10 Commandments for Dealing With Fake News in India

A lot of our anxiety is borrowed from sensational fake news going around in the social media & messaging platforms. Even mainstream news networks in catering to TRPs rather than thorough journalism have churned out more than their regular share of dubious news items. And since the newspapers have stopped publication we have no other choice but to depend on digital form of news.

It’s hard to be vigilant all the time, given the sophistication with which fake news is presented. But precautions can be taken and we must not succumb blindly to whatever is being flashed around.

Following are the 10 commandments which can help you distinguish reliable news from fake news in the time of COVID-19.

The First Commandment: Thou Shall not believe every thing you read on the internet.

In fact, whenever you read anything treat it initially with a certain level of suspicion.

The Second Commandment: Thou Shall Recheck the information against yet another reliable source.

In times of uncertainty like the one that we are living through, you have to check, recheck and crosscheck with as many verified sources as possible. A simple google is a definite must.

The Third Commandment: Thou Shall Only Believe Verified Sources of News

As far as English language media is concerned, websites like The News Minute,The Logical Indian, The Quint, Scroll, Newslaundry are doing a great job of covering corona-related news in india instead of just publishing opinions. Thier news that is well researched and they do not shy away from correcting their mistakes in a public manner which adds to their credibility. For international news, The Guardian continues to cover all bases.

The Fourth Commandment: Thou Shall Only Believe Verified Sources of Science

A million experts are born every mintute but when it comes to news specific to health and science around the virus always cross check with circulars from sources like World Health Organisation, National Center for Disease Control, State Chief Ministers Office and Municipal Corporations. 

The Fifth Commandment: Thou Shall Forward Only After Thou Has Independently Verified

Have you checked the source, have you rechecked the authenticity, have you crosschecked against every doubt you had. Good, now you are good to forward that message. Otherwise don’t.

The Sixth Comnandment: Thou Shall Reach Out To the Keepers of Truth

If you are finding that you are unable to verify a piece of information, reach out to The Quint’s WebQoof or The Logical Indian or Altnews and they can help you with the fact checking. For whatsapp messages, forwarding received messages to IFCN Fact Checking Organizations on WhatsApp can help check reliability of the news.

The Seventh Commandment: Thou Shall Reverse Image Search

Lots of fake is spread in the form of morphed or cropped picture. An easy to find out the source and original date of the picture is to reverse image search. Go to images.google.com or tineye. Upload the suspicious image and check for yourself.

The Eight Commandment: Thou Shall Call Out Fake News and Those That Spread Fake News

Call out fake news wherever you see it and hear it. If someone is spreading fake news, bring it to their attention as well as the attention of those consuming the news they are spreading. If the scale and pace of fake news dissemination is worrying you may also consider calling up the authorities.

The Ninth Commandment: Thou Shall Not fall for Cheap Fakes

Using Basic Common Sense is actually a pretty effective way of countering a large percentage of fake news which are cheaply and badly produced. An anonymous voice memo on whatsapp that claims to be from the Commissioner of Police. Fake. An order from the Municipality in plain text. Fake. Bad Photoshop, Low Resolution. Fake and fake.

The Tenth Commandment: Thou Shall Not Get Overwhelmed

News-related FOMO is real but if it gets too overwhelming for you, be sure to take a break for some time.

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