Ministry Of Health Tweeted A #factcheckguide That Says Don’t Be Misled by Fake News against COVID 19

Introduction:

Having no knowledge at all is much better than faulty knowledge. Over decades people have been influenced by wrong facts which had its consequences. And in times like COVID where news becomes prominent, it is quite common to go through fake news. So how does one defend themselves from it? Let’s take a look

How does it starts?

You open up your Instagram and see various different facts about COVID and you start thinking about impressing your friends with facts which they have never heard of (why would they?).

But have you ever wondered what is the source of the news? Probably not, and that is how you end up being a member of the “community of misinformation”.

With Facebook having more than 300 million users and Watsapp having more than 400 million users, the engagement and impulsive sharing of information has been experienced on these platforms.

Purpose behind fake news:

We don’t truly know the objectives of people behind spreading fake news but one thing for sure is they don’t want you to stay updated with the latest and authentic news. Misinformation can be used to influence various social & economic agendas.

Action by the government:

What’s more, If misinformation is being spread out then there’s a fair chance Government is aware of it thus at times like COVID outbreak it becomes imperative to rely on Government’s official websites for correct information.

For instance, during the first wave when Covid-19 was identified and spread across all states, the Indian government announced a complete lockdown in the country, for three months there was panic among the laborers as many started migrating to their hometown. Many lost jobs and lives. There was so much fake news and commotion on social media that as common public it was difficult to judge what’s right or wrong.

This was just an example! There have been many such instances where people were diverted from the real news.

Some well-known initiatives to deal with the issue of misinformation:

-Launching a chatbot named ‘MyGov Corona Helpdesk’ by watsapp in partnership with the health ministry to provide precise information.
-The United Kingdom and WHO collaborated to manage the ‘infodemic’ to combat spread of misinformation
-There was #GharBaithoIndia campaign by TikTok to encourage people to stay a home.
– Recently Ministry of health has tweeted #factcheckguide that says don’t be misled by fake news against COVID.
– Furthermore, Kerala Government has said that spreading of misinformation or non-factual data on COVID would be deemed as an offense and the offender would be penalized.

In the beginning of COVID outbreak, there were many rumors conveying messages to people on whatsapp such as this virus is designed by China to make other countries’ economy go down, COVID is created by some insane scientist who wants to end the world, this virus has come from a bat and there is possibility of another deadly virus, etc., which led to nothing but petrified the people who actually believed it.

The law enforcement agencies have now built certain provisions in law to tackle spreading of fake news about the virus among the public.

Over to you:

Government cannot put more emphasis on staying away from fake news sources against COVID. At the end of the day you have to decide where you get your information from as not only can spreading fake news affect well being of the public but the overall growth of your country in some way or another.