A PARALLEL PANDEMIC

0
1099
Fake News Alert - Ministry of Tourism
Fake News Alert - Ministry of Tourism
0 0
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahoutsav

InterServer Web Hosting and VPS
Read Time:13 Minute, 49 Second

Written by Pival Krishna Peddireddi and Kathi Swathi Reshmitha, 3rd Year students at NALSAR, Hyderabad

Everything you see online is not true, this is truer about anything related to the Coronavirus. Fake news was in vogue a few years ago. Websites to WhatsApp groups, penetration of fake news in our lives has brought fact checkers in vogue.

What entails fake news? Fake news is an umbrella term for everything ranging from verifiably false news to biased news – such as the stories peddled by Indian Media alleging a wilful spread of the Coronavirus by Muslims[1] or baseless stories about 5G being responsible for the spread of Covid-19[2].

With an increase in societal polarisation our population has become susceptible to fake news more than before. A study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) concluded that Fake News is shared on Social Media platforms almost six times faster than true news[3], in short, the truth has become boring in this era of social media.

The phenomenon of fake news is not new, even Nazi Germany had the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda headed by Joseph Goebbels whose sole job was to control the narrative in Germany and spread the Nazi ideology.

Today, the problem of disinformation is exacerbated in the context of increased social connectivity via social media platforms. Fake News has just never been this widespread before in our lives, running unchecked and available to everyone with a smartphone, deftly avoiding any social or linguistic barriers. While different people encounter different Fake content there is no doubt that everyone on these platforms do encounter this content.

Is anyone insulated from fake news or are we all insulated from genuine news?

A subscription to fake news only requires an account on any Social Media platform (from the plethora available, the outstanding providers of fake news continue to be WhatsApp and Facebook). Next, algorithms on these platforms will gauge a user’s interests and proceed to sorting users into various categories to provide curated content as per the categories. While initially these categories are broad and open, as a user exhibits what his/her favoured content is, the omnipresent algorithms narrow down exclusively to content which a user (based on previous social media activity) likes. These categories mutate into airtight echo chambers where there is only ‘favoured content’. Users on WhatsApp face greater difficulty in avoiding fake news ever since family groups became a popular concept.

Social media websites have one single goal: to generate as much usage from a user, that is, to keep a user on the platform for as long as possible. While the user sacrifices time on these social media platforms, the platforms (in turn) serve up delicious content for the user to consume.

Somewhere along this process, the user is no longer satisfied with ordinary content and starts leaning towards fabricated stories and distorted versions of events which is more ‘consumable’ for that user. The omnipresent algorithms notice this behaviour and serve more Fake content[4]. This unholy marriage of Social Media and Fake News is the Parallel Pandemic all of us are facing knowingly or unknowingly.

In 2019 Microsoft ranked India the highest amidst 22 countries for the most encounters of fake news online. In the Indian context, WhatsApp has particularly been malicious for the spread of fake news since all content shared is encrypted and unlike Facebook the content on WhatsApp is such that the author of the content cannot be traced.

An additional facet to remember, social media has fundamentally ‘disabled’ the option to check quality of content, allowing individuals and groups to bypass any ‘factual accountability’, a pertinent feature attributed to traditional journalism.

How have others responded?

In response to this growing hazard, many States have taken measures to curb its’ spread. Singapore passed a comprehensive anti-misinformation law called ‘Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019’ which grants the government powers to penalise online platforms, individuals and others for authoring and hosting fake news[5].

European Union (EU) passed the Code of Practice and the Action Plan against disinformation in 2018 in order to collaborate with private actors signing the Code to self-regulate and to strengthen the institutions of EU for the detection and coordinated response to disinformation respectively.

India does not possess a singular framework directed at deterring fake news but the various provisions under Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act have become increasingly relevant to tackle the dissemination of fake news.

Infodemic during the Pandemic

If science-based truth were the panacea for the fear in relation with COVID-19, then proliferation of misinformation and disinformation regarding COVID-19 on social media platforms could be viewed as an anathema.

“As soon as the virus spread across the globe, inaccurate and even dangerous messages proliferated wildly over social media, leaving people confused, misled and ill-advised”, said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.[6] The fact checking website BOOM also noted the positive correlation between the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and the fact checks on the virus/pandemic that it had done.[7] As per a study, published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, at least 800 people died globally owing to COVID-19-related fake news.[8]

 Dissemination of fake news during the pandemic did not just undermine public trust in institutions working towards tackling the virus and ameliorating the effects of the pandemic, but it also widened societal divides leaving many people and marginalized communities vulnerable to both the pandemic as well as the prejudices of the society. Fake news on consumption of meat during the pandemic is a case in point as it had a deleterious impact on Muslim and Dalit communities involved in the meat industry.[9]

In the initial lockdown there was a much greater dependency upon non-conventional news sources like social media outlets and unverified WhatsApp groups because of limited operations of traditional and reliable journalists such as those of newspapers[10]. This fact coupled with palpable tensions of populations during the lockdown period created an environment perfect for the germination of fake content. The more time people spend online, the more they are confronted with fake news. During this pandemic, the entire country was spending more time online.

