Jency Jacob: ‘It’s a dangerous time to be a ground reporter today’
2 years, 8 months ago

Jency Jacob: ‘It’s a dangerous time to be a ground reporter today’

The Hindu  

Published : Jul 10, 2022 18:00 IST Jency Jacob is the managing editor of BOOM, one of India’s leading fact-checking websites. Fact-checking has emerged as a new form of journalism, but it would not have been so if the mainstream media had risen to the challenge of disinformation on social media and the need to verify comments made by those in public life and put them through the lens of greater scrutiny. In many ways, while fact-checkers may have put the craft of tech and old-styled journalism to greater use while reporting their stories, the basic principles remain the same—verify every bit of information with primary sources, rely less on unnamed sources, and attribute every bit of information that a reader can verify while reading the story. If there were no fact checkers, the world would not be any better but would only be worse as those involved in spreading disinformation would wreak havoc without anyone to hold them accountable. While social media is tremendously useful, it is also dangerous as it provides a platform for false and dangerous information to go viral instantly.

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History of this topic

Hijacking news: Fake media sites sow Ukraine disinformation
5 days, 14 hours ago

Hijacking news: Fake media sites sow Ukraine disinformation

The Hindu  

A fake news website falsely claimed that Ukraine's president is paying Western reporters to tarnish US President Donald Trump - part of a series of deceptive reports spread by Russian-linked portals mimicking media outlets. Earlier this month, Clear Story News falsely reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was using US taxpayer dollars to pay Western media journalists to target Trump. …

Battling India’s infodemic: Why we urgently need a comprehensive law to counter fake news
2 weeks ago

Battling India’s infodemic: Why we urgently need a comprehensive law to counter fake news

New Indian Express  

In the present era of instant information, differentiating truth from lies is becoming harder. Despite facing a severe global disinformation crisis, India still lacks a robust legal framework to effectively combat fake news. France and Germany have enacted strict laws that mandate social media platforms to remove fake news within 24 hours or face hefty fines. India’s closest attempt at …

Meta, Facebook to drop fact-checkers: What does this mean for social media?
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Meta, Facebook to drop fact-checkers: What does this mean for social media?

Al Jazeera  

Meta, the owner of Facebook and other social media platforms, will implement major changes to its content moderation policies, founder Mark Zuckerberg announced this week in a video titled, “More speech and fewer mistakes”. Among the changes, Meta’s use of fact-checking organisations will end abolished and the group will switch to a system of community notes – similar to those …

No more fact-checking for Meta. How will this change media — and the pursuit of truth?
Trending News
2 months, 2 weeks ago

No more fact-checking for Meta. How will this change media — and the pursuit of truth?

Associated Press  

“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts,” the late New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan memorably wrote four decades ago. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement this week was widely seen in news verification circles as a genuflection to president-elect Donald Trump, whose first term in office popularized the phrase “alternative facts.” Meta is replacing its …

No more fact-checking for Meta. How will this change media — and the pursuit of truth?
2 months, 2 weeks ago

No more fact-checking for Meta. How will this change media — and the pursuit of truth?

New Indian Express  

“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts,” the late New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan memorably wrote four decades ago. That seems like a simpler time — especially when you consider Meta’s decision to end a fact-checking program on social media apps Facebook, Instagram and Threads and what the ramifications might be for an industry …

Analysing Indian Social Media Users Spreading Bangladesh-Related 'Fake News'
2 months, 4 weeks ago

Analysing Indian Social Media Users Spreading Bangladesh-Related 'Fake News'

The Quint  

An analysis by a Bangladeshi fact-checking organisation Rumor Scanner found that “72% of the accounts spreading… misinformation” related to Bangladesh’s interim head Mohammed Yunus and the socio-political climate “are located in India”. In our work, we were able to identify six unique X accounts, all subscribers of X Premium, which routinely spread harmful narratives and misinformation related to Bangladesh - …

After Trump's victory, U.S. election falsehoods shift left
4 months, 2 weeks ago

After Trump's victory, U.S. election falsehoods shift left

Raw Story  

Right-wing falsehoods about voter fraud fell off a cliff after Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. election, but American liberals took a page from their playbook to push wild conspiracy theories that have fueled doubt about the democratic process. "What we're seeing now is an uptick in election fraud claims from the left, particularly in the days following Election Day …

Misinformation fears mount over second Trump term
4 months, 2 weeks ago

Misinformation fears mount over second Trump term

Raw Story  

Donald Trump's election victory paves the way for a fresh wave of misinformation, not only around politics but also on vaccines and climate, with his expected cabinet picks ready to challenge the scientific community. "The problem of misinformation and disinformation is the worst it's ever been," said Bill Adair, a Duke University professor who founded the fact-checking site PolitiFact and …

