In the summer of 2018, rumors began circulating on WhatsApp groups about a kidnapping gang, operating in Maharashtra. Eventually instigated by this fake news, a lynch mob got readied and killed five migrant workers. They were suspected of being kidnappers after they arrived at a village in the Dhule district. As all we know that recently, we had seen almost a similar incident in Tamil Nadu where the news of atrocities on workers from Bihar was reported, leading to a confrontation between the two state governments. A fake film of conflict was shot like a genuine incident and posted on Youtube by some people with a very clear intent of spreading hatred and disrupting peace in these two states. Sometimes back, In Bhiwani, two people were killed mercilessly on the pretext of being cow thieves. Disinformation targeting a particular community during corona about attending a religious gathering in Delhi and finally testing positive for Covid 19, was relayed on mainstream media for many days. These kinds of reports have become a common feature of our daily life. The biggest concern is that starting from small incidents, it has dangerously started becoming a common trait of society.
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Since the advent of the internet and later on with the entry and penetration of social media, everybody is bombarded by information in such a big way that it becomes difficult to differentiate between fact and fake. Especially in the political and religious arena, it becomes entirely difficult whom to trust and whom not to trust. So much sludge is being thrown by almost all the social, political, and religious leaders on each other, that people not only get confused rather start arguing without any logic. We can find seasoned and renowned leaders giving away agenda-based statements, just to be publicly right. We will find that these mass leaders have mastered the art of public perception management. Today, we are living in an era where floated messages are the absolute truth in place of realities and facts.
In 2016, “POST TRUTH” was named word of the year by the Oxford Dictionary. It is related to denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than pseudo-emotional appeals connecting to people’s aspirations. Cambridge Analytica was a company that specialized in using data from social media to build psychological profiles about social media users in various countries. It acquired data for 87 million Facebook users without the users’ knowledge and permission. In Europe, there were setbacks that few predicted, such as the British population’s decision to leave European Union, or Italy’s no to referendum on constitutional reforms proposed by Matteo Renzi.
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In the United States Trump’s controversial victory in the election was no less than a surprise. Before the 2016 United States presidential election Trump shared a total of 30 million times on Facebook, while those favoring Hillary Clinton were shared by 8 million times on Facebook. The average American saw and remembered 0.92 pro-Trump fake news stories in comparison to 0.23 pro-Clinton fake news stories. A single fake article has the same persuasive effect as 36 TV ads. All these milestones have a common denominator. Personal beliefs were continuously presented or hammered in such a strong way that they gained strength and became established as assumptions shared by society.
The World Wide Web has changed the dynamics of information transmission and agenda setting. Facts mingle with half-truths and lie to create a factitious International FIB, that drives speculative politics. We specify an information environment that mirrors and contribute to a polarised political system. Breaking news unfolds people’s increased interest. Then they rely on social media to stay abreast of the fastest updates. The new information/misinformation being released inpiecemeal, many of which remain unverified even long after their point of release. It leaves an indelible imprint on the public’s memory. In some cases, this mistrust results in incivility, protest over imaginary events, or even violence. India is a fake news-prone country. Generally, the major themes or bases of fake news are religion, politics, crime, and a mix of health and entertainment. Fake news related to religion and politics seems to be more prevalent.
Misinformation can lead to poor decisions and is persistent and difficult to correct. Today, unfortunately, politicians design and create fake news to suit their political landscapes. The persistence of information is stronger and the debunking effect is weaker. Misinformation can be very difficult to correct and may have lasting effects even after it is discredited. A causal explanation for an unexplained event is significantly more effective than a denial. People don’t believe even when denial is backed by unusually strong evidence. We have seen it happening in India and in other countries quite frequently in recent times. Attempting to quash power through direct refutation may facilitate their diffusion by increasing fluency. The empirical results find that merely repeating a rumor increases its power.
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It has been seen that rumors acquire power through familiarity. The brains have a limited capability for processing information and for remembering. So, the brain makes judgments on what to keep and what to leave. Looking into the fact, that brain accepts the more familiar contents, due to previous issues, past experiences, and their impact, therefore it finally relates to that information and the situation for the judgment. Certainly, at that moment, the brain can recall the previous effect of that content and without giving a second thought frequently passes the judgments.
We have been living in a transactional and functional world, where information is like sowing a seed in society. If the seed is good and well-nourished it will bear good fruits, otherwise, there’s every possibility of its becoming a poisonous weed. Fake news can make us believe in absurdities and can also make us enter into violence and atrocities. It’s always better to understand little than to misunderstand a lot. Today, the psychic pollution surrounding our planet, visible in the form of greed, insecurity, fear, and violence is far denser and deeper than the physical pollution. We have been intoxicated by it so deeply that instead of seeking happiness, we seek those things and get into those sadistic activities which we think will make us happy.
Tags: #climate, #climatechange, #environment, #era, #getgreengetgrowing, #gngagriteh, #greenstories, #misinformation, #politics, #Pollution, #posttruth, #Psychic, #socialmedia
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