Fake Is Fake - Identify Fake News Impacts on Youth

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AUTHORS: In Collaboration With
Sagina Walyat
Shipra Bansal
February 2021

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Behind every achievement lies an unfathomable sea of gratitude to those who have
extended their support and without whom it would ever have come into existence. To them
we say our words of gratitude. We specially thank the Chairperson, Chandigarh
Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CCPCR), Mrs. Harjinder Kaur who gives us such
an immense opportunity to work upon this project.
Sincere thanks to our technical experts Mr. Kartikay Harbola and Mr. Bharat Nayak for
their full support and dedication to impart knowledge to the participants.
Last but not the least, special thanks to Jan Shikshan Sansthan, Director Mr. Arjun
Kamboj, Sukhjinder Singh for their Technical Support. Most importantly we thank all the
participants of this survey who put aside their reservations to make this study possible and
taking part as a family.
We would also like to extend our heartfelt gratitude towards eminent persons from
different fields for enriching the project with a valuable thought and words.
Sagina Walyat
Shipra Bansal

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‘Fake Is Fake- Identify Fake’ primarily stands on two structure its one arm is
conducting research based study to measure the impact of fake news on young minds
and their critical thinking in their learning age and the other arm aims to impart
technical training and creating mass awareness and sensitization amongst
adolescents about internet & media literacy, by providing technical tools to identify
and verify fake news to curb the circulation and reduce the spread of fake news. Our
team comprises of highly acclaimed expertise from National and Local level of
psychologist, media technical professionals, media technical fact checkers,
academician and legal expert. This project has also touched upon the Gender - Socio -
Legal - Psychological aspect along with placing solutions and recommendations to
combat the spread of Fake News.

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TABLE OF CONTENT
SR. NO. CONTENT PAGE NO.
1 AUTHORS PAGE 4
2 INTRODUCTION 5
3 INFODEMIC: FAKE NEWS DURING COVID -19 10
4 OBJECTIVES & METHODOLOGY 14
5 TOOLS TO IDENTIFY FAKE NEWS 17
6 KEY FINDINGS 19
7 SURVEY FINDINGS:
False/Manipulated Information
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8 RECOMMENDATIONS 32
9 FAKE NEWS AND GENDER 35
10 EDITORIAL CONCLUSION 37
11 REFRENCES 40
12 LET’S HEAR OUT FROM THE EXPERTS 41
13 PICTURE FROM THE FIELD 50
14 QUESTIONNAIRE & DATA EXCEL SHEETS 54

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AUTHORS PAGE
Advocate Sagina Walyat, Government of India Awardee, Josh Talk speaker
& a lawyer at Punjab & Haryana High court. A conscientious
Human/Woman/Womxn Rights & public policy lawyer has been in legal
practice since 2010. A Recipient of ‘web wonder women award, by
Government of India, 2019 under the category of legal and policy, Featured
in “5 Most inspiring women in India” by Times of India, 2016. An invitee to
‘world women summit 2019’, organized by Clinton Presidential Centre, USA.
A certified changemaker at Bill Gates sister foundation-Change.Org and a
member at community of advocates for gender empowerment in
collaboration with Canadian Embassy, Chandigarh.
A national campaigner - To clear the decade long dearth of bulletproof
jackets in armed forces. And on sexual harassment of women at workplace
(POSH Act), backed by Ministry of Women & child development and UN
women (India).
Under her another initiative of legal literacy, she has reached out to 2500-
3000 women so far, with an aim to empower women with legal rights in
northern India. She has committed herself to fight for the rights of Children,
prisoners & Trans community- the most vulnerable and neglected sections of
the society.
Shipra Bansal, An active Social Worker, Choreographer and Writer of
City Beautiful, Chandigarh. A gregarious person who loves to be socially
active and conducts day to day events emphasizing on various social
issues related to women, adolescences, elderly people, and children.
Moreover, she has conducted numerous events especially for under
privileged girls by connecting them to Art and Culture.
She teaches and choreographs Folk Dances forms to such girls for free of
cost and has given performance platforms in Chandigarh Administration
and Municipal Corporation. Besides this, from time to time she is being
invited for social sessions which mainly talks about social evils. For this
she has been awarded by various organizations also. In this path both
the authors being a founder members of “EkMitra” a platform wherein
adolescence can speak up without any fear and their identity is not
revealed.
Currently she is pursuing Law; apart from this she is highly qualified as
Masters in Mass Communications, MBA in HR, and Master in Sociology.
She has committed herself to serve the society and become a voice for
youth if any atrocity is being done.

