It was all very cheerful but a viral video on social media that was picked up by news channels and newspapers claiming to be from Meghalaya got one big detail wrong – the scene was actually in Indonesia.
The video in question featured children riding an ingenious bamboo track described as a rollercoaster.
The video was first shared on Instagram by one Adit Salfani, shot in Ciherang-Malangbong in Indonesia. It was subsequently picked up by a Meghalaya-based channel that claimed the video was from this state and went on from there to national news channels and even at least one Shillong-based newspaper.
However, text on a building seen in the video, the clothes worn by some of the women and the language spoken by a man in the full clip make it clear that it is not set in Meghalaya.
As far as social media misinformation goes, this was not particularly harmful but is yet more proof that one cannot believe everything that is published online.