There were numerous instances of hate and violence during the pandemic and especially during the lockdown. Quite a few of these instances can be attributed to the reliance upon social media for news and, of course, the prevalence of fake news on social media. Initially there was paranoia regarding the unknown characteristics of the virus, propelling fake content creators to take advantage of the situation and spread misinformation. One such example is from the early days of lockdown when Samir Mitra’s cremation was the centre of discussion in the State of West Bengal because there was fear that cremating the body would spread the virus[11].

There was also the widely reported case of health workers being pelted in Indore[12]. The video circulated was genuine and there was no manipulation of media. The fake news angle here is that there was a rumour[13] being circulated in Indore a few days before that incident which alleged that locals would be picked up by authorities to inject them with the coronavirus. The real-life ramifications of fake news cannot be denied or ignored.

Fake news surrounding the pandemic hindered public health response and additionally entailed a ‘human cost’. Considering this, United Nations Organization launched ‘Verified’[14] after taking stock of the impediment that fake news was causing to public health response. Although social media platforms have committed to cautioning its users or taking down fake news relating to Coronavirus, peer-to-peer communication of fake news remains rampant. This initiative calls upon ‘information volunteers’ to share verified and fact-based information and advice to save lives. Additionally, ‘Verified’ recognises the stigmatization of certain groups, especially minority and marginalised groups, through targeted fake news pertaining to the pandemic.

In India too, such initiatives have been launched. Indian Scientists’ Response to COVID-19 (‘ISRC’) is a voluntary group, comprising of scientists, doctors, public health researchers inter alia, from India. It aims at debunking hoaxes on the virus, providing verified information in various Indian languages accessible to the general public and popularizing resources by explaining the underlying science.

To contain misinformation and disinformation on the pandemic, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (‘MeITY ‘) issued an advisory addressed to social media companies to take immediate action to disable false content hosted on their platforms and to initiate awareness campaigns on the same. In furtherance of this goal, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare collaborated with WhatsApp and launched a helpline to spread authentic information and answer queries regarding the pandemic.

The Road Ahead

Facebook Inc’s three social media platforms – Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp have repeatedly assured users, governments and the civil society about the efforts of the organisation to curb fake news. These measures include removal of hate speech content and suspension or ban of accounts for similar violations of Facebook’s ‘Community Standards’. But as we have seen over the past few months there is a deep nexus between political parties and social media platforms around the globe, be it the US or India. The recent controversy around Facebook India’s policy head Ankhi Das[15] displays just that. This nexus ensured that political ads were not under scrutiny for violating Facebook’s Community Standards, among other things.

WhatsApp is the biggest player in India’s Fake News circuit where a 2019 report by Reuters[16] noted that 52% of the respondents used WhatsApp for daily news. This is alarming considering the lack of mechanisms to combat fake news in end to end encrypted chats. While Facebook hires fact checkers to cross reference news items, this is largely eye wash since Facebook enforces ‘payment cap’ for fact checkers and does not pay for more than 40 articles per month to a single fact checking agency.[17]

What is of essence is to recognise that Fake News is a multi-stakeholder problem: there is the User who is being manipulated and influenced, there are the social media platforms acting as enablers and there is the Government whose duty is to prevent this. The current mechanisms adopted by the social media platforms are opaque at best since the entire process is exclusive to the tech world. Common users need information about the impact of these processes and mechanisms. What we need are impact indicators of these counter measures which are being employed, this will allow ordinary users to better judge the impact of the measures taken by various platforms.

There is a lack of awareness about the gravity of the situation and about the counter measures employed. The Government and members of the civil society must take responsibility in their hands. The responsibility is on all of us who are affected by this Parallel Pandemic. We cannot sit back and trust social media platforms (who benefit from fake news) to fight fake news.

So far, the changes incorporated by these companies is only at the heels of allegations of manipulation of elections. The changes incorporated are only to maintain an illusion of change. For real change there is a requirement of transparency of mechanisms and the technology surrounding these mechanisms.

One might wonder what an individual could do to change the situation when Tech companies and governments have failed to cause a dent. Despondence in such circumstances can be expected but it is important to remember that individuals possess the ability to break a chain of communication or transmission of false information. This can be done by following a two-pronged approach of – critical thinking and due diligence.

