#FactCheck -Old 2016 Madame Tussauds Wax Statue Video Misrepresented as PM Modi Being “Made Up” by Team
Executive Summary
A video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being widely shared on social media with the claim that he is being “made up” or styled by a team, with users attempting to mock him using the footage. The clip is being circulated with misleading captions suggesting it shows the Prime Minister undergoing makeup and grooming by a dedicated team. CyberPeace Foundation Research Wing, in its research, found that the viral claim is false. In fact, the viral video is not recent, but from 2016. At that time, a statue of PM Modi was to be installed at Madame Tussauds Museum. A team of artists and experts visited the Prime Minister's residence to take measurements for the statue. This misleading claim has been circulating on social media for several years. We have previously fact-checked this claim and exposed the truth.
Claim
An X user named “Adv Shubham” shared the viral video on May 27, 2026, with the caption:“This is how Modi Ji is styled…”The post also claims that the Prime Minister is regularly “made up” by a team.
- https://x.com/AdvShubhamllb/status/2059682034289946746
- https://perma.cc/FVM9-PQBP
Fact Check
The viral video is not recent. It dates back to 2016 and is related to a completely different context. During the investigation, we found the same footage on the official YouTube channel of Madame Tussauds London, uploaded on March 16, 2016.
According to the video details, it shows the process of taking measurements for a wax statue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for installation at Madame Tussauds. A team of artists and experts had visited the Prime Minister’s residence in Delhi for this purpose.
Conclusion
The viral claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being “made up” by a team is false. The footage is from 2016 and shows a measurement session conducted for his wax statue at Madame Tussauds Museum.
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Executive Summary
A news video is being widely circulated on social media with the claim that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has resigned from his post in protest against the ongoing UGC-related controversy. Several users are sharing the clip while alleging that Kumar stepped down after opposing the issue. However, CyberPeace research has found the claim to be false. The researchrevealed that the video being shared is from 2022 and has no connection whatsoever with the UGC or any recent protests related to it. An old video has been misleadingly linked to a current issue to spread misinformation on social media.
Claim:
An Instagram user shared a video on January 26 claiming that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had resigned. The post further alleged that the news was first aired on Republic channel and that Kumar had submitted his resignation to then-Governor Phagu Chauhan. The link to the post, its archived version, and screenshots can be seen below. (Links as provided)
Fact Check:
To verify the claim, CyberPeace first conducted a keyword-based search on Google. No credible or established media organisation reported any such resignation, clearly indicating that the viral claim lacked authenticity.
Further, the voiceover in the viral video states that Nitish Kumar handed over his resignation to Governor Phagu Chauhan. However, Phagu Chauhan ceased to be the Governor of Bihar in February 2023. The current Governor of Bihar is Arif Mohammad Khan, making the claim in the video factually incorrect and misleading.
In the next step, keyframes from the viral video were extracted and reverse-searched using Google Lens. This led to the official YouTube channel of Republic Bharat, where the full version of the same video was found. The video was uploaded on August 9, 2022. This clearly establishes that the clip circulating on social media is not recent and is being shared out of context.
Conclusion
CyberPeace’s research confirms that the viral video claiming Nitish Kumar resigned over the UGC issue is false. The video dates back to 2022 and has no link to the current UGC controversy. An old political video has been deliberately circulated with a misleading narrative to create confusion on social media.
Introduction
Governments worldwide are enacting cybersecurity laws to enhance resilience and secure cyberspace against growing threats like data breaches, cyber espionage, and state-sponsored attacks in the digital landscape. As a response, the EU Council has been working on adopting new laws and regulations under its EU Cybersecurity Package- a framework to enhance cybersecurity capacities across the EU to protect critical infrastructure, businesses, and citizens. Recently, the Cyber Solidarity Act was adopted by the Council, which aims to improve coordination among EU member states for increased cyber resilience. Since regulations in the EU play a significant role in shaping the global regulatory environment, it is important to keep an eye on such developments.
Overview of the Cyber Solidarity Act
The Act sets up a European Cyber Security Alert System consisting of Cross-Border Cyber Hubs across Europe to collect intelligence and act on cyber threats by leveraging emerging technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced data analytics to share warnings on cyber threats with other cyber data centres across the national borders of the EU. This is expected to assist authorities in responding to cyber threats and incidents more quickly and effectively.
Further, it provides for the creation of a new Cybersecurity Emergency Mechanism to enhance incident response systems in the EU. This will include testing the vulnerabilities in critical sectors like transport, energy, healthcare, finance, etc., and creating a reserve of private parties to provide mutual technical assistance for incident response requests from EU member-states or associated third countries of the Digital Europe Programme in case of a large-scale incident.
Finally, it also provides for the establishment of a European Cybersecurity Incident Review Mechanism to monitor the impact of the measures under this law.
Key Themes
- Greater Integration: The success of this Act depends on the quality of cooperation and interoperability between various governmental stakeholders across defence, diplomacy, etc. with regard to data formats, taxonomy, data handling and data analytics tools. For example, Cross-Border Cyber Hubs are mandated to take the interoperability guidelines set by the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) as a starting point for information-sharing principles with each other.
- Public-Private Collaboration: The Act provides a framework to govern relationships between stakeholders such as the public sector, the private sector, academia, civil society and the media, identifying that public-private collaboration is crucial for strengthing EUs cyber resilience. In this regard, National Cyber Hubs are proposed to carry out the strengthening of information sharing between public and private entities.
- Centralized Regulation: The Act aims to strengthen all of the EU's cyber solidarity by outlining dedicated infrastructure for improved coordination and intelligence-sharing regarding cyber events among member states. Equal matching contribution for procuring the tools, infrastructure and services is to be made by each selected member state and the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre, a body tasked with funding cybersecurity projects in the EU.