Beware: U.S. election disinformation masked as 'breaking news'
5 months, 1 week ago

Beware: U.S. election disinformation masked as 'breaking news'

Raw Story  

"Breaking" news, screamed an online post by a conservative American influencer as he pushed disinformation about Kamala Harris, illustrating how journalism lingo has been co-opted as a tool to amplify election falsehoods. It is yet another disinformation trend undermining trust in traditional media -- already at historic lows, surveys show -- alongside the proliferation of fake "news" sites and the …

Swinney: Social media giants must crack down on ‘dangerous’ disinformation
7 months, 3 weeks ago

Swinney: Social media giants must crack down on ‘dangerous’ disinformation

The Independent  

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy John Swinney has urged social media giants to …

Conspiracy theories spread wildly after the first assassination attempt on a US president in the social media age
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Conspiracy theories spread wildly after the first assassination attempt on a US president in the social media age

CNN  

CNN — Saturday’s shooting at a Donald Trump rally was the first assassination attempt of a US presidential candidate in the age of social media – and the former president had barely been hit before the internet was abuzz with all sorts of unsubstantiated explanations for what had, or had not, occurred. Conspiracy theories spread wildly Almost immediately after Trump …

How politics, engagement bait and money opened up a firehose of falsehoods following Trump's shooting
8 months, 2 weeks ago

How politics, engagement bait and money opened up a firehose of falsehoods following Trump's shooting

ABC  

"Donald Trump's attempted assassination was a staged event from within his team to boost his electoral chances. Just hours after the shocking attempt on Trump's life, these are a few of the many unfounded conspiracy theories that popular online influencers with millions of followers started spreading about 20-year-old shooter Thomas Crooks's motivations. #1 The asset management firm BlackRock planned the …

Collaboration key in fight against disinformation: Bertelsmann Foundation report
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Collaboration key in fight against disinformation: Bertelsmann Foundation report

The Hindu  

Published : Jun 14, 2024 15:44 IST - 4 MINS READ Transnational cooperation between civil society organisations, media outlets, and the world’s largest technology companies is needed to effectively combat disinformation, according to a new analysis by the non-profit think-tank Bertelsmann Foundation. “We also need pre-bunking,” she said, referring to a strategy of alerting people to fake content before they …

The 'Sift' strategy: A four-step method for spotting misinformation
10 months, 2 weeks ago

The 'Sift' strategy: A four-step method for spotting misinformation

BBC  

The 'Sift' strategy: A four-step method for spotting misinformation Javier Hirschfeld/Getty Images The Sift method is a way to spot misinformation Pioneered by digital literacy experts, the "Sift" strategy is a technique for spotting fake news and misleading social media posts, says Amanda Ruggeri. What you're looking for is whether a more trustworthy source, like a reputable news outlet or …

UK vulnerable to misinformation, fact-checking charity warns
11 months, 2 weeks ago

UK vulnerable to misinformation, fact-checking charity warns

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Despite promises that the regulation would apply to disinformation and misinformation that could cause harm to individuals, …

Do we need to fact-check the fact-checker?
1 year ago

Do we need to fact-check the fact-checker?

Live Mint  

The Centre has notified a fact-checking unit to flag ‘misinformation’ about the government, with powers to issue directives. The fact-checking unit was notified under the Centre’s Press Information Bureau, giving the government body power to flag any information about the government and its affiliates that it believes to be fake or misleading. Lawyers say using legal clauses further threatens social …

‘Myth vs Reality’: EC lays down steps to curb fake news
1 year ago

‘Myth vs Reality’: EC lays down steps to curb fake news

Hindustan Times  

The Election Commission on Saturday announced a host of steps to combat the spread of fake news and misinformation on social media during the Lok Sabha elections, including launching a “Myth vs Reality” project, using the Information Technology Act to take down unlawful content, and setting up a standard operating procedure for Quick Response against fake news. Announcing the schedule …

The Hindu Lit Fest 2024 | A viral world: countering fake news
1 year, 2 months ago

The Hindu Lit Fest 2024 | A viral world: countering fake news

The Hindu  

How do you counter the Hindutva ecosystem where the common well is being poisoned by disinformation campaigns and bogus claims, which are impacting lives? A panel of journalists comprising Sreenivasan Jain, N. Ram and Pratik Sinha discussed the issue threadbare in a conversation moderated by Ziya Us Salam at a session titled, “A Viral World: Countering Fake News”, at The …