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In Today's world of internet our country is second after China in terms of usage of internet.
Over 560 Million internet users out of which split of male female is in ratio of 60:40 in our
country.
Out of which 72% internet users are in urban area and 57% in rural area. It is quite
interesting that 97%of population access internet o mobile phones.
Internet penetration amongst youth: Youth the future f India becoming more digitized day
to day. Out of total users two third are in the age group of 12-29 years. 71% is between 18
and 34 Years of age.
Social Media /New Media - Today 4G have become a new bassinet in society especially
amongst adolescents. Nationwide on an average Indian Social Media user spends 17 hrs per
week on platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and so
on. As per Statistics, social network penetration from 2017- 2023 estimated that 31% of
Indian Population will be accessing Social Networks up from 24% as in 2018.
It's a need of an hour that youth must be equipped to identify Fake News. The foundation
will make efforts by thorough sessions to fight back Wrong News and understanding the
Right News.
Time to Debunk the Myth- It is always assumed that news floating on Social Networking
sites whatsapp and facebook is true. But it’s necessary that authenticity of any content,
video or picture to be checked.
And for the first time, India has more internet users in rural area than urban cities the
latest report by Internet and Mobile Association of India showed rural India has 227
million active internet users, 10% more than urban’s India about 205 million as of
November, 2019.
Rural India explosive internet growth has been driven by rising Smartphone penetration
and inexpensive mobile data and growth of Indian language content on internet. 448.2
million Users access internet on mobile phones in the year 2020 and expected to be touch
500.9 million by 2023, figures released by statista, indicating an overall penetration of
almost reaching50 percent across India.
While India may have managed to bridge the digital divide, the gender gap continues and
according to 2019 data 35 percent of the users at an all-India level are women with the
forecast to increase by 5-7 percent by 2021. With present data, If the numbers are split by
urban and rural areas, 31 percent of rural women have access to the internet vis-a-vis 40
percent in urban area.

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Internet penetration amongst Youth
India’s digital journey is one of exuberance. There are around 71 million kids, aged 5-11
years. And adolescent’s aged12-19 registered users contribution to 32% and age group of
20-29 recorded 35% share out of total user’s latest data.
New Media penetration
With 88 percent 4G penetration, India has become a new bassinet in society especially
amongst adolescents. There are 560 million internet users and 376.1 million Social
network users in India which is estimated to be increased 447.9 million by 2023.
Nationwide on an average Indian Social Media users spend 17 hrs per week on platforms
on various networks.
While Facebook ruling on the top with 346.2 million, Whatsapp with 250 million users has
become lifeline of Indians, followed by twitter, Instagram, linkedln, youtube & snapchat
also very popular in amongst urban Indian youth.
Rural Urban Whatsapp Distribution
As per the results of a survey on WhatsApp usage in India in 2017 and 2018, it was found
that there was a ten percent increase in the share of active WhatsApp users in rural India to
reach around 20 percent in 2018. This was about 38 percent in urban areas in 2018.
By taking reliance of latest data, the rampant increase of Whatsapp usage particularly in
rural area is becoming worrisome. The situation calls for digital literacy awareness camps
specially designed for rural populace in regional/vernacular languages. The rural populace
is double edgily at higher risk to be trapped in false news network due to low literacy rate
in formal education which is further being accompanied by digital illiteracy.
The above stated data is clearly indicating that India, like most countries, is also moving
away from traditional means and vacuum is taken over by social media for content
consumption and adopting more convenient way to one on one conversations. The ‘power
law’ of social media giving a reverse effect to content consumption by way of increase
spread in Fake news/mis-information & dis-information.

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The Term Fake News
The term Fake news is defined as any of the following action:
 False information
 Manipulated information
 Misinformation
 Disinformation.
Fake news is an umbrella term commonly used for hoaxes, biased, propaganda, partly true,
rumor, untrue, false unverified, fabricated & manipulated information. Fake news However,
calling Fake news ‘a news’ is itself a wrong terminology. What it is in real sense – ‘mere
fake thing’. Fake news is not just a harmless gossip, many a times its repercussions has
come out to be a deadly threat and some serious generational succession behavioral impact
& changes. Its dominance in the content industry has not left legacy media impact less.

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Fake news with an unprecedented spread speed of motivated content, its combat has
become need of the hour. Several substantive measures are being taken by independent
fact checkers, technology corporate’s & governments by way of launching fact checking
desk, help lines such as PIB fact check, myth buster and Namaste - 9013151515
respectively. Though, the reach of such measures needs to be expanded and widen to
benefit people from all age groups, class and regions.
Fake news’ presence on internet has re-activated an age-old problem. Mobilizing and
manipulating information was a feature of history long before modern journalism got
established. 21st century, however, has seen the growth of information as
dis/misinformation on an unprecedented scale. Powerful new technologies making
manipulation and fabrication of content plain sailing whereas social networks engaging
huge population causing faster dissemination.
Generally, the fabrication of content is either politically or commercially motivated and the
executing pattern of framer is observed to be hitting the emotions of receiver. The
perpetrators’ observed attempts are to knock # sense of urgency # causing curiosity or fear
# employing current issues and taking advantage of socio-political polarization.
There’s so much to hear and know about fake news/ disinformation/ misinformation but
neither the term has been defined formally nor legally, in India.
The project ‘Fake Is Fake- Identify Fake’ is primarily designed to do a research based study
to measure the impact of fake news on young minds and their critical thinking in their
earning age and simultaneously, aims to create mass awareness and sensitisation amongst
youth & adolescent about internet & media literacy, by providing technical tools to identify
fake news to curb the circulation and reduce the spread of fake news.

