Fabricated and
manipulated content are increasingly gaining ground in India. This is certainly
leading to the possibility of potential violence, hatred and is impacting the
social fabric in many ways.
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| credit- Seeker's Thoughts Team |
The advent of fake
news is not new or recent, but its potential of reach has magnified with new
online platforms and applications.
'The growing stream of reporting on and data about fake news, misinformation, partisan content, and news literacy is hard to keep up with. '
The rise of
digital and social media is amplifying the effect of fake news. Notably, in
recent days, isolated cases in different states for sharing false content
through messaging and other social media platforms were booked.
On some occasion, the internet has been shut down by the government on the pretext of inciting violence and to stop the spread of misinformation.
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| The Data Leak |
Fake
News have grown nearly 200%
Misinformation and
disinformation spread in media is becoming a serious social challenge. It is
leading to the poisonous atmosphere on the web and causing riots.
‘Fake news’ in Indian media
over the last three odd years has grown by nearly 200%, partly driven by the
Cambridge analytical exposes at the time of state election.
In all there have been 47,543 news articles
online about ‘fake news’ between January 2015 and September 2018.
What
is Fake News?
Fake news or junk news or pseudo-news is a
type of yellow journalism or propaganda that consists of deliberate
disinformation or hoaxes spread via traditional print and broadcast news media
or online social media.
Who
was the first to start the fake news?
English language media were
the first to start talking about ‘fake news’ and continue to cover it most
often, with vernacular media are starting to engage with the issue more of
late.
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| Credit- team Seeker's Thoughts |
Fake News in India
Language media coverage of
‘fake news’ in India has spanned across a number of topics unsurprisingly, 46%
of the coverage is domestic, though 15% is about fake news in the international
context. One of the most important points to note here, though, is that
reporting on ‘fake news’ related to ‘scams and scares’ constitutes just 0.7% of
the coverage.
Interestingly, just 9% of the
coverage is about solution to the ‘fake news’ problem indicating the complexity
of the situation.
Effect of Media Bias
In social structure, media has
distinct place of form image about significant political and social issues.
Media coverage has major
impact in public when it characterizes the whole event and provides reliable
information about numerous issues such as environment, technology and risk.
Media is considered as a potent source of information and opinion for readers
through newspapers, magazines, television, radio and the internet.
Various studies have
exposed that the public increases their knowledge base about science from the
mass media. Therefore, it is important to scrutinize the injustice and
misrepresentation of media coverage of serious issues.
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Mass media has an influence on
civilization and in depth look at its most popular forms today, it would most
certainly reveal numerous blatant injustices in the way TV networks, print
media, and internet websites spread information.
It has been seen that millions
of citizens watch their television to know what is happening in their
surroundings. They form opinion on certain issues based on news broadcast in TV
or other news media. The media’s role in political matters is especially
significant when they have the power to make or break a candidate. They can
criticize a candidate or make him/her likeable.
News media networks affect the
public’s interest in politics by presenting the people what they want them to
see.
Even if there are many issues
in crusade, the media will focus on the one they consider to be the most
important, and other issues are overlooked.
It is well known that public
makes impression to what they watch in news media. But on public policy issues
if the news on which they rely is deformed, it is obviously crucial that TV
news broadcasts and other media must be unbiased. Nonetheless, there has always
heated debate about media bias.
Many authors and intellectuals
explained that media bias is methodical, persistent unbalance in mainstream
news coverage for the purpose of influencing opinion on major issues.
Media bias is the bias of
reporters and news producers in the choice of events and stories that are
described, and the way they are covered. Media bias happens when a media outlet
reports a new story in a partial or unfair manner.
What is scrutinized and what
is ignored?
Overhype and aggression
coverage is the new phenomenon of selling news these days, as it increases
Target Rating Point (TRP) giving more business to media houses. Every news
story resembles a tehelka like expose-corruption, sex and violence and
there is always a doctored videotape.
Television news channels have
become more politics oriented, while all other critical issues are left out
which needs more significant spotlight.