Fake news, AI, and the worries ahead
1 year, 2 months ago

Fake news, AI, and the worries ahead

Hindustan Times  

“What no one knows is how misinformation will spread during the election season this year,” says Jency Jacob, Managing Editor of BoomLive. Artificial Intelligence “The biggest challenge this election season apart from usual narrative misinformation that cuts across parties, is going to be how new technologies like AI will be used by them. “In India, we had cheap fakes, but …

Lost in the chaos, news you can trust
1 year, 4 months ago

Lost in the chaos, news you can trust

Hindustan Times  

On October 17, an Israeli rocket struck a Gaza hospital, killing 500 innocent people. Just before President Joe Biden began a trip to West Asia in hopes of averting an escalation of the conflict and a widening of the war, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas responded to the awful news by cancelling his scheduled meeting with the US president, and …

How the fog of war spun rumors of terrorism out of a deadly Long Beach crash
1 year, 5 months ago

How the fog of war spun rumors of terrorism out of a deadly Long Beach crash

LA Times  

A car struck pedestrians in a crosswalk as well as vehicles in the Oct. 14 crash at Shoreline Drive and Aquarium Way in Long Beach. “In such turbulent times, like the one we’re experiencing now, misinformation and disinformation can spread like wildfire and in turn further fueling tension and widespread misinformation,” Goldenberg said. Allison Gallagher, a Long Beach police spokesperson, …

The Israel-Hamas war reveals how social media sells you the illusion of reality
1 year, 5 months ago

The Israel-Hamas war reveals how social media sells you the illusion of reality

CNN  

New York CNN — As the Israel-Hamas war reaches the end of its first week, millions have turned to platforms including TikTok and Instagram in hopes of comprehending the brutal conflict in real time. This week, European Union officials sent warnings to TikTok, Facebook and Instagram-parent Meta, YouTube and X, highlighting reports of misleading or illegal content about the war …

New IT Rules provide an evidence-based-fact-checking system for fake news, says Centre
1 year, 11 months ago

New IT Rules provide an evidence-based-fact-checking system for fake news, says Centre

The Hindu  

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology termed as “premature” political satirist Kunal Kamra’s plea challenging the constitutional validity of the Information Technology Amendment Rules, 2023 and said the Rules are in “public interest” and provide an evidence-based-fact-checking system for a mechanism to deal with fake or false or misleading information resulting in riots, mob lynching and other heinous crimes. …

Explained | Will platforms have to take down ‘fake news’?
1 year, 11 months ago

Explained | Will platforms have to take down ‘fake news’?

The Hindu  

The story so far: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on Thursday amended the Information Technology Rules, 2021. The amendment empowers the Union Government to designate an official fact checker for misinformation and ‘fake news’, and to regulate the online real money gaming industry, which comprises apps like fantasy sports sites, rummy and poker. Union Minister of State for …

In praise of social media and condemnation of its users
1 year, 11 months ago

In praise of social media and condemnation of its users

The Hindu  

In 2000, as a student in Delhi, I had to undertake three-day journeys on Kerala Express travelling between home and university. Of course, we have to be extra vigilant not to be carried away by false and fake news that are abundant on social media. And yet, we are glued to social media as we are entertained by interesting video …

Opinion: Fake News Is Traveling Faster Than True Stories
2 years, 1 month ago

Opinion: Fake News Is Traveling Faster Than True Stories

Huff Post  

Ever since social media became one of the chief methods of propagating information, we’ve had to parse out what’s real and what’s propagandistic hogwash. But that overload is no excuse to get buckwild with the “share” button based on the headline of a story that you didn’t read or to immediately froth at the mouth in rage at a tweet …

Social media platforms have done ‘half-measures’ to root out election disinformation
2 years, 5 months ago

Social media platforms have done ‘half-measures’ to root out election disinformation

LA Times  

Baseless claims about election fraud continue to flourish on popular internet platforms ahead of the midterms, despite what the companies say have been efforts to contain them. A Facebook search for the words “election fraud” first delivers an article claiming that workers at a Pennsylvania children’s museum are brainwashing children so they’ll accept stolen elections. While platforms like Twitter, TikTok, …

US steps up fight against COVID-19 misinformation
3 years, 8 months ago

US steps up fight against COVID-19 misinformation

Al Jazeera  

The effort comes as the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations has slowed throughout the US, due in part to false claims. US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Thursday called for a national effort to fight misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines, urging tech companies, health care workers, journalists and everyday Americans to do more to address a problem “that cost us lives”. …

As Fact Check Gets Caught in Fake News Web, Twitter Finds Itself in a Spot Again
3 years, 9 months ago