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INFODEMIC: FAKE NEWS DURING COVID - 19

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As world was fighting Covid-19 pandemic, the menace of fake news was making covid-19
response efforts more complicated. The widespread of the Coronavirus emerged with a
tsunami of fake news on social media. The news mediums which were traditionally used to
transmit relevant news, guidelines and advisories for people, inadvertently sailing and
routing in the same infodemic tsunami. The threat of infodemic was so severe that the
World Health Organization had to take immediate initiatives to counter and mitigate the
associated effects on corona virus spread. WHO then coined the new word ‘infodemic’ to
the world alongside coronavirus as the combination of two proving to be more deadliest as
can ever be imagined."But we’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic.
Fake news spreads faster and more easily than this virus, and is just as dangerous."
said WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
And further adds, the uncontrolled conspiracy theories and propaganda are spreading
faster than the COVID-19 pandemic itself, creating an infodemic and thus causing
psychological panic, misleading medical advises, and economic disruption.
Covid-19: Leading to an all-time high record of fake news online,the ‘CoronaVirusFact’
Alliance database recorded nearly 4,000 Coronavirus-related hoaxes during lockdown,
circulating around the world people fell into the prey of,
False Advisories –
Led to Migrant Crisis in India, spread of false information regarding Corona virus cases,
false information on implementation of lockdown, misinformation regarding vaccination.
False Cure -
Death causing Cures such as drinking bleach, eating cow dung, increase in alcohol
consumption& in some regions essential commodities and vital medicines Scarcity caused
by false information led to hoarding and black marketing of such vital
False Alarms:
Sudden rise in unnecessary consumption of pharmaceutical supplements and invention of
bogus medicinal products by adopting unhealthy business tactics. The infodemic menace
called for medical expert’s intervention to debunk such false alarms. The print media also
had to witness the wrath of infodemic in Covid -19 times which registered historical sharp
decline in sales and the vacuum of authentic information medium then again overtaken by
Social Media, the rumor rolly.

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Conspiracy Theories –
In the light of comparative studies taking example of previous global pandemic such as
Spanish flu and Polio were less manipulated/ misinformed due to absence of active Social
Media.
Whereas, in present scenario the war against Covid -19 is proving to be more challenging in
prevailing tsunami of misinformation which undermined the trust in Health Authorities
and consequently registered more spread, more cases, more fatality.
Fake news generated panic also impelled people launch assault and harassment towards
front line corona worriers and especially on Public Health Officers, the another fatal form of
false information can be seen when one particular community was targeted which not only
polarized the society but also increased in transmission percentage.
This unnecessary panic affected mental health to a great degree and the impact of such
false claims were serious to the magnitude of causing depression, harassment,
transmission, and in many cases, caused fatality.
UK based distinguished Virologist, Paul Hunter came out with a grave concern in these
testing time, while sharing his study on damage caused by misinformation said, " you can
think about misinformation/disinformation in the same way we think about the actual
virus itself. Even being able to reduce some of the misinformation by about 30% might be
enough to actually substantially reduce the impact and hopefully that by saves lives."
The potential threat of covid fake news also knocked World Health Organization and it
invested its time and resources to combat by way of establishing an INFO DESK to tackle
wide spread of fake - "We’re concerned about the levels of rumors and misinformation that
are hampering the response." Said WHO Chief.
The surge in Covid related misinformation also concerned Antonio Guterres Security
General, United Nations, and said "Misinformation can circulate faster than facts-
endangering public health and people's lives. There is one action we can all take to slow its
spread: PauseandTakeCareBeforeYouShare”
Reuters Institute for the study of Journalism, UK studied on Content origin and Reach of
225 pieces of fake news and found 60% of the content involved reframed and reconsidered
in a way the true fact is no longer a true fact now. The remaining 40% is originated as
fabricated content only.
WHO presently working on the lines of suggestions proposed by Jullii Brainard, UK based
expert on 'Communication Strategy' and soon to put them into action. She has proposed to

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balance the information by drawing small changes in public domain communication i.e. to
float 60 and above percentage good advice to cancel out the bad advice.
Meanwhile, the Government and public authorities having mixed results to fight against
fake news with association of independent fact checkers globally. With an attempt to curb
Fake News spread and its impact, several countries have reckoned imposing legal actions
against raising Fake Alarms.
The Indian Government has categorically passed the order with reference to Section 54 of
Disaster Management Act 2005, which can lead to trial and punishment of up to one year
imprisonment, for those causing false alarms during Covid-19. Whereas, Singapore Law
and Enforcement Ministry also came up to charge under domestic law for spreading fake
news.

