Parliamentary Panel to Review Mechanism to Curb Fake News 

Syllabus: GS2/Governance 

In News 

• The Parliamentary Panel on Communications and Information Technology has called for a review of mechanisms to curb fake news.

About 

• Fake news is either disinformation (deliberately false information meant to harm) or misinformation (false information shared unintentionally). 
• Disinformation aims to create confusion and conflict in society.

Status in India 

• The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks 2024 report highlights disinformation as a major short-term risk and identifies India as a leading country in spreading misinformation. 
• A study by MIT confirms that false information spreads faster and wider than the truth.

Key Drivers 

• India, with its vast population and high internet penetration, has become one of the largest consumers and producers of news and information.
  • a significant portion of the Indian population depends on social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and YouTube for news updates. 
• Political agendas, religious misinformation, rumors, and sensationalized claims often find a ready audience, leading to the widespread belief in false narratives.

Impacts

• Threat to Democracy: In today’s “post-truth” era, emotional appeals often outweigh objective facts, making people vulnerable to misinformation.
  • This can influence public opinion, especially during elections, and even well-informed people may accept false claims.
  • Social media platforms are commonly used to spread fake news, sometimes by political parties to incite division. 
  • Hyper-nationalism has also worsened the spread of misinformation in India.
• Social Division and Polarization: Fake news can polarize public opinion, spread extremist views, incite violence (such as the attacks in Bengaluru and Muzzaffar Nagar), and lead to harmful health decisions, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Undermines Trust in Media and Institutions: Persistent exposure to fake news erodes public trust in legitimate media outlets and government institutions, making it challenging to discern reliable information.
• Economic Consequences: Misinformation can affect businesses and markets by spreading false claims about products, stocks, or industries, leading to economic losses and damage to reputations.

Challenges in Regulating Fake News

• Defining Fake News: Hard to clearly define, risking confusion between misinformation and free expression.
• Balancing Freedom of Speech: Regulation must balance with free speech to avoid censorship.
• Advanced Technology: Tools like deepfakes make fake news harder to detect.
• Social Media Accountability: Platforms lack full accountability for user content.
• Rapid Spread: Fake news spreads faster than factual corrections.
• Low Digital Literacy: Many people struggle to identify fake news.

Governments Efforts 

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology promulgated the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023 (2023 Rules), which amended the Information Technology Rules, 2021.
  • The amendment to Rule 3(1)(b)(v) of the IT Rules, 2021 expanded the general term “fake news” to include “government business”. Under the Rules, if the FCU comes across or is informed about any posts that are “fake”, “false”, or contain “misleading” facts pertaining to the business of the government, it would flag it to the social media intermediaries. 
  • Recently, the Bombay High Court officially struck down the Centre’s Fact Check Unit, calling amended IT Rules ‘unconstitutional’ underlining the need for frameworks that ensure transparency and avoid potential misuse of power in digital governance.
• Current Status of Fact Check: The Press Information Bureau (PIB) still operates a fact-check unit, but it lacks the power to remove content deemed as “fake news”.
• Digital Literacy Campaigns: Programs like Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) aim to improve digital literacy, especially in rural areas, so citizens can better recognize and avoid fake news.

Suggestions and Way Forward 

• Governments should promote media literacy and critical thinking in schools, mandating workshops to help students critically evaluate information. 
• Governments, tech platforms, and independent organizations should collaborate to expand fact-checking networks and integrate real-time verification tools into social media platforms to combat misinformation effectively.
• Social media platforms should take greater responsibility by using AI to detect fake news and by labeling misinformation.
• Aristotle’s insight into an educated society underscores the power of critical thinking: the ability to evaluate ideas without automatically embracing them.

Source: TH