As Fact Check Gets Caught in Fake News Web, Twitter Finds Itself in a Spot Again

News 18  

Who knew that fact-checkers would be the biggest peddlers of fake news? A few hours later another video emerged of the poor man, in a completely different setting in the company of a religious leader, saying that the hooligans had forced him to chant “Jai Sri Ram” and this was used to conclusively settle the communal nature of the incident. …

Twitter flags Sambit Patra’s tweet on Congress ‘toolkit’ as manipulated media
3 years, 10 months ago

Twitter flags Sambit Patra’s tweet on Congress ‘toolkit’ as manipulated media

The Hindu  

Micro-blogging website Twitter has flagged a tweet by BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra alleging the use of a ‘toolkit’ by Congress as manipulated media. The May 18 tweet includes pictures of a document that, according to Mr. Patra, enlists social media measures used by the Congress to hurt Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image during the second wave of the COVID-19 …

Few Facts, Millions Of Clicks: Fearmongering Vaccine Stories Go Viral Online
4 years ago

Few Facts, Millions Of Clicks: Fearmongering Vaccine Stories Go Viral Online

NPR  

Few Facts, Millions Of Clicks: Fearmongering Vaccine Stories Go Viral Online Enlarge this image toggle caption Sarah Reingewirtz/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images Sarah Reingewirtz/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images The odds of dying after getting a COVID-19 vaccine are virtually nonexistent. Enlarge this image toggle caption Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long …

US election: How three falsehoods have spread online
4 years, 4 months ago

US election: How three falsehoods have spread online

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Falsehoods about Tuesday’s election …

Opinion: The New York Post puts Twitter and Facebook in a no-win position
4 years, 5 months ago

Opinion: The New York Post puts Twitter and Facebook in a no-win position

LA Times  

The New York Post published a story Wednesday about Joe Biden and his son Hunter that read suspiciously like disinformation. It also set the stage for the sort of outrage Republicans displayed Wednesday, when they assumed Twitter and Facebook were objecting to the Post’s piece because it criticized Biden — which both services credibly argued they weren’t doing. As Sen. …

Engagement with misinformation on Facebook has tripled since the 2016 election - and became even worse in 2020
4 years, 5 months ago

Engagement with misinformation on Facebook has tripled since the 2016 election - and became even worse in 2020

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. People clicking, and reading, content from publishers which “repeatedly publish verifiably false content” has increased by 102 …

Trump's Campaign Is Testing The Ways It Can Distort Reality Online
4 years, 6 months ago

Trump's Campaign Is Testing The Ways It Can Distort Reality Online

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING The presidential election is just 56 days away, and as Donald Trump struggles to gain ground in key states, he is increasingly relying on deceptively altered media to bend reality in his favor. The “Trump War Room” Twitter account shared an out-of-context clip of Biden saying, “You won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.” And on Facebook, …

A new wave of the fake news pandemic is born
5 years ago

A new wave of the fake news pandemic is born

The Hindu  

The biggest reputational risk Facebook and other social media companies had expected in 2020 was fake news surrounding the U.S. presidential election. That approach—known as “accuracy nudge intervention”—from social media companies could limit the spread of misinformation, the report concluded. “These are the kind of things that make the concept of accuracy top of the minds of people,” said Mr. …

Shashi Tharoor refuses to delete tweet sharing article from hoax site because 'it is already viral'
5 years ago

Shashi Tharoor refuses to delete tweet sharing article from hoax site because 'it is already viral'

Op India  

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had shared a story hailing Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan for his so-called efforts to tackle the coronavirus outbreak in Kerala in a portal called Britishherald.com. The title of the story read, “A masterclass in tackling COVID-19 from Kerala, India” Tharoor’s tweet read “Kerala earns international kudos for its valiant efforts to tackle the COVID-19 crisis with …

Fake news alert: No, there is no way to self-test for coronavirus
5 years ago

Fake news alert: No, there is no way to self-test for coronavirus

Deccan Chronicle  

Chennai: One of the ways the internet claims you can test yourself for the coronavirus COVID-19, which shows up with symptoms such as sore throat, fever and cough, is to hold your breath for 10 seconds. Another trick used by those spreading fake news is the ominous message, “Here’s what the media is not telling you’, which prompts the public …

Twitter Vows That As Disinformation Tactics Change, Its Policies Will Keep Pace
5 years ago

Twitter Vows That As Disinformation Tactics Change, Its Policies Will Keep Pace

NPR  

Twitter Vows That As Disinformation Tactics Change, Its Policies Will Keep Pace Enlarge this image toggle caption Jeff Chiu/AP Jeff Chiu/AP Twitter is deploying new features on Thursday that it says will keep pace with disinformation and influence operations targeting the 2020 election. Sponsor Message toggle caption Facebook Twitter's head of site integrity, Yoel Roth, told NPR that moderators will …