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:
1. To collect recommendations from the general public on how to counter false information
narratives.
2 To examine& measure psychological impact of false information on adolescent.
3. To examine & measure the impact on critical thinking of young minds & their overall
development upon experiencing fake news.
4. To measure the comprehensive impact of false information in their close proximity & day
to day life.
5. To conduct and run media literacy drive and equip the respondents with technical tools
to debunk the fake news.

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METHODOLOGY:
The first in its kind, this fake news survey was conducted both online and offline using
convenience sampling. (Adolescents). Among those respondents the gender information,
the majority were female (70% of the sample). Specific attention for specially-abled
respondent was also sincerely taken care of.
For online range the link to the survey questionnaire was shared among students through
Whatsapp. The hard copy was provided to the students in the presence of technical experts
and facilitator followed by media literacy awareness sessions.
Essentially, all these awareness sessions are conducted with an aim to provide skill sets to
differentiate between real and fake by way of identify the fake news through various tools,
up skilled by technical experts. The sessions were conducted by the followed expert's:
1. Kartikay Harbola
He is a senior journalist and writer. He was born in Nainital district, Uttrakhand. He has
more than nine years of experience in the field of journalism. He worked for many media
organizations for his journalism career.
A young journalist started his career in 2009 and is presently working in Lok Sabha TV as a
Consultant. He worked with various print & electronic media organizations like DD News,
All India Radio, Punjab Kesari, Navodaya Times and Hindusthan Samachar.
He has written various articles on Parliamentary issues in national newspapers like Amar
Ujala & Dainik Jagran. Kartikay Harbola is a certified trainer and his main focus area is New
Media. He is honored with various awards in the field of journalism.
2. Bharat Nayak
A profound Journalist based in Bengaluru, Fact Checker with Google News Initiative
Network of India and founding editor of The Logical Indian. And founder of pan India
Factcheck desk FactShala.

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TOOLS TO IDENTIFY FAKE NEWS

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Under the project ‘Fake is Fake- Identify Fake’ we, have reached out to 150 people who
have been sensitized and awarded about the impacts of Fake News in 'Post- truth World.'
The participants have been equipped with technical education by various tools and
mediums, by the revered technical experts with long standing experience in media world.
The tools to verify Content-Picture-Video:
* Reverse image search.*Adding time filter in Google search *Observe the picture
carefully.*Google translates extension.*Zooming. *Youtube Data Viewer.* Screen Grab by
using oogle, Yandex, Tineye and InVid, Baidu, Bing, Reddit.* Watch video frame by frame /
slow motion.* Observe Visual Clues.* Smart key word search.* Strong observational skills.*
Search with the text mentioned in the video.* Good old fashion journalism.* Observe
Typographical errors.* Look for reliable news sources.* Check the source and URL along
with the source of an article.* Check the publication date.* Check the about page on news
sites.* Watch out- 'Your' response to the news.*Observe quality of the image or video.
* Reverse image search + key words = Powerful Verification tools.
The survey had reached to 142 people with identifiable characteristics like Name, Contact
number or Email Id.
After data was collected in Google Form, it was exported to Microsoft Excel SAS Software
for quantitative and qualitative analysis. All the responses were open coded into major
categories and though that were significantly small proportion were combined into a
category called "others."
The session motivated the respondents to pledge combat Fake News and become a
"Fake News Warriors."

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 More than half of the survey respondents encountered by fake news (S=142).
 The average age of the respondents is between 15-19 years.
 The Gender ratio of the respondents is F 100: M 42
 The three concerning forms experienced by respondents after receiving fake news
are: a. Confusion b. Stress c. Problem in relation
 84.5% have direct access of mobile phones whereas 81% have access to internet
24*7
 The survey has recorded an important findings that the major count of 63% ‘uses’
social media to their maximum capacity as news medium whereas 42.2% put their
sole trust in ‘newspaper’ as the most trusted medium.
 3/4th of the survey samples were of females and among that 21% have received
Fake news on daily basis and 11% receive on every alternate day.
 Whereas 29% of total male respondents said to have encountered fake news more
often.
 33% of the respondents consented to ‘instantly trust’ the content they receive on
news mediums (includes social media).
 The impressive percentage of 65% of the respondents rigorously craves to have
access to direct trusted information/medium.
 The survey study directed towards a compelling fact that 58.4% of respondents felt
the grave impact on their beliefs and opinions in daily life on receiving Fake news.

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Behavioral Changes
 While 69% of Participants were attending identify fake news awareness session for
the first time, the technical learning sessions registered its success by making 79.5%
of the total participants Empowered, Encouraged, and responsible citizens.

