ByPuja Gupta
July 24, 2020 (IANSlife) The spread of fake news is at an all-time high in the midst of the coronavirus onslaught. Majority of the news currently being circulated on social media platforms have a questionable status; often they have more than one element of falsification.
This news mainly pertains to details of repatriation flights, preventive measures, treatment for COVID-19, information regarding containment zones or impending lockdowns in various areas, etc.
Social Media Matters (SMM) along with the Institute for Governance, Policies and Politics (IGPP) carried out a survey regarding Fake News generated and perceived by the regular population during this time. With around 3,752 questionnaires filled out from across India, the survey generated a detailed understanding by a variety of people belonging to different age groups and states across India.
While the majority of participants lied in the age-group of 18 to 25 (2,766 respondents) it was closely followed by the age-group 25 to 35 with 565 respondents.
According to the survey supported by Sarvahitey and Youth Online Learning Opportunities:
Commenting on the outcomes, Amitabh Kumar, Founder of Social Media Matters said: “Misinformation is probably the most complex phenomenon of the information age, as it attacks the basic fragment of our modern society, which is an informed citizen. We need to take up a systematic approach to ensure we build capacities of fact seeking.”
Dr. Manish Tiwari, Sr. Fellow, Institute for Governance, Policies and Politics said: “Social media is becoming the new carrier of info-demics in these times of pandemic... Almost 70 percent of people in the Country have got some fake news or mis-information about Covid-19 since it started; and 75 percent of these are between the age of 18-25 yrs. It's clear, young people are being targeted to further spread the misinformation and fake news as they are prime users of all the social media platforms."
(This article is website exclusive and cannot be reproduced without the permission of IANSlife)
Puja Gupta can be contacted at puja.g@ians.in