We live in a post-truth world and it is chock-full of fake news. You might have seen the term floating around on the Internet, read about how Facebook is trying to counter its spread, and even experienced it...
Illustration/Ravi Jadhav
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We live in a post-truth world and it is chock-full of fake news. You might have seen the term floating around on the Internet, read about how Facebook is trying to counter its spread, and even experienced it - remember that WhatsApp hoax about Baba Ramdev's death on a highway that went viral? Or the video clip of author Arundhati Roy - uploaded on a fake news website - where she is allegedly speaking about the tension in Kashmir, which several, including MP Paresh Rawal, believed to be true? But how do you separate the news from the chaff? mid-day lets you in on the canard of fake news and what you can do to spot and ignore it.
What is fake news?
Donald Trump calls every story he doesn't like 'fake news'. But is that the identifying qualifier for fake news? No; simply put, fake news is spreading incorrect information as a fact and a happening. Broadly, fake news is manufactured lies, with exaggerated and manipulated facts that are spread by tapping into extreme opinions, running on passionate beliefs held by people. However, websites like The Onion and Faking News are not to be confused for fake news as they are purely satirical. Fake news websites, on the other hand, aren't satirical.
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