, part of the ongoing tasks will be automated or expedited. Second, there will be completely new tasks and work positions around data annotation, the operation of AI systems, prompt engineering, algorithmic supervision and AI adherence (World Bank, 2025; McKinsey, 2017).

In the case of India, this change will be skewed by sector. The manufacturing, back-office IT services, retail and parts of financial services will see the highest rate of disruption due to the concentration of routine processes with the ease of technology adoption. In comparison, healthcare, education, high-tech manufacturing and AI safety auditing are placed to create new skilled jobs. NITI Aayog estimates huge returns in GDP with the adoption of AI but emphasises that India has to invest simultaneously in job creation and reskilling to achieve the returns (NITI Aayog, 2025).

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Groups with Highest Vulnerability in the Transition to Automation

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The PLFS emphasises that a large portion of the Indian population does not have any formal employment and that the social protection is minimal and formal training is not available to them. The risk of displacement is likely to be the greatest for informal employees, making up almost 90% of India’s labour force, who carry out low-skilled, repetitive jobs in the manufacturing and retail industry (PLFS, 2023-24). Women and young people in low-level service jobs also face a greater challenge of transition pressure unless the reskilling and placement efforts can be tailored to them. Meanwhile, major cities and urban centres are likely to have openings for most of the new skilled opportunities at the expense of an increasing geographic and social divide. 

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The Skills and Supply Challenge

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While India’s education and research ecosystem is expanding, there remain significant gaps in preparing the workforce for AI-driven change. Given the vulnerabilities highlighted earlier, AI-focused reskilling must be a priority to equip workers with practical skills that meet industry needs. Short modular programs in areas such as cloud technologies, AI operations, data annotation, human-AI interaction, and cybersecurity can provide workers with employable skills. Particular attention should be given to routine-intensive sectors like manufacturing, retail, and back-office services, as well as to regions with high informal employment or lower access to formal training. Public-private partnerships and localised training initiatives can help ensure that reskilling translates into concrete job opportunities rather than purely theoretical knowledge (NITI Aayog, 2025)

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The Way Forward

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To facilitate the change process, the policy should focus on three interconnected goals: safeguarding the vulnerable, developing competencies on a large-scale level, and directing innovation towards the widespread ability to benefit.

1. Protect the vulnerable through social buffers. Provide informal workers with social protection in the form of portable benefits, temporary income insurance based on reskilling, and earned training leave. While the new labour codes provide essential protections such as unemployment allowances and minimum wage standards, they could be strengthened by incorporating explicit provisions for reskilling. This would better support informal workers during job transitions and enhance workforce adaptability.
2. Short modular courses on cloud computing, cybersecurity, data annotation, AI operations, and human-AI interaction should be planned through collaboration between public and private training providers. Special preference should be given to industry-certified certifications and apprenticeship-based placements. These apprenticeships should be made accessible in multiple languages to ensure inclusivity. Existing government initiatives, such as NASSCOM’s Future Skills Prime, need better outreach and marketing to reach the workforce effectively.
3. Enhance local labour market mediators. Close the disparity between local demand and the supply of labour in the industry by enhancing placement services and government-subsidised internship programmes for displaced employees and encouraging firms to hire and train locally.
4. Invest in AI literacy, AI ethics, and basic education. Democratise access to research and learning by introducing AI literacy in schools, increasing STEM seats in universities, and creating AI labs in the region (NITI Aayog, 2025).
5. Encourage AI adoption that creates jobs rather than replaces them. Fiscal and regulatory incentives should prioritise AI tools that augment worker productivity in routine roles instead of eliminating positions. Public procurement can support firms that demonstrate responsible and inclusive deployment of AI, ensuring technology benefits both business and workforce.
6. Supervise and oversee the transition. Use PLFS and real-time administrative data to monitor shrinking and expanding occupations. High-frequency labour market dashboards will allow making specific interventions in those regions in which the acceleration of displacement occurs.

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Conclusion

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The integration of AI will significantly impact the future of the Indian workforce, but policy will determine its effect on the labour market.  The PLFS indicates increased employment but a structural weakness of informal and routine employment. Evidence from the Indian market and international research points to the fact that the appropriate combination of social protection, skills building and responsible technology implementation can change disruption into a path of upward mobility. There is a very limited window of action. The extent to which India will realise the productivity and GDP benefits predicted by national research, alongside the investments made in labour market infrastructure, remains uncertain. It is crucial that these efforts lead to the capture of gains and facilitate a fair and inclusive transition for workers.

