Fake News is a buzz word these days, especially now when Lok Sabha elections are approaching. There are two things I want to talk about here:
1. What Is Fake News? What Are Other Types of Distortions?
It is a term widely and loosely used these days for various purposes. There are various types of manipulation of facts that takes place, a part of which is also fake news, but the term is very loosely used these days. It is important to understand that fake news is different than an extremely biased news.
Fake news can be considered as fabricated information that disseminate deceptive content, or grossly distort actual news reports shared on social media platforms. Sometimes, fake news is also manufactured by the distributors of news. Source of the news could explicitly mention themselves as satirical news site or humour tweet handle and publish a distorted news, but due to wide spread social media, the same message will be forwarded to millions as real news.
It becomes very subjective to say which opinion is extremely biased and which is not, but with fake news, you can prove with facts that it is an intentionally fabricated information.
Let’s take a very simple example. A report published by UNICEF suggest that primary schools in India increased by 5% in last two years.
Fake news will be: UNICEF suggest that all schools in India increased by 5% in last two years.
An extremely biased news might look like: Primary schools in India has been increased by 5% in the tenure of Mr. Netaji and now UNICEF also mentions the progress.
But fact is the fact. Simple. There can be various ways to distort it because perception is paramount. Now, the issue with extremely biased news is that they might still be stating the fact but playing around with words or distorting the information to present in a way that is favourable to their advantage.
Sources of fake news are websites that have been flagged as consistently spreading fabricated news or conspiracy theories by several fact-checking groups. Whereas, extremely biased websites include more controversial websites that may not necessarily publish fabricated information, but distort facts and may rely on propaganda, decontextualized information, or opinions distorted as facts.
The issue has become critical and wide spoken due to the wide reach of the social media. What would be water cooler conversations in offices and a chai charcha on a tea stall can now potentially reach millions. If I have a view, an opinion or a fact, I can state it as I want. I can influence people the way I want. There are few who do it because they truly believe in it and then there are many for whom it’s a business. Is it tough to find out who is Who?
2. Who Am I And Why Am I Interested In It?
Just like you, I am an ordinary working urban citizen of this country, relatively aware of what is happening around. A professional, a game watcher, a movie goer, a food lover, following the recent trends on politics, a moderate twitter user, smart phone addict, an ordinary Indian citizen as I said. Probably, in the upper half of the privileged section of the entire Indian demographics if you put it. I am educated, I make decent money, I have a house to live in, I can afford good food, hygiene, healthy life style. Maybe we do not realize so much in our everyday lives, while cribbing about our bosses, running behind our clients and so on, how much of a luxury we are already living in. We probably belong to top five percent of the country’s population.
Given what has happened in the nation recently, I have been asking a question to myself and I am sure that many of you have also been going through similar thoughts — I would like to believe that I am a true patriotic person, a nationalist but what am I really doing for the nation, apart from of course paying taxes? Can I do something more? And then be actually proud of it instead of sitting on my chair, tweeting few statements and calling myself a nationalist. And that’s where this thought began. As part of the tech world, can I do something about fake news and misinformation that is spreading at an all time high rate? News that we consume impact our opinions and judgements. But are we sure that we are not victims of fake news as well?
As an active participant of the Indian democracy, I wanted to make my own contribution and also find out some answers to all these questions. If possible, help people differentiate between fake news and real news. Somehow, social media and fake news are connected – because the internet has the power to disseminate any news in seconds to millions of people irrespective of their geography, demographics, beliefs and values. Earlier, this wasn’t possible. So, we as a team [me and my friends] have come together – as we want to make use of the technology, its power and its ability to reach out, to do just the opposite, to fight the fake news.
We want to see if people can differentiate between fake news and real news and in the same process, be an eye opener of how much fake news is thrown at them. We can’t do much about biased reporting and news, but we can surely fight outright fake news.
We are excited to work on this. We will soon be releasing our works for all of you to be a part of it. We welcome any opinions, suggestions and help. This is for all of us and we have to ensure that we fight the fake news, as it will be in its full swing given the upcoming elections. It is our duty as a citizen of the country to ensure that right news reaches all of us, and we stay informed and aware of the facts to be able to make the right decisions.
Please write to me at anki.garg@gmail.com. Waiting to hear from you all! Stay tuned for more updates.