We are all reeling under the coronavirus pandemic for nearly three months now. There is something parallel going on – infodemic. It is nearly as dangerous or even more as the pandemic because it feeds us on false information.
As news consumers, we are both culprits and victims of this infodemic and are inadvertently playing a counter-productive role in aggravating the scrouge.
Like the pandemic, you have to protect yourself from infodemic too. Here’s what you can do for starters.
- Source your information from an official and credible website. Don’t just believe any news you receive on social media platforms.
What are social media platforms doing to curb the spread of fake news?
- YouTube and Facebook’s Instagram have been actively working on restraining the spread of coronavirus-related stories on their wall and newsfeeds.
- WhatsApp is making an effort to mitigate the spread of fake news with end-to-end encrypted chats. It has also put a limit on forwarded messages.
- It is sharing official messages from the government (for example, MyGov Corona Help desk chatbox has been created, which can be reached via WhatsApp) etc.
- A common man can simply verify news images through Google reverse image search, tineye.com, reverse search and use Google lens for fact-finding.
- The authenticity of seemingly absurd videos can be verified through www.invid-project.eu.
Just as we have reached a stage in the pandemic when we have to exercise restraint as individuals, when it comes to infodemic too, the onus is on us to discourage fake news for our own benefit and that of others.