- Setting a Global Standard: The underlying rationale behind strengthening cybersecurity in the EU is not just to protect EU citizens from cyber-threats to their fundamental rights but also to drive norms for world-class standards for cybersecurity for essential and critical services, an initiative several countries rely on.
Conclusion
In the current digital landscape, governments, businesses, critical sectors and people are increasingly interconnected through information and network connection systems and are using emerging technologies like AI, exposing them to multidimensional vulnerabilities in cyberspace. The EU in this regard continues to be a leader in setting standards for the safety of participants in the digital arena through regulations regarding cybersecurity. The Cyber Solidarity Act’s design including cross-border cooperation, public-private collaboration, and proactive incident-monitoring and response sets a precedent for a unified approach to cybersecurity. As the EU’s Cybersecurity Package continues to evolve, it will play a crucial role in ensuring a secure and resilient digital future for all.
Sources
- https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2024/12/02/cybersecurity-package-council-adopts-new-laws-to-strengthen-cybersecurity-capacities-in-the-eu/
- https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/PE-94-2024-INIT/en/pdf
- https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/cybersecurity-strategy
- https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/10/cybersecurity-regulation-changes-nis2-eu-2024/
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Introduction
With the advent of the internet, the world revealed the promise of boundless connection and the ability to bridge vast distances with a single click. However, as we wade through the complex layers of the digital age, we find ourselves facing a paradoxical realm where anonymity offers both liberation and a potential for unforeseen dangers. Omegle, a chat and video messaging platform, epitomizes this modern conundrum. Launched over a decade ago in 2009, it has burgeoned into a popular avenue for digital interaction, especially amidst the heightened need for human connection spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic's social distancing requirements. Yet, this seemingly benign tool of camaraderie, tragically, doubles as a contemporary incarnation of Pandora's box, unleashing untold risks upon the online privacy and security landscape. Omegle shuts down its operations permanently after 14 years of its service.
The Rise of Omegle
The foundations of this nebulous virtual dominion can be traced back to the very architecture of Omegle. Introduced to the world as a simple, anonymous chat service, Omegle has since evolved, encapsulating the essence of unpredictable human interaction. Users enter this digital arena, often with the innocent desire to alleviate the pangs of isolation or simply to satiate curiosity; yet they remain blissfully unaware of the potential cybersecurity maelstrom that awaits them.
As we commence a thorough inquiry into the psyche of Omegle's vast user base, we observe a digital diaspora with staggering figures. The platform, in May 2022, counted 51.7 million unique visitors, a testament to its sprawling reach across the globe. Delve a bit deeper, and you will uncover that approximately 29.89% of these digital nomads originate from the United States. Others, in varying percentages, flock from India, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, and Germany, revealing a vast, intricate mosaic of international engagement.
Such statistics beguile the uninformed observer with the lie of demographic diversity. Yet we must proceed with caution, for while the platform boasts an impressive 63.91% male patronage, we cannot overlook the notable surge in female participation, which has climbed to 36.09% during the pandemic era. More alarming still is the revelation, borne out of a BBC investigation in February 2021, that children as young as seven have trespassed into Omegle's adult sections—a section purportedly guarded by a minimum age limit of thirteen. How we must ask, has underage presence burgeoned on this platform? A sobering pointer finger towards the platform's inadvertent marketing on TikTok, where youthful influencers, with abandon, promote their Omegle exploits under the #omegle hashtag.
The Omegle Allure
Omegle's allure is further compounded by its array of chat opportunities. It flaunts an adult section awash with explicit content, a moderated chat section that, despite the platform's own admissions, remains imperfectly patrolled, and an unmoderated section, its entry pasted with forewarnings of an 18+ audience. Beyond these lies the college chat option, a seemingly exclusive territory that only admits individuals armed with a verified '.edu' email address.
The effervescent charm of Omegle's interface, however, belies its underlying treacheries. Herein lies a digital wilderness where online predators and nefarious entities prowl, emboldened by the absence of requisite registration protocols. No email address, no unique identifier—pestilence to any notion of accountability or safeguarding. Within this unchecked reality, the young and unwary stand vulnerable, a hapless game for exploitation.
Threat to Users
Venture even further into Omegle's data fiefdom, and the spectre of compromise looms larger. Users, particularly the youth, risk exposure to unsuitable content, and their naivety might lead to the inadvertent divulgence of personal information. Skulking behind the facade of connection, opportunities abound for coercion, blackmail, and stalking—perils rendered more potent as every video exchange and text can be captured, and recorded by an unseen adversary. The platform acts as a quasi-familiar confidante, all the while harvesting chat logs, cookies, IP addresses, and even sensory data, which, instead of being ephemeral, endure within Omegle's databases, readily handed to law enforcement and partnered entities under the guise of due diligence.
How to Combat the threat
In mitigating these online gorgons, a multi-faceted approach is necessary. To thwart incursion into your digital footprint, adults, seeking the thrills of Omegle's roulette, would do well to cloak their activities with a Virtual Private Network (VPN), diligently pore over the privacy policy, deploy robust cybersecurity tools, and maintain an iron-clad reticence on personal disclosures. For children, the recommendation gravitates towards outright avoidance. There, a constellation of parental control mechanisms await the vigilant guardian, ready to shield their progeny from the internet's darker alcoves.
Conclusion
In the final analysis, Omegle emerges as a microcosm of the greater web—a vast, paradoxical construct proffering solace and sociability, yet riddled with malevolent traps for the uninformed. As digital denizens, our traverse through this interconnected cosmos necessitates a relentless guarding of our private spheres and the sober acknowledgement that amidst the keystrokes and clicks, we must tread with caution lest we unseal the perils of this digital Pandora's box.
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