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SURVEY FINDINGS:
False/Manipulated Information

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The total number of participation this survey has fetched (S=142). Out of which Gender
breakdown comes as 100 Girls and 42 Boys.
Throughout the training sessions 84.5% respondents committed to have access to mobile
phones out of which there are 86 Girls and 39 Boys and 81% confirmed to have the access
to internet.
While attending the awareness sessions on false information 69% of participants said to
have attending the training session for the first time. Through these sessions they have
been trained and equipped with technical tools to verify and identify the 'FAKE' CONTENT,
VIDEO AND PHOTO by the revered technical experts.
These sessions helped them to know the integrity of the Fake News and the purpose of
floating Misinformation on Media Platforms. And they were taught to counter False
Information as well as made aware of future repercussions in the advent of receiving false
information constantly.
The subject experts observed that 8:2 participants well aware about the term ‘fake news’
but not about other associated terms. Participants further had been educated about
Misinformation, Disinformation and Mal-information in the very sessions.
The participants found sessions very helpful, engaging and upskilled. This project reached
to its foundational aim, to recognize the need to break the further spread of Fake News and
encouraged the participants to PAUSE – THINK- SHARE to break the chain.

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Consequently, the 142 students vehemently pledged to stop the further spread and be
“FAKE NEWS WARRIOR."
Frequently Accessed & Trusted Media Platforms:
Applications/ Mediums Preferred
a) The final study of the survey has conveyed a convincing revelation that
predominantly 62.6% are accessing Social media for the purpose of ‘news’. While 22.5%
take refuge of News Channels, 9.8 % show their reliance on Newspapers, and 2.8 % find
interest in Radio. However, 1.4% opts for other mediums.
Furthermore, out of all social media mediums, Whatsapp is occupying the major space with
51.4% share, followed by Instagram touching its reach to 22.5%, and considerable space of
4.9% being taken by Facebook & Snapchat followed by 5.6% Twitter and 5.6% Others
respectively.
As per recorded study 37.3% spends 1-3 hrs in a day on media platforms, 14.1% devotes
up to 8 hrs or more.
b) TRUST SUPERSEDES OCCUPANCY: In the present comparative survey study it has
been established that even in this digital age traditional legacy media supersedes the
occupied space of Social Media when it comes to trusting information Medium with 42.2%
respondents opting for newspaper and 30.2% goes with News Channels.
Platforms uses the most/ trusted platforms

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However, Social media registered noticeable steep decline to 21.1% in trust column. Radio,
whereas, maintains its place with 2.8% same as its usage
In this social media’s Trust vs. Usage fight, we come across important followed questions
why there’s constant sharp increase in social media usage despite having trust
deficit with its users?
AND
Why despite being in the era of digital environment intermediaries still struggling to
acquire the trust of Netizens?
The echoing vast presence of Fake News on this medium corroborating the issue of trust
deficit to some extent. Hence, the adolescents who are internet natives cannot be left in
state of denial or vulnerability who are becoming easy prey to manipulative and false
information’s, which exposes them to inflaming social conflict and victimization of Cyber
Crime due to negligence and ignorance at the hand of concerned authorities.
Further, the concerning part of the study is that - Whatsapp, the most accessed application
occupies the significant space and most fertile breeding ground for fake news. Whereas,
Electronic and Print Media despite decline in consumption still stands rooted with
century’s old conviction.
Instant Trust & Behavioral Collision
Providing tools to identify Fake News becomes more relevant when the information
recipient shows interest on received content instantly. As a matter of record, 33.1%
confirmed to instantly trust received information by the Media Platforms. 3/7 respondents
keenly show their intent to Fact Check. However, 52.1% chooses to ignore the received
information.
This study came up with a knocking question-Can Ignorance be a solution to false
information?

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The subject experts came up with an eye-opening revelation that Ignorance may prove to
be a determinant factor for fractional behavior change and its continuation may lead to
Loss of Interest, Loss of Participation and penetrate illusion & confusion in their persona.
This can be seen as potential threat to their overall growth.
While 13.4% respondents registered Uneasiness and felt fooled upon receiving the false
content.
Fake news Impacts Both Recipient & Circulator:
Fake news comes purely on negative connotations for both circulator and the recipient. The
matter of the fact is, in either of the cases, both recipient and sender are the manipulative
victims to misinformation. Just one unverified potent step enough to put the consumer into
sender’s category.
Behavioral Reactions
The survey study recorded an imperative revelation that 26% of the participants felt
ashamed and anxious for spreading fake news further inadvertently.
Thus, it presses the immediate need to open up conversation about psychological impact
on senders as well. Along with rising concern of psychological impact the further data
supports the argument of constructive threat of behavior change in adolescents.
Sharing Behavior
13% doesn't even bother if they have forwarded false information and conceded that they
like spreading further without application of mind and more likely to do just pass their
time. Whereas, 30.4% affirms forwarding fake doesn't matter to themwhich again raises
worrisome concern in the view of subject expert psychologists that Fake news not only
skewed the world view rather also spreads uncertainty, panic, stress, distrust, polarization
and generates false hopes, poor decision making, poor actions and anxiety in adolescents,
which further travels to their parents as well. This may hinder the youngster's mobility out
in the open fearlessly, as parents may be deterred from fake news of crimes for instance.

