Fact Check: Claims About Narayana Murthy Calling for Limiting Gender Interactions is Fake

New Delhi: Multiple social media users shared a screenshot of a purported media report, claiming that Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy recently argued for limiting interaction between young boys and females. However, the PTI Fact Check Desk’s investigation found that the screenshot was fake and no such article was published by Hindustan Times. Also, no such remark was made by Murthy. The social media posts were shared with a false claim.

Claim

An X (formerly Twitter) user shared on January 7 a screenshot of a purported article by Hindustan Times, which stated that Infosys founder Narayan Murthy advocated limited interaction between young boys and girls for success.

The caption of the post read: “One more Statement of Mr. Murthy. Is Narayana Murthy okay? does not seem to be so.”

Here is the link and archive link to the X post, and below is a screenshot of the same:

Investigation

The Desk ran a customised keyword search on Google and found that several other users had shared the same photo with similar claims across social media platforms.

Two such posts can be seen here and here, and their archived versions can be viewed here and here, respectively.

The Desk conducted a customised keyword search on Google, but could not find any such article published by Hindustan Times.

We, however, came across another report on Narayan Murthy, published by Hindustan Times, on December 16, 2024. The headline of the report read: “Narayan Murthy defends 70-hour workweek idea ‘Indians have a lot to do’.”

Notably, the feature image of this report was the same as that of the viral screenshot, except one discrepancy. The former has a timestamp just above the subhead, whereas the former lacks one. Below is a screenshot highlighting the same:

In the next part of investigation, the Desk reached out to Infosys Global PR Team via e-mail. The article will be updated as and when a response is received.

In the next part of the investigation, we conducted a customised keyword search on Google, but did not find any report supporting the claim made in social media posts.

On further scanning the search results, the Desk came across an X post by Hindustan Times where it categorically termed the screenshot as “photoshopped”. It also stated that their legal team was actively addressing the matter, and “appropriate legal action would be taken against those responsible for creating and spreading this misinformation”.

Here is the link of the X post, and below is a screenshot of the same.

Subsequently, the Desk concluded that the viral screenshot was fake and no such statement was made by Narayan Murthy.

Claim

Narayana Murthy advocated ‘limited interaction between young boys and girls for success.

Fact

The viral screenshot is fake. No such report was published by Hindustan Times and no such statement was given by Murthy.

Conclusion

Multiple social media users shared a screenshot of a purported article by Hindustan Times, claiming that Infosys founder Narayana Murthy advocated for ‘limiting interaction between young boys and girls for success’. In its investigation, the Desk found that the viral screenshot was fake and no such article was published by Hindustan Times.