An image is going viral on social media platforms carrying the text: “Congratulations devotees, Happened for the first time in 70 years. Forbes released the list, India became the most corrupt country in the world, after the regime of Modi government, the corruption rate in India increased from 38% to 69%!”. Users on social media are fiercely sharing this image and claiming that American Business Magazine ‘Forbes’ has listed India as the most corrupt country in Asia this year.

Claim Made by the User

Sharing this Image on X(Twitter), a user named Naresh Sharma claimed: “Jai Shri Ram, work is done”

The archive link can be seen here.

The image has garnered more than 40 thousand views so far. 

Other users also shared this claim

Subsequently, several users also shared this image and made similar claims.

The archive link can be seen here.

The archive link can be seen here.

Fact-Check

To verify the claim made through the viral image, the DFRAC team conducted a keyword search and found a tweet by Forbes along with a published report.

Tweet by Forbes

We found a tweet from November 2017, on Forbes official X(Twitter) Handle stating:”Asia’s most corrupt countries: 1. India 2. Vietnam 3. Thailand”.

This tweet further led us to a report published by Forbes in March 2017. According to the report published by Forbes, An 18-month-long survey by Transparency International, there is much work to be done. After talking to more than 20,000 people in 16 countries, regions, and territories in Asia Pacific, the report found more than one in four people have paid a bribe when using a public service.

Further, the report listed India as the most corrupt country in Asia and mentioned: “In five of the six public services—schools, hospitals, ID documents, police, and utility services—more than half the respondents have had to pay a bribe. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fight against corruption has made a mark: 53% of the people think he is going it fairly or very well. And it has led to people feeling empowered, as 63% believe ordinary people can make a difference”

What did the other media sources say?

Following this, we also found that several news websites such as Dainik Bhaskar and Financial Express reported Forbes’ report in their published reports of 2017.

Newspaper website Dainik Bhaskar published a report six years ago with the Headline: “India is the most corrupt country in Asia, bribe-taking rate is 69%: Forbes”. In this report, Dainik Bhaskar stated: “Forbes has released a list of corrupt countries, in which India is at number one. Vietnam is next to India in this list released based on data from the global civil society organization Transparency International. According to Forbes, the bribe-taking rate in India is 69 percent”.

Moreover, a report published by Financial Express on November 19, 2017, also stated similar facts regarding the above viral claim.

Conclusion

It is clear from DFRAC’s Fact-check the viral image claiming Forbes listed India as the most corrupt country in Asia this year is misleading since India was listed by the Forbes as most corrupt country in the year 2017.

Therefore, the claim of social media users is false.