90% news channels show
unimportant news. And the real news is left ignored. There are several issues
in India which needs attention like- pollution, manual scavenging,
unemployment, women empowerment etc...
Sensationalism is a category
of editorial bias in mass media in which events and topics in news stories and
pieced are over publicized to increase viewers. Sensationalism may include
reporting about generally unimportant matters and events that do not influence
overall civilization, as well as prejudiced presentations of interesting topics
in a sensationalist, trivia, or tabloid manner.
The Scale of the Problem in
India
In the age of the internet
(WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter) it is a serious problems rumours, morphed images,
click-baits, motivated stories, unverified information, planted stories for
various interests spread easily among 35 crore internet users in India.
There have been many instances
of online rumours leading to killing of innocent people. In some cases,
ministers have deleted tweets after realizing the fake news which they shared
earlier. In India WhatsApp is the platform most vulnerable to fake news.
Millions of India a vast
percentage is uneducated using mobile internet innocently forwarding ‘good
morning’ massages every day is seen as most vulnerable to fake news.
In the recent Karnataka
Assembly elections 2018 fake news about trivial parties and candidates flooded
the media.
One of the strongest evidences
of fake news came up during the time of the demonetization drive. The concept
of fitting a GPS chip on the RS 2000 notes made bug news until the RBI
clarified officially through its press release that no such advanced features
were used in the new currency notes.
One of the recent examples was
when the Pulwama attack happened and India stroked back in Pakistan Balakot, a
fake video game video got viral where airplane is throwing missile on the
target.
That video spread on several
media platform and people actually believed that the video was actually a real
video of the strike.
Laws and Regulations to Curb
Fake News in India
There is no specific law
against fake news in India. Free publication of news flows from Article 19 of
the constitution guaranteeing freedom of speech.
Press council of India, a regulatory body, can warn
admonish or censure the newspaper, the news agency, the editor or the
journalist or disapprove the conduct of the editor or the journalist if it
finds that a newspaper or a news agency has violated journalistic ethics.
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| Know about it |
News Broadcaster Association
(NBA) represents the
private television news and current affairs broadcasters. The self-regulatory
body probes complaints against electronic media.
Indian Broadcast Foundation
(IBF) also looks into
the complaints against contents aired by channels.
Broadcasting Content Complaint
Council (BCCC) admits complaints
against TV broadcasters for objectionable TV content and fake news.
Indian penal Code (IPC) has certain sections which
could curb fake news: section 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to
cause riot) and 295 (injuring or defiling place or worship with intent to
insult the religion of any class) can be invoked to guard against fake news.
Section 66 in The Information
Technology Act, 2000: if
any person, dishonestly or fraudulently, does any act referred to in section 43
(damage to computer, computer system), he shall be punishable with imprisonment
for a term which may extend to three years or with fine which may extend to
five lakh rupees or with both.
Civil or Criminal Case for
defamation is another resort
against fake news for individual and groups hurt by the fake news. IPC section
499 (defamation) and 500 (whoever defames another shall be punished with simple
imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine or with
both) provide for a defamation suit.
Note - India’s rank is 136 out
of 180 countries in the world press freedom index (2017).
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| Never Ending Death penalty |
Conclusion
Fake news if often created and
circulated for gaining electoral currency and political gains. Often
governments’ own party and agencies (through the undisclosed purchase of
political ads and IT cells) may be involved. It is raising trend seen in many
countries led by china and Russia where internet manipulation and control is
very high.
Any future legislation to curb
fake news should take the whole picture into account and not blame the media
and go-knee-jerk reactions; in this age of new media anyone can create and
circulate new for undisclosed benefits.
Controlling fake news is
tricky issue: not controlling trolls could lead to national and international
instability while doing too much to control it could harm democracy.
Countering content
manipulation and fake news to restore faith in social media without undermining
internet and media freedom will require public education, strengthening of
regulations and effort to teach companies to make suitable algorithm of news
curation.
For example- Italy has experimentally
added ‘recognizing fake news in school syllabus. India should also seriously
emphasize cyber security, internet education, and fake news education in the
academic curriculum at all levels.
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