17 Nov 2021  |   05:02am IST

PROTECT YOURSELVES FROM FAKE NEWS

In the reality of fake news and misinformation that has the potential to create riot situations and polarise the public, we, the citizens, need to be prepared to identify and question what we consume as news. Bharat Nayak, Founding Editor of Fact checking outfit, The Logical Indian gets candid during a session in Goa

Deepa George

If liberalisation ushered in

a new era for media with a plethora of privately run television media channels, news publications and radio networks, the digital boom has further changed the landscape dramatically with more than 560 million people in India using the internet. There are nearly 400 million WhatsApp users and approximately 200 million from India are on Facebook. With all of us vigorously consuming, posting and sharing digital content, the genesis of misinformation, fake news and instant gratification found relevance. No wonder then, that political parties use this tool so effectively these days to push propaganda and plant stories. Never has there been a more fertile ground for the planting of spurious stories that rapidly grow to fast growing creepers, choking us of all critical thought.

Addressing this very issue at a special discourse organised by Thus - a local community driven initiative that encourages discussion on socio environment issues, Bharat Nayak - Founding Editor of The Logical Indian spoke about the importance of fact checking and the emergence of snazzy fact checking outfits - a vocation that comes with immense responsibilities and equivalent threats. Giving the audience many instances and examples of contorted news, Bharat incredulously also pointed that in the rush to pursue and publish ‘breaking news’, even respected media names like The Print, Hindu and BBC have cowered to reporting fake news. “There are many instances to prove this point,” says Bharat and adds, “Even in the case of international pop singer Rihana who had tweeted in support of the farmers’ protest in India, there was an article that appeared in OpIndia claiming that Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF), a Canada based organisation was behind the conspiracy and that Rihana was paid $2.5 billion for her tweet in favour of the farmers. This soon went viral without any factual checks or evidence and was even carried in The Print.”

“Information overload is crippling us and has reduced our capacity for critical thinking.” Pointing out to the communal tone and sensationalism that is rampantly observed in news reporting these days, Bharat also made an example of the reporting of the Elphinstone Road railway station stampede that occured in Mumbai in 2017. “It was reported that a dying woman was molested by a bystander which was later proved wrong as the police confirmed that the man was trying to help the lady instead.” Fake news and ignorance found a special spot during the pandemic with news about vaccines leading to impotency in men making many people vaccine hesitant.

So how do we equip ourselves for a better discernment of what is dished out to us as news. Says Bharat, “Firstly, always verify the source. Any reporting on crime that does not mention a quote from the Police, should make you suspicious. Secondly, check your own prejudices. We often like to believe what we want to believe. Thirdly, check your facts on various fact checking platforms like The Logical Indian, Alt News and Google Fact Check tools and most importantly, do not forward dubious news stories. If you do, you only strengthen the algorithms that make that news go viral.”

While he admits that the fact checking community is nascent with most platforms being prevalent only for the last five years, Bharat believes that a more widespread awareness of this issue is imperative. “We need a media literacy curriculum in schools. Children need to understand the impact of false news and narratives. Kerala has begun this initiative in 150 government schools in Kannur district but we need a larger traction for it to have an effect.”

With WhatsApp proving to be the mass ‘mis-information’ platform, fact checking for a population of 1.3 million is an onerous task with the vast majority happy to blindly believe what is reported. Bharat sounds the warning bugle by saying, “The worst is yet to come. With Artificial Intelligence and robots in the fray, we don’t know what more is in store.”