Social Media: Fake News Factory

Social Media & Rumours

"Eskimos hunt penguins and eat them."

The above statement seems good and believable at the first glance as both Eskimos & Penguins commonly live in snowy areas. Whats wrong here ? The reality is

Eskimos, also known as the Inuit, traditionally live in the Arctic regions of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Siberia.

Penguins, on the other hand, are native to the Southern Hemisphere and are not found in the Arctic.

Therefore, it is unlikely that Eskimos would consume penguins as a part of their traditional diet.

This is how fake news or rumours are spread in social media and people tend to believe it without checking the facts.

Fake news memes are humorous images or videos that use satire and irony to comment on misinformation and false information that is spreading in society. They often depict news headlines or quotes that are absurd, exaggerated, or outright false, and are used to highlight the danger of believing everything one sees on the internet.

Any misleading information presented as news is fake news. Social media is considered the main source of fake news because information can spread on it at an unprecedented pace. Fake news on social media platforms can influence users

judgment and deceive them for political or economic motives.

Famous Fake News in Social Media

Flat Earth:

The belief that the earth is flat, also known as flat earth theory, is a conspiracy theory that has been debunked for centuries. The idea that the earth is flat was disproven by ancient Greek philosophers and has been consistently disproven by scientific evidence, including satellite imagery, the curvature of the earth visible from space and on the horizon, and the ability to circumnavigate the globe. Additionally, the laws of physics, such as the fact that objects fall at the same rate regardless of their mass, also disprove the flat earth theory. It's important to note that despite being debunked, the flat earth conspiracy theory continues to be promoted by a small group of individuals on social media and other platforms.

New 2000 Rs notes have a GPS chip to detect black money in India

PM Modi announced the withdrawal of old Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes on November 8, 2016. In less than an hour, rumours circulating on WhatsApp of

a nano geo-positioning system (GPS) tracking device embedded in the new Rs 2,000 notes gained traction.

This chip, the messages said, would alert authorities if black money was hoarded.

WhatsApp profile pictures can be used by ISIS for terror activities

A WhatsApp forward, requested women to delete their WhatsApp profile pictures for security purposes. These pictures were supposedly vulnerable to misuse by the terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), whose hackers had access to citizens’ details and could easily steal their virtual identity, according to the forwarded message.

The message further claimed that WhatsApp’s CEO had requested users do this for 20-25 days, while their team worked on enhancing the messaging application’s security features.

WhatsApp to Record Calls & Monitor Messages

The latest viral message on WhatsApp is one claiming all calls on the platform will be recorded,

all other social media platforms will be monitored. The message claims that there will be total monitoring of calls,

messages and social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook and others.

It also claims that users should alert others who are unaware of these ‘upcoming changes.’

Golden Rules to Stay Away from Fake news

1.) Don't blindly believe anything even it if it is from a trusted source. Think thrice before believing it.

2.) Try to fact check the news in google or with others, if you are sceptical about it.

3.) If it is hard to believe or fact check , just ignore the message and stop taking any decision about it.

4.) Stop spreading the message to others if you think it is fake.

Lies Run faster, but Truth Prevails.