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If this escalates children from such households can slowly feel lack of freedom to step out,
to meet with friends and stay out of home carefree which would eventually lead to isolation
from peers.
Vicariously Impacting Parents Of Gen Z: When any misinformation or fake news
increases to impact parents and adolescent it takes the form of what can be called an
infodemic, an overabundance of information, which can be a kind of pandemic in its own
right, an overabundance of information, which makes it difficult for internet immigrants
/parents to find reliable sources of information leading to consequences of an overload of
misinformation and play on their mind leading to uncertainty, fear, anxiety.
Children need social interaction to build emotional bonds, to form healthy relationships, to
build on interpersonal skills that help in teaching them life skills and shaping their choices,
personality& career. This also plays a role in building and boosting their self-esteem and
self-confidence.
Parents and guardians along with children must look into news received with a lens of logic
and research. After finding out what is true and what is not it is imperative that a parent
doesn't succumb to a generalized state of anxiety or stress. Becoming and staying aware is
crucial.
Media and technology that should create awareness is creating stress, panic and
misinformation. This leads to stressed parents and depressed, isolated and frustrated
children.
Frequency of Receiving False Information:
The threat and seriousness of fake news can be adjudged with its frequency, and study
shows that 20.4% respondents receive fake content/Photo/Video on daily basis. Whereas
33.1% receives almost every next day, spreading speed akin to wildfire.
The constant receiving either correct or incorrect, good or bad capable to leave a
permanent impact on receiving end. This argument is supported by further study which
states that 58.4% respondents accepted that such false contents do leave impact on them in
some form or the other.

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Fake New Shaping and Believe in Opinion
And out of that 19% confessed to have deeply impacted and aghast upon receiving fake
content. This fact again calls for human mind science translation to understand the gravity
of such constant encountering and consequential impact.
Fake News: Center of Family/Peer Conversation
Impact of false information conversation in family and peer group: The millennials & Gen Z,
in this research study admitted that 26.8% always discuss suspicious false content with
family and friends. And 50.7% bestowed to discuss with their close proximity in their
breathing spell.
Discussion in Proximity
Apart from having discussion over suspicious received content, fake news itself has
occupied its greater share of discussion in any party, occasion or in family. And these
conversations do have its own alarming independent impact also.
The four most concerning forms a fake news experienced by participants are Confusion,
Stress, Loss of participation, Problem in relation which counts to 38.7%, 9.2%, 6%,6%
respectively, as per the earlier stated findings about using social media. Consequently,
keeping them away and unskilled in public discourse.

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The power of data combined with the power of likes: Disquieting or delightful?
Data, is the most valuable commodity in the world and the like, share and views creates a
vast amount of it.
No one realized the power of the like share button data when it was first invented in 2005.
By approaching 2020 this powerful data have stepped into a world where it is
manipulating society and causing harm to users. In findings, 7 out of 10 respondents
agreed to have motivated by the like, views, share and the content available on social
media.
Impact of Views/ Likes/ Share
And also confirmed that the already formed collective opinion on New Media,
through number of likes, views and share does play vital role while forming a fair
independent opinion. The threatening power data strengthen strong beliefs, it makes
consumer reject news that conflicts with beliefs and believe news that confirms beliefs thus
minimize the space for reality/fact to breathe.
Since, the adolescents are more inclined towards rapid circulation of information,
regardless of its truthfulness, necessity and the nature of content. Hence, there is a dire
need to conduct vast study, technical training and media literacy awareness sessions to
combat information warfare.

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‘Fake Is Fake- Identify Fake’ team approached total 142 adolescents in total and out of that
69% of respondents confirmed for attending such trainings cum awareness sessions for the
first time.
Attended the session on false information fake news for the first time (142 responses)
We also came out with another imperative finding that with a clear shot of 65%
respondents crave to have access to trusted news information and look for credible
information mediums and have been making attempts to verify the received information
at their personal level, without any formal technical training before.
Crave to access right information
Our teams made a successful and impactful attempt to circumvent participants struggle to
access the trusted information by providing formal technical tools and right medium on
information & media literacy. Our team thriving registered its success by whittling compos
mentis in respondents to deflate fallaciously motivated & unbidden information.
Filling up Digital Moral Vacuums:
This Project has come out with constructive results and supportive factual data
wherein, 45.1% respondents have identified themselves as RESPONSIBLE CITIZENs, and

32
34.4% felt Encouraged and Empowered to combat false information after attending the
awareness and training sessions conducted under the umbrella of this project.
 Fake News and Disinformation can covertly modify the behavior of Adolescents.
 It can do this by manipulating implicit attitude and emotions.
 Current mitigation methods do not prevent behavior modifications.
 It is urgent to address this threat to democracy and individual autonomy.
Response after thorough trainings

