A latest survey has found that people below the age of 20 or those above the age of 50 are most susceptible to be swayed by fake news. The study, titled ‘Countering Misinformation (Fake News) in India’, by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Factly, it is claimed, is based on an extensive survey covering 891 respondents, along with structured interviews of 30 interviewees from the technology and Internet service providers, government officials, law enforcement, media and influencers, fact checkers, academia, political parties.
The report suggests that while newspapers still remain the top source of information for most, those relatively new to use of technology / Internet (or the late adopters) still do not grasp the concept of fake information over these platforms. A substantial section of people is not aware of fact checking organisations and the role of agencies to verify news. According to the survey, most people use social network platforms to connect with friends and families. As age of the respondents increased, ‘Friends or Friend Groups’ and groups based on political / social / cultural beliefs of the person was chosen by a greater proportion of respondents as their main source of information on social media.
Many respondents also expressed lack of trust over conventional media (with suggestions of their being corrupt or paid media) and thus their faith in content shared by common people over social media. The expert interviews suggest that political parties are leveraging the pace of digital content production and grooming an informal base that creates and spreads messages to suit their campaign agenda regardless of whether the messages are factually accurate or not. Media groups amplify messages by creating content that is one-sided and suitable to their business or other interests. This creates disillusionment with mainstream media work. A large majority of people shares and spreads unverified information because of the availability of the information they have. These are driven by the social groups which they are a part of. The extent of information verification is limited by cellular data and digital literacy. It is time for everyone to understand that not just the printed word, but shared word, too, is sacrosanct.