Fake News - Impact on society

Fake News - Impact on society:-

While the term “fake news” is often used as a pejorative in journalism today, this is a dishonest use of the term; indeed, the practice of calling fact-based reporting “misinformation” based on the premise that it doesn’t align with your political views could arguably be called misinformation itself.

Fake news spread through social media and news channels in the country has become a serious problem.

Fake news has been around as long as human civilisation, but it has been turbo-charged by digital technology and the transformation of the global media landscape. Nevertheless, defenders of fact and truth still have weapons to help uphold integrity in the social, political and economic environments.

Formed of inaccurate information and often deliberately published or shared in media outlets and social media, fake news can be a dangerous way of obtaining information. When sharing news, people often don’t stop and think about whether the article could be fake and, in an age of instant internet access and social media platforms, news is shared to millions at the touch of a button. And therein lies the danger.

Some Examples of fake news:-

• About coronavirus:-

Misinformation related to coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is in the form of social media messages related to home remedies that have not been verified, fake advisories and conspiracy theories. On 7 March 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an appeal to not believe any rumours related to the pandemic.

• About Citizens (Amendment) Act:-

The CAA Protests led to a flooding of fake news and manipulated content on social media targeting the protesters and Delhi police alike. The Supreme Court of India asked the central government of India to consider "a plea for publicising aims, objectives and the benefits of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to weed out fake news that was being circulated on the issue."

• About Election:-

Fake news was very prevalent during the 2019 Indian general election. Misinformation was prevalent at all levels of society during the build-up to the election. 

• About Kashmir:-

In August 2019, following the Indian revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's Article 370, disinformation related to whether people were suffering or not, lack of supplies and other administration issues followed. The Supreme Court of India was told by the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that "not a single bullet has been fired by security forces after August 5", however BBC reported otherwise. 

• About Indian Banknote Demonetisation:-

As part of the 2016 Indian banknote demonetisation, India introduced a new 2,000-rupee currency note. Following this, multiple fake news reports about "spying technology" added in the banknotes went viral on social media's, and had to be dismissed by the government.

Five top tips on how to spot fake news:-

The key to stopping fake news is learning how to spot it. Here are some top tips:-

▪︎Always consider whether the information has a named, reliable source

▪︎Develop a critical mindset when reading news stories

▪︎Think about what might be missing from the story. Fake news often leaves information out of the story

▪︎Double check whether quotes attributed to a particular person or group have been represented accurately

▪︎Look for fake images. If it is a fake news story it maybe includes a fake image or images that might not be relevant to the story. If you believe it is fake, check the image on Google reverse.