The word “Fake News” has become a global phenomenon, every country is looking ways to fight this menace, many have called it a threat to democracy. While some countries are making a law to save guard them self with fake news effect while some like India still not been able to differentiate between fake news & freedom of expression.
The term Fake news is haunting all big democracy like US & India, It has become a tool for political propaganda to create fake narrative among the citizen.
So, how should we fight this menace called fake news?
The answer is simple by being able to identify ” Fake news ” and by not circulating it further.
There are some simple ways to identify ” Fake News “
# URL
The fake news website often takes domain similar to some establish org. like ” TimesofIndia.co.in ” which is similar to timesofindia.com or like aajjtak.com which is quite similar to aajtak.com. So Whenever you get such type of URL or domain is aware that might be a fake website or a propaganda website.
They may also take a combination of two big organization name like Dainik-Duniya, Which is a combination of Dainik Bashkar and Nayi Duniya or they may take Dainik Bharat which is a combination of Dainik Bashkar and Nav Bharat.
So many other permutations and combination they can opt for to show them self as the credible source of news.
# Title
The easiest way to find the fake news is by their title, they put a very compulsive kind of title which enforces you to click on the link. Their most of the title will end with a full stop, it always ends with ( ? ) or with (! ). Which makes them unaccountable for the fake news they are spreading.
# Cross-check with a fact-checking organization
India has a few fact-checking websites that assess trending, viral stories on Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter and bust hoaxes. You can cross-check with sites like Altnews.in, Boomlive.in, Factchecker.in, Smxhoaxslayer.com and Check4spam.com.
International hoax-busters include the US-based Snopes (one of the first online fact-checking sites) and PolitiFact, the Brazilian fact-checking organization Boatos, the Argentinian site Chequeado, Africa Check (South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal), machine-learning tool ClaimBuster, Faktisk in Norway, German fact-checkers WahlCheck17, and SouthAsiaCheck (Nepal).
# Check the Source’s Social Media behavior
Please do check the news source’s social media behavior, go to the timeline of that website, scroll to photos, check timeline photos, if you find all pic supporting only one narrative then it’s a red signal for you to recheck the news from the given source.
# Check for the Image and ask Is this image doctored?
Fake news is not always circulated through so-called news blog but they are also circulated through images as well, we have recently witnessed an event where news portal head held for circulating a fake image of a Jain monk. Check for the image, verify it then blive and share the image. Check whether the image is photoshopped or not ( you can identify by looking at the blending of the image) check it on the reverse image on google. Open the image in Images.google.com, Yandex.com or Tineye.com and find out where else it’s been published. Another useful plug-in for both Chrome and Firefox is RevEye, which searches for the same image across different search engines.
#Check for the news/Image source
We often come across many images and news on the web, whcih makes us impulsive enough to share or like on it. Before making any action on the news 1st verify the news source. If you are not able to find the news source then do not circulate it unless you verify it.
# If it’s fake, flag it
If you find that a forward or an image you’ve been sent is a fake, flag it. Don’t share or promote something unless you’re certain it’s true, says Kumaraguru, but definitely talk about it if it’s fake. Tell your friends, flag it on every social network, inform fact-checking websites to stop the story from going viral.
We all need to pitch in.
