News_Research_Paper

Fake News: Taming of a wolf in sheep's clothing
(In context of online platforms)
Fake, noun - ' a work of art,etc. that seems to be real or genuine but is not.
Verb - ' To copy something and try to make people believe it is the real
thing' (Cambridge Dictionary)
News -
a) News is information about a recently changed situation or a recent
event.
b) News is information that is published in newspapers and broadcast on

radio and television about recent event in the country or world or in a
particular area of activity
(Collins Dictionary)
'Comments are free but facts are sacred, "Propaganda", so called by this
means is hateful'
- C P Scott (The Guardian)
'News that is entirely false, news that is slanted and biased, pure
propaganda, stories that misinterpret and misuse data, imprecise and
sloppy reporting."
(John H. Johnson defining "Fake News")
so, it's obvious that in the modern digital world the content or the content
presented in the form of news creates many questions. "Because
cyberspace is a world of complete freedom and anonymity, and where
users say and do what they like, uncensored, unregulated, and outside of
society's norms ( Barlett,2016)"(1) and this is the root cause of fake news.
As steve Hill and Paul Bradshaw say in 'fake news and trolling' "There are
two key concepts that run through online communication. a) freedom of
expression b) anyone can publish i.e. they can set up a website, blog or
social media account and publish content to the web (2)
As blog technology is easy to use it allows anyone to publish online

content, so the web is more democraticed than controlled traditional
media. A new wave of democratisation has occurred due to technology.
But before moving ahead let's check the basic principles of good news
reporting. The Missouri School of Journalism describes what it calls the
tenets of good reporting. " Be accurate, avoid biases, present multiple
viewpoints or perspectives, pursue the truth, use factual data, yet develop
people skills…. Be open and transparent, Evoke emotion, think visually,
have vision, integrate new developments and technology." (3) and that's
why Aiden White, Founder and President of Ethical Journalism Network
says "fake news is the deliberate fabrication of information with the
intention to deceive." (4)
Fake news is a global phenomenon in cyberspace and in traditional

media.In cyberspace it is believed to have started in the early nineties
when.com boom was at its peak. But in the last two decades tables have
turned, Asian media is facing serious threats due to this phenomenon.
Easily accessible technology has made content easily available on various
media including print, digital, television etc. It has widened the net of
entertainment and information. In an interesting report on 'Digital Media in
Asia: India and Pakistan' Graham Watts gives interesting facts and figures
of digital reach in both countries."..... More than a third of Indian
households(overwhelmingly in the large urban conurbations) have cable or
satellite television, and numbers of mobile subscribers rose from about
15% of the population to more than 80% in 5 years (5)
Though fake news or fake content is a global phenomenon, it has typical

Indian intricacies too. Various social media/online platforms like Facebook,
WhatsApp, Instagram etc. have occupied important places in the lives of
Indian people. As per Internet and Mobile Association of India around 200
million Indians have mobile phones, inbuilt with WhatsApp and Facebook
and its growing exponentially. Tele density has changed the traditional
media game in India in the last three decades. From this point of view
Indian perspective of this phenomenon is equally important.
As fake news is used in other parts of the globe for creating political
narrative or to earn money, in India the cause is similar but its impact is
totally different, its social impacts are more dangerous. For example one
piece of news that has been played and replayed in various parts of India,
especially over the last year, is that of child kidnapping. For instance 7 men
were lynched due to these rumours especially in semi urban and rural
areas of Maharashtra, Telangana, and Kerala.``... Such rumours strike at
the root of an individual's emotions, especially since they deal with one's
child. It often takes an ugly turn, with rage and Fury taking over
rationality."(6)
Apart from this there are typical Indian traits in fake news spread. H. R.
Venkatesh, founder of Ekta news believes: "Most of the people who share
fake news do so without fully knowing that it is fake. But what makes that
viral is frictionless technology, and the ease of sharing through messaging
apps and social media. For example: the piece of news about kidnappers in
villages. Residents of those villages who received the fake news are
perfectly primed to share it on. let's say, Whatsapp because it speaks to
their fears and anxieties. That's how fake news gets sustained." (7)
As per above report by 'Factly' there are seven stakeholders in resolving
this issue.Tech companies, governments officials, Journalists, Law
Enforcement Officials, Academicians, Legal Experts & Fact Checking
Organisations.
Since the core issue is fake news so onus sets on its original creator I.e. a
journalist. So apart from regular fact checking and debunking a journalist
must keep his practice transparent.`` Leticia Bode and Emily Vraga's study
on changing misperception about Zika found that the fact checking resulted
in a 10% decrease in overall misperceptions….. if the fact checks and
debunking change a few people's minds, they are still worth it." (8)
And that's why David weinberger suggested that Journalists should take
transparency as their highest value rather than objectivity."... transparency
can increase trust in reporting, it can also guard against manipulations…
Journalists can match more transparency within stories with more
transparency in overall procedure. Transparency in procedure means
explaining to readers more about how journalists do what they do." (9)
Fake news phenomenon in such a diverse nation like India is a bit complex
to solve, but not a difficult proposition. In "Measures and
Recommendations" chapter Dodda and Dubbudu suggests measures to
curb this menace like fact checking, training, collaboration, policy and
regulation, media and digital literacy, data protection, compliances and
capacity building. It's a collective responsibility of Civil Society,
Administration,Judiciary, Media and Academics to fight against this threat
for democratic values.
Many nations have geared up against this threat. They have made
necessary changes in their legislation. India has also constituted powerful
cyber law and suggested some important intermediaries. "The government
put out the draft "Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines
(Amendment Rules) 2018" for public comments. Among other things, the
rules seek to mandate all intermediaries like social media and technology
platforms to use automated and other methods for content moderation."
(10)
Since the digital media platforms are the core service and technology
providers they play an important role and share equal responsibility.
Google has started its fact checking system called 'Google news lab' where
they train journalists for further training of communicators at ground level.
Facebook has also changed it's algorithms accordingly to curb this
menace.Facebook has also started fake content alerts for its users when
they post or share doubtful content. For individuals some fact checking
online tools/ apps are also available like factcheck.org, fullfact.org,
politifact.org, snopes.com, altnews.org, webqoof.com etc.
So, next time when you receive the doubtful content like 'whatsapp is going
to be shut down' take some pains for fact checking else this Wolf in sheep's
clothing will never be caught & keep on damaging our social,democratic
thread.
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References
(1)Hill Steve, Bradshaw Paul, 2019, Fake News & Trolling, Mobile First
Journalism,Routledge, USA
(5)Dragmor M & Thompson M, 2014, Mapping Digital Media, Global
Findings, Open Society Foundation, NY.
(6)Dodda T. & Dubbudu R., 2019, Countering Misinformation(fake
news), Factly Media & Research,India.
(7)Dodda T. & Dubbudu R., 2019, Countering Misinformation(fake
(8)Tworek H.,2018, Responsible Reporting in an Age of Irresponsible
Information, Alliance for Securing Democracy, NY.
(9)Tworek H.,2018, Responsible Reporting in an age of Irresponsible
Information, Alliance for Securing Democracy, NY.Dodda
(10) Dodda T. & Dubbudu R., 2019, Countering Misinformation(fake

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Fake News: Taming of a wolf in sheep's clothing

(In context of online platforms)

b) News is information that is published in newspapers and broadcast on

- C P Scott (The Guardian)

(John H. Johnson defining "Fake News")

As blog technology is easy to use it allows anyone to publish online

Fake news is a global phenomenon in cyberspace and in traditional

Though fake news or fake content is a global phenomenon, it has typical

### #### ####

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