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References

• Annual Report Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) JULY 2022 - JUNE 2023. 
• Future Jobs: Robots, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Platforms in East Asia and Pacific, World Bank. 
• Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained: What the Future of Work Will Mean for Jobs, Skills, and Wages, McKinsey Global Institute 
• Roadmap for Job Creation in the AI Economy, NITI Aayog
• India central bank chief warns of financial stability risks from growing use of AI, Reuters 
• AI Cyber Attacks Statistics 2025, SQ Magazine. 

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Introduction

In today's digital economy, data is not only a business asset but also the fuel for innovation, decision-making, and consumer trust. However, the digitisation of services has made personal or sensitive data a top target for cybercriminals. The stakes are high: a data breach can cost millions of fines, cause damage to reputation and devastate the confidence of consumers. Therefore, regulatory compliance and data protection have become a strategic imperative.

From the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU to the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act of India, various sector-specific regulations like HIPAA for healthcare in the US, companies are now subject to a web of data protection and compliance laws. The challenge is to balance compliance efforts with strong security, a balance that demands both policy restraint and technical resilience. This blog examines pivotal pillars, shifting trends and actionable best practices for dominating data protection and compliance in 2025 and beyond.

Why Data Protection and Compliance Matter More Than Ever

Data protection isn't just about keeping fines at bay, it's about preserving the relationship with customers, partners and regulators. A 2024 IBM report says the average data-breach cost has now exceeded USD 4.5 million, with regulatory fines constituting a large portion of the cost. In addition to economics, breaches tend to result in intellectual property loss, customer loss and long-term brand attenuation. Compliance ensures organisations remain within certain legislative necessities for collecting, holding, transferring and setting of personal and sensitive information. Failure to conformity can lead to serious penalties: under GDPR, fines could be up to 4% of the company's annual turnover or €20 million, whichever is higher. In regulated sectors like banking and healthcare, compliance breaches can also lead to the suspension of licenses.

Important Regulatory Frameworks Informing 2025

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1. GDPR and Its Global Ripple Effect

GDPR was enacted in 2018 and continues to have a ripple effect on privacy legislation worldwide. Its tenets of lawfulness, transparency, data minimisation and purpose limitation have been replicated in many jurisdictions such as Brazil's LGPD and South Korea's PIPA.

2. India's DPDP Act

The DPDP Act, 2023, gives high importance to consent-based processing of data, transparent notice rules and fiduciary responsibilities for data. With a penalty for default of up to INR 250 crore, it's amongst the most impactful laws for digital personal data protection.

3. Sectoral Regulations

• HIPAA for healthcare information in the US.
• PCI DSS for payment card security.
• DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) in the EU for financial organisations.
• These industry-specific models generate overlapping compliance responsibilities, making cross-enterprise compliance programs vital.

Key Pillars of a Sound Data Protection & Compliance Program

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1. Data Governance and Classification

Having insight into what data you have to store, where it is stored and who can have access to it is the keystone of compliance. Organisations need to have data classification policies in place to group information based on sensitivity and impose more rigorous controls on sensitive data.

2. Security Controls and Privacy by Design

Strong technical defences, encryption, multi-factor authentication, and intrusion detection are the initial defences. Privacy by design integrated in product development guarantees compliance is thought through from the initial stage, not added on afterwards.

3. Consent and Transparency

Contemporary data legislation highlights informed consent. This entails simple, non-technical privacy notices, detailed opt-in choices, and straightforward withdrawal options. Transparency produces trust and lessens legal danger.

4. Incident Response and Breach Notification

Most laws demand timely breach notifications, and GDPR insists on reporting within 72 hours. Having a documented incident response plan maintains legal deadlines and reduces harm.

5. Employee Training and Awareness

Human mistake is the top source of data breaches. Ongoing training in prevention of phishing, password management, basic cyber hygiene and compliance requirements is crucial.

Upcoming Trends in 2025

1.  AI-Powered Compliance Monitoring

Organisations are embracing AI-powered solutions to systematically monitor data flows, identify policy breaches and auto-create compliance reports. The solutions assist in closing the loop between IT security teams and compliance officers.

