Indian Rumor Sparks Weekend of Baseless Speculation About Coup in China

Subramanian Swamy is a former cabinet minister and senior leader of the ruling of BJP in India who is believed to have started the rumor about the coup in China.

All weekend there was wild speculation on both Indian and U.S. Twitter that Chinese President Xi Jinping had been placed under house arrest and that a military coup had taken place in Beijing.

There was no coup, of course, and there is no indication whatsoever that it was anything other than misinformation (inadvertent false information) or disinformation (the intentional dissemination of false information). At this point, it’s still not clear what the motives were of those who started the rumor.

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by Eric Olander

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