Fake Facts Are Flying About Coronavirus. Now There's A Plan To Debunk Them
5 years, 1 month ago

Fake Facts Are Flying About Coronavirus. Now There's A Plan To Debunk Them

NPR  

Fake Facts Are Flying About Coronavirus. The coronavirus outbreak has sparked what the World Health Organization is calling an "infodemic" — an overwhelming amount of information on social media and websites. Sponsor Message "We need a vaccine against misinformation," said Dr. Mike Ryan, head of WHO's health emergencies program, at a WHO briefing on the virus in February. The approach, …

Coronavirus fake news, false miracle cures spreading all over social media
5 years, 1 month ago

Coronavirus fake news, false miracle cures spreading all over social media

Live Mint  

The new coronavirus roiling financial markets and prompting travel bans is taking on a life of its own on the internet, once again putting U.S.-based social media companies on the defensive about their efforts to curb the spread of false or dangerous information. Posts attributing the coronavirus to Chinese culinary practices have blown up, and a review of a new …

As coronavirus spreads, so too does online misinformation
5 years, 2 months ago

As coronavirus spreads, so too does online misinformation

CNN  

New York CNN Business — False claims about how the coronavirus began, the number of people infected and promises of magical cures are spreading on the internet. “It always has to be something sinister,” Schenk said of the conspiracy theorists’ misinformation, which includes false claims that the virus was the creation of a government. Once Facebook posts and links containing …

Can an AI fact-checker solve India’s fake news problem?
5 years, 3 months ago

Can an AI fact-checker solve India’s fake news problem?

Salon  

When a group of five men offered a cookie to a young girl in a village in the western Indian state of Maharashtra last July, they didn’t know the gesture would cost them their lives. “The NLP-based approach will not work because the amount of text you usually have, especially when the misinformation is centered around an image or a …

Opinion | Fight fake news on Facebook
5 years, 9 months ago

Opinion | Fight fake news on Facebook

Live Mint  

According to a new survey of internet users globally, social media companies have emerged as the top source of user distrust on the internet. Seventy-seven per cent of the users on the social media platform said they came across fake news on the website, followed by 62% in case of Twitter and 74% for other social media users. Nine per …

Fake news floods social media soon after PM Modi returns to power; most popular ones listed here
5 years, 10 months ago

Fake news floods social media soon after PM Modi returns to power; most popular ones listed here

India TV News  

Fake news floods social media soon after PM Modi returns to power; most popular ones listed here The flow of fake news after the election results suggests that the tide of misinformation on social media is unlikely to stop any time soon. Where one side of the results led to memes on social media, the other came up with posts …

Fixing algorithms won't curb fake news on social media
5 years, 11 months ago

Fixing algorithms won't curb fake news on social media

The Quint  

New York, April 26 Just tweaking algorithms and infusing Machine Learning into them will not protect us from misinformation and fake news on social media platforms, warn researchers. Technological fixes cannot stop countries from spreading disinformation on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, said Erik Nisbet and Olga Kamenchuk of The Ohio State University. "There is so much attention …

Vaccine wars: Social media battle outbreak of bogus claims
5 years, 11 months ago

Vaccine wars: Social media battle outbreak of bogus claims

Associated Press  

SAN FRANCISCO — Like health officials facing outbreaks of disease, internet companies are trying to contain vaccine-related misinformation they have long helped spread. “The online world has been one that has been very much taken over by misinformation spread by concerned parents,” said Richard Carpiano, a professor of public policy and sociology at the University of California, Riverside, who studies …

Facebook expands fact-checking network ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2019 to curb fake news
6 years, 1 month ago

Facebook expands fact-checking network ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2019 to curb fake news

Firstpost  

Facebook Inc is expanding its fact-checking network in India to curb the spread of misinformation as the world’s largest democracy prepares for a general election that must be held by May, the US-based social media giant said on Monday. “We are committed to fighting the spread of false news on Facebook, especially ahead of the 2019 General Election campaign season,” …

Facebook amps up fact-checking team in India to curb fake news
6 years, 1 month ago

Facebook amps up fact-checking team in India to curb fake news

Live Mint  

New Delhi: Social media platform Facebook India on Monday said that it has added five new partners and three new languages to its fact-checking program in a bid to curb fake news. News media and fact-checking firms, including India Today Group, Vishvas.news, Factly, Newsmobile and Fact Crescendo, will review news stories on Facebook for facts and rate their accuracy. We …

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