The Biggest Threat To Mankind – Fake News

Fake news has become one of the most hypercritical issues these days. These days, social media has become a tool to spread false information by miscreants. As per a recent research conducted on misinformation in India by scholars from the University of Michigan, social media has registered a sharp increase in false stories.

The rise has particularly been observed after the announcement of janta curfew by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 22, and the countrywide lockdown two days later, to contain the spread of COVID-19.

According to the study, the misinformation is prevailing through various social media apps. Most of the fake stories were related to culture. The messages exploiting a particular socio-religious, ethnic group, followed by fake news around government announcements and advisories. Various social media platforms are used to spread misinformation and they rely heavily on visual content, such as video clips. The only goal of the fake content is to evoke a physical reaction, fear or disgust.

“Amid lockdown people have more time now and often misinformation comes with an agenda. Constant anxiety and fear of the unknown create favourable conditions for spreading misinformation. It is also used as a diversion from real issues,”, says Jatin Gandhi, fact-checking trainer and journalism educator. He further adds that the creators of false content often seek out explicit content and repurpose it with a false heading since it is likely to have greater shock value.

Recently, both Ratan Tata, Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus and Home Minister Amit Shah took to their social media platform to debunk false news which concerned them. Ratan N Tata found out that misinformation was being spread using his name, he decided to debunk the same. Taking to Twitter, the industrialist shared a piece of news where he was falsely quoted. “I’m afraid this too, has not been said by me. I will endeavour to call out fake news whenever I can, but would encourage you to always verify news sources,” he tweeted while posting a picture of the newspaper clipping.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that over the last few days, there have been rumours, some even going to the extent of wishing death for him through tweets. He issued a statement on Saturday clearing the air over online speculation on his alleged health conditions. Calling it “baseless rumour.”