Critical Thinking: When you read a piece of information think: ‘Doesn’t this sound absurd?’ or that ‘Is this affirming my biases?’ If it does, stop right there before you decide to share it with your family or post it for your followers to view. The intentional spread of fake news known as disinformation provides various people and organisations with the opportunity to gain financially and it presents a medium to spread propaganda. While reading any information be vary of the intention with which the information was authored. Ask yourself ‘Does this have a persuasive intent?’, ‘Does this sound nonsensical?’, ‘Who gains from this?’ and inspect the content: ‘Does it have misspellings and unusual formatting?’, ‘Do the pictures appear altered?’, ‘Does the given timeline of events make sense?’ These questions will prevent one from further transmitting fake news. It will invariably propel us to the next step in this two-pronged approach to containing fake news.

Due Diligence: This entails checking the veracity of information you receive. If the information claims to be from a legitimate government authority, then check the official website of that department under the government. If you have received a ‘Forwarded’ message on WhatsApp do not take the information at face value. If you receive a forwarded message with two arrows, it indicates that the message has been forwarded more than 5 times and is most likely a chain message. In such cases, a google search should help find out the veracity of that information.

 Legitimate information from government or any other authority can be traced back to its source and if information is reported by multiple legitimate media outlets it is most likely true, even then, one can always visit fact-checking websites like Alt News, Boom Live, WebQoof to verify information received. With more and more individuals following this approach, the incidence of proliferation of fake news will decrease.

The infodemic, as is visible, has been aided by technology. However, the invisible factors that aided this infodemic are the flagrant collapse of ethics, burgeoning of partisan politics and the impact of neo-liberalism. Fake news is but, one of the many manifestations of deep seeded structural deficiencies and the pandemic has merely highlighted these deficiencies. While critical thinking and due diligence form essential steps to curbing the spread of fake news, members of the civil society require steps to be taken from both, the media platforms as well as the government to be protected against misinformation and disinformation. It is only through this tripartite collaboration can we hope to contain this ‘Parallel Pandemic’.

References:

[1] https://www.boomlive.in/law/tablighi-jamaat-foreigners-made-scapegoat-media-ran-propaganda-bombay-hc-9420, https://www.altnews.in/old-videos-falsely-shared-as-muslims-spitting-on-relief-food-during-coronavirus-lockdown/

[2] https://www.boomlive.in/world/video-linking-fake-5g-technology-with-covid-19-viral-on-social-media-8391

[3] https://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6380/1146, https://news.mit.edu/2018/study-twitter-false-news-travels-faster-true-stories-0308

[4] https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/facebook-vs-democracy/

[5] Sec 5, 7, 8, 15 etc. Of Protection from Online falsehoods and manipulation act.

https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Acts-Supp/18-2019/Published/20190625?DocDate=20190625#pr15-

[6] https://www.who.int/news/item/23-09-2020-covid-19-pandemic-countries-urged-to-take-stronger-action-to-stop-spread-of-harmful-information

[7]A https://www.boomlive.in/fact-file/fake-news-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-a-boom-study-8008

[8] https://www.thequint.com/news/webqoof/fines-arrests-how-governments-around-the-world-are-curbing-covid-19-fake-news-coronavirus

[9] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-53165436?fbclid=IwAR3S0-agnB5C5F1wh22DLJ4DIeN_RqjhLeM_nJDm3eVKQBwCKDc8f_wiqA

[10] https://www.news18.com/news/india/ban-on-doorstep-delivery-of-newspapers-during-covid-19-lockdown-exceptional-move-says-govt-2589947.html, https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/apr/04/blocking-newspaper-delivery-amid-coronavirus-lockdown-an-offence-say-legal-experts-2125509.html

[11] https://www.news18.com/news/india/vitriol-disinformation-and-violence-how-a-coronavirus-death-exposed-paranoia-in-india-2556325.html

[12] https://www.altnews.in/video-verification-locals-in-indores-tatpatti-bakhal-area-pelt-stones-at-health-workers/

[13] https://twitter.com/nafsmanzer/status/1245689796334219264

[14] https://www.un.org/en/coronavirus/%E2%80%98verified%E2%80%99-initiative-aims-flood-digital-space-facts-amid-covid-19-crisis

[15] https://scroll.in/latest/970596/facebook-india-policy-head-ankhi-das-files-complaint-over-alleged-threat-to-life-cites-wsj-report

[16] https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/india-digital-news-report

[17] https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47779782

***Views Expressed are that of authors and IBG NEWS neither agree nor disagree***

About Post Author

Editor Desk

Antara Tripathy M.Sc., B.Ed. by qualification and bring 15 years of media reporting experience.. Coverred many illustarted events like, G20, ICC,MCCI,British High Commission, Bangladesh etc. She took over from the founder Editor of IBG NEWS Suman Munshi (15/Mar/2012- 09/Aug/2018 and October 2020 to 13 June 2023).
Happy
Happy
0 %
Sad
Sad
0 %
Excited
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
Angry
0 %
Surprise
Surprise
0 %
Advertisements

USD