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It's high time we combat Fake News

With more than 56 crore internet users in India, rumours and misinformation spread across the nation like a wildfire. This misleading information in the form of fake videos, images , memes,  advertisements and messages is spread through various digital forms of communication and then through the word of mouth.
Even popular news channels become the victim and source of these fake news (Credit:Youtube)
A popular rumour that spread across the social media app Whatsapp back in 2016 was, that the new Rs.2000 note had a GPS tracker in it. Well it sounded kind of a joke to us, but many people believed that it was true. Also similar rumour that appeared was that the Rs 10 coins circulated in the market are fake, making auto-drivers and vegetable vendors to discontinue the exchange of currency.

Fake News Virus spreading faster than the Corona-Virus

When the whole world is fighting with the recent COVID-19 corona virus pandemic, there is another fight that governments across the globe is fighting with, i.e How to fight and stop the spreading fake news related to corona virus?
Amid the growing scare of corona-virus and the accompanying rumours a farmer in Karnataka buried alive around 6000 chickens to avoid spread of corona-virus disease. The Indian poultry industry reported a 50% slash in their chicken'sales due to false information being spread on social media.
There is no one who is unheard of the home remedies that have been circulated throughout Whatsapp and Facebook that claims to cure the corona virus disease. The Indian Government and the World Heath Organization has strictly advised people not to fall to such remedies and rather follow the health advisory guidelines released by them.

What makes such large population to be victim of such false information?

The eye catching headlines of  images, websites and videos catches the attention of an individual. The deceptive headlines makes it easier for us to believe and share even without self examining. Another thing is that these fake news are designed to affect a particular target audience. They may be people with certain religious beliefs, political ideology or may be belonging to a specific community. It is human tendency to accept something that supports our beliefs and hence without even confirming the accuracy of the fact, we accept that it is true.

Who are affected by these?

It is usually the elderly and the less educated groups of our society who are easily persuaded by these fake news. They are the biggest spreaders of fake news. The main reason why they are affected the most is the lack of digital literacy. Hence lack of digital literacy along with unconventional and conservative thinking makes them prone to such rumours and spreading more hoaxes.
Some true facts blended in this misinformation makes even more harder to distinguish between the false and the truth.

How to spot a fake news?

It is important for us to know what is right and what is wrong. A 2 minute fact checking through Google search can help you know what's right and what's wrong.
  • Validate the source: Check who is the providing you with this information. Consider the creator. Whether this news/link/message that is forwarded to you or the website that you are visiting is even genuine. Websites with domain .gov, .org, .edu are much reliable source of information. Read about the creator, whether he is even real, visit other social media to verify that he is even credible or not?
  • Read the news properly: Go through the piece of information carefully. Many of such news have spelling mistakes. Also check for dates of fake news, notices, or articles. Many times a news headline from an old event are re-posted to create rumors.
  • Think before you share: It is always a good practice to verify the information that you read. Hence before sharing it out, cross check. If you are not sure about the source and reliability of the information. Do not share and create havoc among others.
  • Do a CRAAP test : 
    • Currency: Check that the information circulated is most recent.
    • Relevance: Whether this information is imported to me?
    • Authority: What is the source of this information?
    • Accuracy: How correct this information is? Examine it. 
    • Purpose: Why this news has been circulated?

Internet is a double edged sword. While on one hand it has given voices to many campaigns and provided justice to many and on the other hand , fake news circulation have created rumours in the society and have lead to riots. So it is in our hands to use this weapon responsibly.

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