How did platforms not do a sanity check before mistaking another person for me?

Debarati S Sen (BOMBAY TIMES; June 7, 2024)

On Wednesday, Sonu Nigam found himself in the midst of a controversy when netizens stared reacting over a tweet made from the handle Sonu Nigam Singh. Soon after the tweet, singer Sonu Nigam was targeted by trollers for his comments (on the recent election results) who assumed that the handle (@sonunigamsingh) was singer Sonu Nigam’s.

Talking to us from Auckland, Sonu clarified, “Main X pe hoon hi nahi.I quit the platform seven years ago, and for the same reasons. I am so focused on my work and my own personal and spiritual evolution that I don’t really bother about making comments on other people, especially political parties. I am not affiliated to any political party. As a citizen it is my duty to respect the government, but I am not into politics at all.”

‘People should check the profile before commenting on a public platform’
The singer added, “Why would I ever say such things? Koi matlab hi nahi hai. My office connected with Sonu Nigam Singh, and he told them, ‘Main Nigam hata doonga’. This is the reason I quit X…wahan pe log apne aap ko bohot hi smart samajhtein hain. But log itne smart hain nahi ki woh check karein ki jisko woh gaali de rahein hai, woh wakai mein Sonu Nigam hain ki nahin? Dekh toh lo uska profile. People should check the profile before commenting. That man is a criminal lawyer who lives in Bihar. Usne kabhi bhi kaha hi nahi ki ‘Main singer Sonu Nigam hoon’. He is reportedly followed by a few leading politicians on this socail media platform. Logon ko lagta hai ki agar yeh usse follow kar rahein hain toh yeh singer Sonu Nigam hi hoga.”

‘This is not good my family and my safety’
Sonu explained that even if he were on this platform, he would never tweet anything of this nature. “This kind of thing spoils my name. I feel strict action must be taken. This is not good my family and my safety. Most of the people mistook this handle to be mine, without any verification. Ek aam aadmi ko kya dosh denge, news channels bhi mera hi naam le rahein they. Kamal hai.”

‘Mera koi intention hi nahi hai politics mein aane ka’
When asked whether he'd ever join politics, Sonu said, “I don’t have any intention of ever joining politics. Jiss din aaunga, bohot hi class se aaunga but abhi intent hi nahi hai. I am really enjoying the artistic phase of my life. I am getting such phenomenal, good work. I am traveling the world for my concerts. I have no time to get tied down with political responsibilities, because it is not my forte. Mera passion politics nahi hai.”
------------------------------------------
Soumya Vajpayee (HINDUSTAN TIMES; June 6, 2024)

Singer Sonu Nigam who quit X (formerly Twitter) in 2017 itself found himself in the middle of an unsavoury controversy on Tuesday, right after the Lok Sabha results. Another user, who goes by the handle Sonu Nigam Singh posted an angry outburst against Ayodhya voters, and soon enough, media channels started misattributing it to the singer. This followed trolling of singer Sonu Nigam, who was not amused.

“I wonder how the media platforms that mistook him for me didn’t do their basic sanity check by reading the description of the account. His handle says ‘Sonu Nigam Singh’ and the description says that he’s a criminal lawyer from Bihar,” says Nigam, talking exclusively to HT City.

Apparently, the handle @sonunigamsingh, with a blue tick and 59.2K followers, and also followed by PM Narendra Modi and Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal makes politically charged statements and has earlier also been mistaken for the singer’s account.

“I don’t believe in making any sensational political remarks and I only focus on my work. But yeh incident alarming hai, not just for me, but also for my family’s safety,” says Nigam.

How does he plan to address this? He says, “My well-wishers often send me screenshots of [Singh’s] posts. My team reached out to him and insisted he fix his handle name, as millions of people are being misled by him using my surname. We’ll find a way to fix it.”