Fake News Galore In India Even As Coronavirus Pandemic Rages Through The Country

By Debdutta Ghosh

Apart from the herculean task of fighting the coronavirus, India authorities are also now for ced to fight the menace of coronavirus related misinformation and fake news being circulated in the country through multiple social media platforms.

Ranging from offering unverified home remedies to tackle the virus, to suggesting fake advisories urging people not to consume foods such as ice cream and chicken to sharing conspiracy theories on the virus, the Indian social media has been flooded with fake and misleading information.

For example, a fake advisory from the UNICEF got circulated throughout India that asked people to avoid consuming ice creams and other cold foo ds while urging people to frequently wash of clothes since “corona virus when it falls on the fabric remains nine hours”. Another advisory on social media quoted doctors recommending intake of heavy doses of Vitamin C while another listed out how the virus can be detected at home. And one particularly foolish advisory warned people to “not hold your thirst because once your membrane in your throat is dried, the virus will invade into your body within 10 minutes.”Such misinformation and fake news prompted the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to appeal to citizens – urging them not heed to rumours surrounding Covid-19 – the disease caused by coroavirus.For example, a fake advisory from the UNICEF got circulated throughout India that asked people to avoid consuming ice creams and other cold foods while urging people to frequently wash of clothes since “corona virus when it falls on the fabric remains nine hours”.

Another advisory on social media quoted doctors recommending intake of heavy doses of Vitamin C while another listed out how the virus can be detected at home. And one particularly foolish advisory warned people to “not hold your thirst because once your membrane in your throat is dried, the virus will invade into your body within 10 minutes.”

Incidentally, there have been some incidents in various parts of India in which doctors and health care workers were attacked by irate mobs when they had gone to check on coronavirus infection cases. While no official confirmation has been issued about the cause of such incidents, it is being suspected that misinformation and fake news on social media – particularly closed WhatsApp groups, could be the source of such mob hysteria.

Such misinformation and fake news prompted the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to appeal to citizens – urging them not heed to rumours surrounding Covid-19 – the disease caused by coronavirus.

The top court of the country – the Supreme Court, also intervened and ordered the Federal government to set up a portal within 24 hours so that real time information on the coronavirus pandemic could be accessed by people, thereby helping to counter the panic spread through fake news.

The government on its part has asked the top social media companies in India, including Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, ShareChat and Twitter, to take measures to curb the spread of misinformation on Covid-19.

The situation triggered by fake news and misinformation has even forced Indian authorities to strictly implement legal provisions on people spreading such fake news and misinformation on social media.

A woman in Kolkata was recently arrested for allegedly posting fake news about a doctor working at a state-run hospital. The police claimed that the 29-year-old woman had posted on her social media account information that a doctor working at the largest government hospital fighting Cobid-19 in Kolkata had been infected with the virus while treating patients afflicted with the disease. The police traced down the doctor to find that the post on the social media by the woman was absolutely false. Consequently the woman was arrested under the IT Act.

In a similar incident, a 32-year-old man was arrested in Odisha for allegedly spreading fake news on coronavirus. Police said that the man had posted about a Kerala-returned person on Facebook, and claimed that the person had tested positive for coronavirus and was under treatment. The arrested man claimed that he had received the information on a WhatsApp group. Police later found the claims to be false.

Fake news and misleading information on social media also made two top doctors 0of the country feel completely helpless. Medanta Medicity’s Dr. Naresh Trehan and Narayana Health’s Dr Devi Shetty found that fake news regarding them was being circulated on social media.

In the case of Dr. Shetty, a famous cardiac surgeon, a fake audio clip in his name about prevention of the deadly virus had gone viral on Instagram. The hospital that Dr. Shetty founded was forced to post on Twitter to clarify that the audio clip was not of Dr. Shetty and that it had been wrongly attributed to him.

A similar fake viral message in the name of Dr Trehan became viral on social media which claimed the doctor saying that a national emergency will soon be declared and hence people should rush to collect cash, food and medicines. The doctor had to post a clarification on social media to claim that the message attributed to his name was “absolutely incorrect”.

Fake news circulating on social media – specifically closed WhatsApp groups, had resulted in multiple incidelnts of lynching and violence last year where people from the minority and dalit communities were particularly targeted.

Incidentally, there have been some incidents in various parts of India in which doctors and health care workers were attacked by irate mobs when they had gone to check on coronavirus infection cases. While no official confirmation has been issued about the cause of such incidents, it is being suspected that misinformation and fake news on social media – particularly closed WhatsApp groups, could be the source of such mob hysteria.

Analysts and security experts have warned that a strict check on such fake news now is needed to be imposed immediately in order to prevent repeat of such incidents – particularly because the coronavirus issue is a more widespread and serious one.