34
‘Fake news’ once a rarely used term now has become one of the greatest threats to the
existing system of democracy and lawful civil society. The impact of umbrella term – Fake
news, is enormous and generational. It infringes the digital rights of netizens and therefore,
demands for balanced content regulations/self regulations.
Generation Z, the digital natives, use social media as primary source of information thus
consuming the biggest dose of Fake News. Needless to say, generation alpha and Z are more
exposed as well as vulnerable to fake news. There is enough studies documented w.r.t its
serious implications on development of critical thinking of young minds. It won’t be wrong
to state that there is a potential threat to loss an entire generation to fake news. No nation
is immune to fake news, if not controlled timely; the impact can be generational which
won’t be able to differentiate between verified/ credible information and fake news.
However, at the same time, a strictly legal approach to fighting fake news could be
dangerous.
The right balance has to be drawn to counter fake news while safeguarding free speech and
privacy. In the absence of focused specific definition and legislations, fake news is currently
being dealt by other relevant existing Indian civil, criminal & administrative provisions.
The prominent existing provisions such as: sections 153A, 292, 295, 499, 500, 505 (1) of
the Indian Penal Code, section 54 of the Disaster Management Act and Section 2 (1) (w)
66D 69(1) 79of the Information Technology Act & various other provision in existing
legislation.
And yet there’s need to make necessary amendments in People Representation Act for fake
and paid news and Press council Act to smooth functioning of such traditional laws from
pre- digital era. And this mammoth task requires a collective partnership in government,
media, and technology corporate and civil society.
Following are the effective steps to curb the circulation and to reduce the spread of the fake
news:
 Enact new & focused regulations and legislations imposing sanction on social media
network that spread Fake news by way of penalty or removal of identified false
content.
 Provide legal definition to fake news, false, disinformation & misinformation&
relevant terminologies.
 Specific rules for removal of information and liability of agencies/authors/
publishers/ networks and internet provider.
 Specific rules to inactive likes and share buttons of dubious reported content and
make hard to monetize hoaxes.

35
 Make effective use of algorithms to help readers with automatic hoax detection and
ways to identify fake news to educate readers without censoring it.
 Place liability on technology giants to filter out fake/ fabricated content and
promote information from credible sources and also to ensure that keyword search
on sensitive issues provide access to reliable information.
 Establish rapid response units at national and state level to Detect- Recognize-
Label- Block -Rebut – Publicize Real information.
 Funding efforts for short & long term dedicated digital literacy programmes in both
rural and urban area to provide agency with an aim to stop dissemination of fake
news.
 Promote digital literacy in schools as essential life skills akin to academic skills.
 Conduct Mass awareness programmes to develop critical thinking against
information available on various mediums & encourage citizen journalism.
 Publicize extensively established govt. run and independent fact check portals/units
and helpline number to benefit more people.
 Create & run dedicated mass awareness internet literacy reach by creative means
such as videos, advertisements, audios, Radio shows, website to learn about impact
and tools to identify fake news.
 To extend the digital literacy reach all such programmes and creative’s means
should inclusive in terms of gender and ability and be encouraged to develop in
regional languages.
 Encourage regional community based civic engagements through citizen journalism.
 Self regulations by legacy and digital media organizations strengthening ethics rules
and call out fake content without legitimizing them.
 Extensive promotion of factual content and real information.
 Constitution of Special commissions during elections: Regulating and applying
sanctions to social media networks and engagement between election authorities
and digital platforms to secure a well informed electorate.
There is a real sense of urgency to tackle the spread of misinformation or what is more
commonly known as fake news. However, technically the use of term ‘news’ for fake news
should be discouraged because It’s ‘not news’ and rather commercially and politically
motivated false, biased, propaganda, rumored, unverified or untrue information. The
urgency can be anticipated from the way Supreme Court of India came down heavily on
Central government and asked to explain its “mechanism” against fake news and to create
one, if it not already have one in existence.

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FAKE NEWS AND GENDER
Social media outlets, consciously or unconsciously plays vital role in the promotion of
gender inclusivity- yet the intersection of gender remain understudied or excluded in
some vital studies. And, the same case stands with gender specific fake news
implications. True that, the circulation of misleading information and false news is not
new, but the term Fake News gained renewed attention during 2016 American Presidential
Election. When the world witnessed unsolicited gender specific negative coverage of
female versus male contender, floated gender narratives supporting stereotypes of women
as unfit for leadership position, with an aim to trivialize and denigrate female opponent.
It has also been recorded that armies of politically motivated trolls attack more often
female by fake news account, with a deliberate goal to prevent women from taking part in
democratic surface.
Yet another global study speaks about an establishing fact that the construction of many
fake news considered women inferior to men, promotes gender stereotype. In many cases
gender policies are questioned due to rampant untrue information. For example, it was
stated that 80% of the complaints about sex’s violence are false which was rebutted later
with the right data that speaks of only one false report of every 1000. From this said study
and collecting the general view it is evident that women favored legislation becomes easy
target of fake news to defeat its purpose due to dominance of patriarchal structure. There
are ample of cases, women falling prey to graphic sexual harassment and revenge porn by
faking or misconstruing the identities of women.

37
Meanwhile, LGBTQ Community yet another soft target in the world of false information.
The community that is constantly fighting with negative portrayals, memes, fake stories,
online transphobia and misinformation about their families, personal relationships and
misgendered identities.

