Mohammed Zubair - How He Co-founded Alt News and Rose to Prominence?

According to the sources, over 293 journalists have been jailed globally, and India ranks first with the most number of arrests. Over and above, several were killed and attacked for questioning. Thus, it is quite a risky job for a journalist to do their job in India.

As you see, right now Mohammed Zubair is all over the news, so it is no surprise to look into him on the internet too. Mohammed Zubair is none other than the co-founder of an Indian fact-checking website, Alt News.

His arrest was made into a piece of national news after being allegedly accused of spreading fake news about India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Moreover, Alt News has allegedly reported many misinformed news articles regarding Hindu religious beliefs.

On the other hand, several journalists opposed the arrest. So clearly, it is indeed a war of words between the nation and journalists. ‘The nation wants to know!’ does really make more sense now. In spite of all dramas, Mohammed Zubair was lauded for his achievements, investments he made, and career as an Indian Journalist.

Muhammed Zubair- Biography

Mohammed Zubair - Early Life
Mohammed Zubair - Career
Mohammed Zubair - Personal Life
Mohammed Zubair - The Journey So Far
Mohammed Zubair - Investments
Mohammed Zubair - Controversies
Mohammed Zubair - Awards and Recognitions

Mohammed Zubair - Early Life

Mohammed Zubair was born on 29th December of 1989 in India. Mohammed Zubair has been fond of exposing bogus news to the light since his adolescence years. The birthplace and parents of Zubair are yet to be disclosed. However, it was sure that as an Indian journalist, he has progressed very well. His accounts commenced after becoming the co-founder of Alt News.

Furthermore, the misinformation is analyzed by Alt News, which largely identifies the most widely spread. They monitor Facebook sites that have at one time or another circulated inaccurate news and are on either extreme of the ideological spectrum employing CrowdTangle, a Facebook tool used by publishers to track how information spreads throughout the internet.

Similar content sent on Twitter by users who have a notoriety for often tweeting false information is monitored by them using TweetDeck, a Twitter management application. They further keep an eye on several WhatsApp groups that they have managed to access, and they also get material from individuals who inform them via social media and WhatsApp.

Mohammed Zubair - Career

Alt News is an Indian fact-checking website, founded by former software engineers named Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair. They officially launched the portal on February 2nd of 2017 with headquarters in Ahmedabad.

The ultimate goal of this fact-checker launch was to expose fake news. It all started with Pratik Sinha’s interest in exposing the bogus news, as his parents are both human rights activists.

The beginning of Mohammed Zubair’s career started back in 2013 when fake news was at its peak. From keeping tabs on every news involving specious content, Mohammed Zubair has successfully brought several happenings into the open.

Besides, he also received several threats for his work, however, Mohammed managed to still work on his website effortlessly. On the other hand, Zubair is an active Twitter user, who is sometimes criticized for his Hinduphobic tweets.

Mohammed Zubair - Personal Life

Mohammed Zubair as far as we know hasn’t revealed his private life on the internet. He has put in his whole life for the Alt News website. Although, due to the work complexities, he has faced numerous death threats and attacks.

On 27th June 2022, Zubair was arrested by Delhi Police for his Hinduphobia tweet in 2017. Although, many prominent journalists as well as his friend, Pratik Sinha, who is the founder of Alt News stated that his arrest was without notice.

Indeed, a myriad of well-known reporters and writers have come forward to support Mohammed Zubair. Moreover, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Trinamool Congress member Derek O'Brien, and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor have extended their support via social media.

Mohammed Zubair - The Journey So Far

The Alt News journey features the journey of Mohammed Zubair as well. Besides, his individual work has been much appreciated by several other journalists. This includes exposing the individuals of the Hindu right-wing website DhainikBharat.org, the lynching of a few Muslims, Delhi-based lawyer Prashant Patel’s fake news tweet, and many more.

On the whole, he and Sinha have claimed to have a list of 40 real sources, who are allegedly associated with publishing fake news over the world. Zubair along with his Alt News team published a book titled India Misinformed: The True Story in March 2019.

On the other hand, Mohammed Zubair’s tweets are still a controversial matter, which eventually got him arrested. In addition to it, he is an active Indian journalist, who never stops questioning or exposing fake news.

As far as we know, Mohammed Zubair is now in four days of custody under Delhi Police due to an ‘objectionable tweet’ he had posted in 2018 against a Hanuman (a Hindu Deity).

Mohammed Zubair - Investments

Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair, two former IT engineers, started and currently manage the fact-checking website Alt News in India. In an effort to tackle the fake news epidemic, it was created on February 9th, 2017.

How 50 lakhs have recently been placed into Zubair's account following police questioning is still a mystery to Despite, the co-founder of Zubair who is operating the nonprofit organization "Alt News."

Mohammed Zubair - Controversies

In recent months, there have been numerous rallies throughout the nation of India. Nupur Sharma, a former BJP spokesperson who commented on a disparage assertion about the life of the Prophet Muhammad, is one such atrocious person. Her comments caused pandemonium and people called for Nupur Sharma to be punished.

Similar to this, in 2018 the infamous journalist from Alt News, Mohammed Zubair, published an article with offensive religious emotions, which was discovered by netizens in 2022.

In that tweet he has shared over the previous four years, he makes disparaging remarks about Hindu deities, adding gasoline to the flames. As a result, again we could encounter Hindu-Muslim conflict all over Indian News networks impulsively spread hoaxes over the world in an effort to capture the public's attention and believe that doing so is a good idea.

As a result of causing mayhem in the community, they either end up behind bars or get killed in unknown circumstances.

As far as we could tell, Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of Alt News, was detained by Delhi Police for the following four days under sections 153-A and 294-A of the Indian Penal Code for inciting hatred and committing malicious acts with the intent to offend different religious values.

In addition, Alt News was founded to counter inaccurate information, however, it has received criticism for being created in a Hinduphobic manner.

Following his tweet from 2018, Zubair was detained on June 27, 2020, by the Delhi criminal branch on suspicion of allegedly hurting religious emotions. The co-founder of Alt News was given 4-day remand by Delhi police on June 28, 2022, following a day of questioning. After a day in police custody had passed, Zubair was brought before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Savaria.

Another case has been filed against him in a 2020 case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POSCO), police are investigating Zubair after he shared a picture of a young girl whose face was obscured after an online argument with her father. The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) brought a claim against Zubair in connection with this issue in 2020.

Mohammed Zubair - Awards and Recognitions

The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) has included Indian novelist and activist Harsh Mander, his campaign Karwan-e-Mohabbat, and the co-founders of Alt News Mohammed Zubair and Pratik Sinha in its annual nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.

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FAQs

Who is Mohammed Zubair?

Mohammed Zubair is the co-founder of an Indian non-profit fact-checking website named Alt News. He is a well-known Indian journalist, who has exposed much fake news to the public regardless of the consequences.

Why was Mohammed Zubair arrested?

Besides his journalism, Zubair was so open about certain controversial issues, which as a result got him arrested in 2022. The Delhi Police detained Zubair regarding his Hinduphobia tweet in 2018.

What are Zubair’s achievements?

In 2022, the Alt News co-founders, Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair, alongside influential people, were nominated for Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) in its yearly shortlist for the Nobel Peace Prize.