Panaji
Author and founder editor of Scroll.in, Naresh Fernandes, on Saturday pointed out that the government’s efforts to curb the spread of “fake news” via Whatsapp forwards would go a long way if it’s own leaders stopped forwarding fake news.
“This government’s efforts to stop fake news would ring more true if its own leaders stopped forwarding fake news so enthusiastically,” said Fernandes, addressing the audience on the final day of the Goa Arts and Literature Festival (GALF 2018) during a panel discussion on ‘Fake News.’
Fernandes said that while the government seemed to believe that there were technical solutions to stop fake news, like curbing people from forwarding messages on Whatsapp and Indian authorities pulling the plug on the internet, it wasn’t clear how effective this strategy was.
Until the first week of December, the government had shut down the internet 106 times across the country, said Fernandes.
However, he said that while the government urged citizens to avoid spreading fake news, they were quick to encourage the spread of fake news to their advantage. “Earlier this month, party president Amit Shah told workers of his cyber cell about how the party had benefitted in last year’s UP elections by spreading a fake news story about Akhilesh Yadav slapping his father. Shah thus urged party workers to use the party’s network of Whatsapp groups effectively by saying, “We are capable enough to spread any message among the people, whether sweet or sour, real or fake,” said Fernandes.
Fernandes also told of how in Karnataka, just ahead of elections, BJP members were circulating messages that 24 Hindu activists had been murdered by “jihadi elements.” Deeper investigations revealed that of the 24, one man was alive, two men’s families said they had committed suicide, two men were murdered by their own sisters, and 14 men were murdered by people who had nothing to do with Muslim organisations. “But the facts didn’t stop BJP leaders from repeatedly invoking their own figures during the campaign,” said Fernandes.
The author said that the battle against fake news was a long and hard one, which would require journalists to undertake rigorous fact checks. “In the end, I have no doubt that we’ll win,” he expressed.