2. Cross-Border Data Transfer Mechanisms

With increasingly severe regulations, companies are spending more on secure cross-border data transfer frameworks like Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs).

3. Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs)

Methods such as homomorphic encryption and differential privacy are picking up steam, enabling organisations to sift through datasets without revealing sensitive personal data.

4. ESG and Data Ethics

Data handling is increasingly becoming a part of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting. Ethical utilisation of customer data, not just compliance, has become a reputational differentiator.

Challenges in Implementation

Despite having transparent frameworks, data protection plans encounter challenges like jurisdictions having competing needs, and global compliance is becoming expensive. The emerging technologies, such as generative AI, often bring privacy threats that haven’t been fully covered by legislation. Small and micro enterprises have neither the budget nor the skills to implement enterprise-level compliance programs. Qualifying these challenges often needs a risk-based strategy, allocations of resources to top areas of impact and automating the compliance chores wherever possible.

Best Practices for 2025 and Beyond

In 2025, regulatory compliance and data protection are no longer a precaution or a response to a breach but are strategic drivers of resilience and trust. As regulatory analysis rises, cyber threats evolve, and consumer expectations grow, administrations need to integrate compliance into the very fabric of their actions. By bringing governance and technology together, organisations can break free from a "checklist" mentality and instead adopt a proactive and risk-sensitive approach. Eventually, data protection is not just about not getting in trouble; it's about developing a kind that succeeds in the digital era.

References

1. GDPR – Official EU Regulation Page: https://gdpr.eu 
2. India’s DPDP Act Overview – MeitY: https://www.meity.gov.in/data-protection-framework 
3. HIPAA – US Department of Health & Human Services: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa 
4. PCI DSS Standards: https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org 
5. IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024: https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach 
6. OECD – Privacy Guidelines: https://www.oecd.org/sti/privacy-guidelines 

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Executive Summary

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A video showing children crouching as the ground shakes violently is being widely shared on social media with the claim that it shows the aftermath of a devastating 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Colombia on August 10, 2026. However, the CyberPeace Research Wing found that the video is not from Colombia. The footage was recorded in the Philippines two months earlier during a more powerful earthquake.

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Claim

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An X user shared the video on August 10, 2026, claiming that it showed a massive 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Colombia that killed hundreds of people and destroyed thousands of homes. “Massive 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Colombia! Hundreds dead, thousands of homes destroyed,” the post claimed.

https://perma.cc/58CL-BXZ6 

https://x.com/anandsh04294243/status/2086911617938362779

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Fact Check

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To verify the claim, the Desk conducted a reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video. The search led to the same footage being shared on social media on June 8, where it was linked to a powerful earthquake in the southern Philippines. The posts identified the footage as being related to a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the region, causing buildings to collapse, triggering landslides and prompting tsunami warnings.

https://x.com/WeatherMonitors/status/2063855713223635055 

Further research found that the video was recorded at Tubalan Elementary School in Malita, Davao Occidental province, Philippines.

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According to the edit history of the Facebook post, the user initially stated that the footage showed the first day of school at Tubalan Elementary School. The user later updated the caption, urging viewers not to blame the teachers. The updated post stated that the students were outside near the school’s basketball court when the earthquake struck and were subsequently evacuated to safety without any injuries. The school also issued a separate post on Facebook to address what it described as a misconception arising from the video circulating on social media. The school clarified that the outdoor gymnasium was not being used as an evacuation area after the earthquake. It said the students were already inside the gymnasium for the scheduled flag ceremony when the earthquake occurred.

The Desk also searched for reports about the earthquake and found a detailed report published by Barron's, which confirmed the occurrence of a major earthquake off the southern Philippines. The report also mentioned casualties and tsunami warnings following the quake. https://www.barrons.com/news/major-quake-off-philippines-kills-one-triggers-tsunami-warnings-665c527c 

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Conclusion

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The viral video does not show a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Colombia. The footage was recorded at Tubalan Elementary School in the Philippines and was shared online in June 2026 in connection with a powerful earthquake that struck the southern Philippines. Therefore, the claim that the video shows the August 10, 2026 earthquake in Colombia is false.

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