Disinformation, or fake news, has become the biggest threat to the idea of democracy and the idea of free choice. The repeated instances have been reported where political parties have used disinformation to influence masses. During elections, people are swamped with partial truth, unauthentic information, false claims, among many others as a part of political parties’ propaganda model, where sadly even media is party to it. As a result, voters are left in a dilemma of who and what to believe. The dangers of a confused and misdirected voters are reflected when they make misinformed choices.
Gujarat Vikas model advertisement, where Union Minister Babul Supriyo falsely claimed that the government has inaugurated a world-class bus stand in Rajkot, is an example of how fake news is used to manage perceptions. By the time people realized it was fake, they had already voted and elected their representative.
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Fake news has become a global nuisance. In US Presidential elections, disinformation was used to kill Hillary Clinton’s chances of becoming a President. The investigators in the USA have found that Russian agencies rigged the elections using disinformation and targeted information dissemination. Further, the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal revealed how data is used to peddle fake news and influence voter preferences.
If US elections can be rigged by breaching cybersecurity and misusing the data, so can India. Fake news and its impact can further intensify if other countries try to manipulate voter choices in the country. Such efforts have led to many civil wars in middle-eastern countries. The question is how can we defend ourselves from becoming victim to this widespread manipulation of thoughts and opinion. Researchers and experts believe that these four approaches can prevent us from falling prey to disinformation:
1. The government makes a rule on the control of disinformation.
Going by the latest BBC report this looks like a far-fetched dream. Further, the data protection laws are still not in place and the progress has been at snail’s speed.
2. The Social Media companies censor information
Social media companies can evolve methods to censor news and content that are abusive, full of hatred, and doubtful facts/data. For this, they may be required to give away a few of their advertisements.
3. Media companies verify information before putting it in public domain.
Media is society’s watchdog. They should stick to journalistic ethics and inform people and curb the spreading of fake news. However, in the age of corporations owning media houses and raking revenues through sensationalization, it is least likely that media would mend its ways.
4.Self-Research
The best approach is self-help. We could verify most of the information using simple google searches. Fact-checking websites AltNews or HoaxSlayer are a good alternative to counter and expose fake news.
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