Govt authorities look to break rampant misinformation

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The involvement of social media in people’s lives, although debated, can never be ignored.

On the pretext of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, emerges a concerning trend: the peddling of fake and defamatory messages on various platforms.

This has caught the attention of the World Economic Forum, which has sternly warned about the perils of misinformation being circulated without verification.

Digital experts have shed light on how platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter have become a hotspot for fake news, particularly in political contexts.

They also point out how certain parties use India's diverse cultural and religious tapestry to run false narratives, exploiting societal fault lines for political gain.

The existing legal frameworks, these experts add, are inadequate to counter this threat effectively.

Under the leadership of IT-BT minister Priyank Kharge, the Government of Karnataka has established dedicated fact-checking and analysis teams through the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society.

With the appointment of an IPS officer and a legal team, this unit is poised to begin operations imminently, aiming to curb the spread of misinformation.

Former Police Commissioner of Bangalore and former DG and IGP of Karnataka, Ajai Kumar Singh, emphasized the troubling reality that misinformation spreads rapidly, even among well-off people.

Prashant Bhushan, a senior advocate of the Supreme Court, points out the orchestrated efforts of a major political party in influencing public opinion through large-scale disinformation campaigns.

He warns of the escalating threat posed by deep fakes, fueled by advancements in artificial intelligence, and emphasizes the urgent need for robust measures to counter such nefarious activities.