Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, director at Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, thinks that "the problems of disinformation in a society like India might be more sophisticated and more challenging than they are in the West".[6] The damage caused due to fake news on social media has increased due to the growth of the internet penetration in India, which has risen from 137 million internet users in 2012 to over 600 million in 2019.[7] India is the largest market for WhatsApp, with over 230 million users, and as a result it is one of the main platforms on which fake news is spread.[8][9] One of the principal problems is that receivers believe anything sent to them over social media due to lack of awareness.[10] Various initiatives and practices have been started and adopted to curb the spread and impact of fake news.[11] Fake news is also spread through Facebook and Twitter.[12][13][14]
According to a report by The Guardian, the Indian media research agency CMS stated that the cause of spread of fake news was that India "lacked (a) media policy for verification". Additionally, law enforcement officers have arrested reporters and journalists for "creating fictitious articles", especially when the articles were controversial.[15][16]
In India, the spread of fake news has occurred with relation to political and religious matters. The IT Cells of the BJP, Congress and other political parties have been accused of spreading fake news against the party's political opponents and any campaigns against the party.[17] The BJP is accused of spreading fake news targeting religious minorities.[18][19][20] RSS mouthpiece Organizer and Congress mouthpiece National Herald have also been accused of misleading reports.[21][22]
Another masterpiece
Coronavirus
Misinformation related to coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is in the form of social media messages related to home remedies that have not been verified, fake advisories and conspiracy theories.[23][24] At least two people have been arrested for spreading fake news about the coronavirus pandemic.[25][26] On 7 March 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an appeal to not believe any rumours related to the pandemic.[23] The Press Information Bureau brought out a fact check on 24 March that stories about a financial emergency being imposed in India are fake.[27][28] To counteract this, over 400 Indian Scientists are working together to debunk false information about the virus, as of 14 April.[29]
Fake news against Pakistan
A study by the EU DisinfoLab in 2019 found that at least "265 fake local news websites in more than 65 countries are managed by Indian influence networks with the aim of influencing international institutions along with elected representatives and swaying the public perception of Pakistan."[54] By 2020, the number of such pro-India fake news websites was revealed to have grown to 750 across 116 countries in an investigation titled the Indian Chronicles.[55] Prominent examples of fake news-spreading websites and online resources include OpIndia[56][57] and Postcard News.[58][59]
According to the BBC News, many of the fake news websites were being run by an Indian company called the Srivastava Group, which was responsible for anti-Pakistan lobbying efforts in Europe and was persistently linked to the dissemination of fake news and propaganda.[60][55] The websites, which are known to copy syndicated news content from other media outlets in order to appear as real news websites, plant opinion pieces and stories critical of Pakistan from individuals who belong to NGOs linked to their network.[60] The network attempts to influence decision-making organisations such as the UN Human Rights Council and European Parliament, where its primary aim is to "discredit Pakistan".[55] In October 2019, the network sponsored a controversial trip of a group of far-right European Parliament MPs to Indian-administered Kashmir, during which they also met prime minister Narendra Modi.[60] Domains operated by the group included the "Manchester Times", "Times of Los Angeles", "Times of Geneva" and "New Delhi Times" among others.[60] A common theme of their coverage tends to be on issues such as secessionist groups, minorities, human rights cases and terrorism in Pakistan.[60][61][62] The EU Chronicle, a Srivasta Group website which claimed to deliver news from the European Union, was found to have op-ed articles "falsely attributed to their authors, some of them European lawmakers", journalists who seemed to not exist, text plagiarised from other sources, and content mostly focused on Pakistan.[61] EPToday, another news website which highlighted anti-Pakistan material, was forced to shut down after it was similarly exposed according to Politico Europe.[61] As part of its efforts to project Indian lobbying interests, the network had resurrected fake personas of dead human rights activists and journalists, impersonated regular media agencies such as The Economist and Voice of America, used European Parliament letterheads, listed fake phone numbers and addresses including that of the UN on its websites, created obscure book publishing companies and public personalities, registered hundreds of fake NGOs, think tanks, informal groups and imam organisations, as well as conducted cybersquatting on Pakistani domains.[62] Most of the websites had a presence on social media such as Twitter.[62] It was also noted that following EU DisinfoLab's first report in 2019, some domains had closed only to be resurrected under different names later.[62] Researchers state that the main target of the fake websites' content is not readers in Europe, but rather mainstream Indian news outlets such as ANI[55] and Yahoo News India[62] who routinely reuse and republish their material and act as their conduit to hundreds of millions in India.[61]
So in a nutshell
Should we be confident in believing in news erupting from India? when they have a history of being so childish and not emphasizing on facts, figures, reality and on-ground-circumstances, as what according to Indian News Media as Bangladeshi, were actually government personnel who are actually anti-Pakistan, but a common Bangladeshi doesn't have that grudge against the visiting Pakistani team.
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