39
"The perception or reaction to happen anything in this world will depend upon the
knowledge the information you have." In the era of right information abundance of
knowledge and information was the key. Whereas, with changing times, in this post truth
world era, there’s a need to bring down the information consumption pattern strictly fasten
to their interests. The omnipresent fake news demands constant fact check and it is
arduous as well as tedious task for adolescents to factcheck every information they come
across.
Technologies around the world along with low-priced smartphones and mobile-data have
altered the flow of information and fake news as foremost opportunist has captured the
space of Real News. The young social engineers of tomorrow being diverted from real
concerning issues and consciously or unconsciously, fighting two battles of slump of real
news and rising of fake news, simultaneously.
Needless to say, the wide spread distribution of fake news has become an additional
contributing element birthing new avenues to Cyber Crime with its adverse effect on
decision making and democratic process. This study exclusively touched the psychological
aspect primarily focusing on adolescents. While observing the consumption behavior of
adolescent, some shattering yet apprehensive findings came out.
Regardless of consumption frequency, absorbing false information at any pace recorded to
be affecting critical thinking of adolescents and their intellectual, social and emotional
quotient (for both recipient and who circulates). The subject expert, psychologist Ms.
Akshta expressed her concern that fake news induced confusion, anxiety, stress, fear, poor
decision making, loss of participation and problem in close proximity is corroborating the
popular argument of generation lost. Another research on social media shows that
bystander inaction can encourage the proliferation of fake news.
Various Actions on Front: The menace of fake news is explicitly threatening that the
Government, Corporate and Civil societies respectively taking various followed initiatives
to work as first aid solutions:
Government advanced steps: PM VANI, dedicatedCOVID-19factcheck Helpline NAMASTE -
9013151515, @PIBFACTCHECK, PIB FACT CHECK HELPLINE 8799711259 &E-MAIL
socialmedia@PIB.GOV.IN & awareness sessions being organized by state of Kerala in
schools.
Penalizing the spread of fake news - In the year 2020, nearly 500 cases reported to have
been registered for spreading false information.

40
Independent factcheck Journalism: Myth buster, Fact checker.in, Boom live, Alt News,
Vishwas News, News Laundry, Webqoof, Fact Crescendo, @NEWSCHECKER.IN -
Multilingual Portal for fact checking.
Corporate Initiatives- Conducting Technical Training sessions, making false information
reportable on Social Media Platforms, limiting and restraining the number of forwards.
All these measures are welcoming in nature but not conclusive to win against the ultimate
fight of fake news. The power of real is yet to be recognized by respective institutions.
It is only real information that can neutralize the false information thus effective
steps should be taken into consideration to circulate real news at similar pace.
Likewise, COVID-19, fake news also debars class, status, age and sex, debars any divide and
spreads fairly. In this information era, google records 70,000 searches every second,
making evident that human activity has increased enormously within cyber space which is
leading to receive immeasurable amount of information either necessary or unnecessary
from thousands of sources, pressing the need to upskill masses to separate real from fake
&identify fake as fake.
This project trained and motivated the respondents through technical tools to exercise:
WHAT TO LOOK?
WHERE TO LOOK?
AND WHAT INFERENCE YOU DRAW?
It is true that, fake news couldn't be ruled out before and cannot be ruled out today, but its
spread and speed can be limited through sincere efforts and political will to secure the
validity and accuracy of information.

41
REFRENCES
 Sandhya Keelery, (2020) Statista trendcompass-statista.com/ Fake News In India.
 Ruth Levush, (2019) The Law Library of Congress, global legal research Directorate.
University of Nebreska- Lincoln. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/scholcom.
 Emily Bucker, (2020) University of Michigan Library/ Research guide- “A little too
Quiet.”- The Oakland Press.
 Amaris Castillo, (2020) Philanthropic women- women missing from research on
fake news- NPR Public Editor.
 Lucina Di Meco, (2019) The Council on Foreign relations report on gender
Disinformation fake news and women in Politics./ Reuters.
 Prof. Paul Hunter and Dr. Julii Brainard (2020) Study at University of East Anglia –
Infodemic – Coronavirus & fake news Pandemic- Revue Depidemiologie-Et-De-
Sante-Publique.
***** ****** ******* ****** ***** ****** ******* ****** ***** ****** ******* ******
***** ****** ******* ****** ***** ****** ******* ****** ***** ****** ******* ******

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Let’s Hear Out from the EXPERTS

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फफफ फफफफफ फफ फफ फफफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफफफ फफफफ फफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफ फफ
फफ फफफफफफ फफफफफ फफफ फफफ फफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफफ फफफ फफ, फफ फफ फफफफ
फफफफ फफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफफ फफ फफफ, फफ फफफफ फफ फफफ, फफफफफ फफफफफ फफफ, फफफफफ
फफफफ फफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफ फफ फफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफफफ फफ
फफफफ फफफफफफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफफफ फफ फफफफ फफ फ फफफफफफफ फफ फफफ फफफफफफ
फफफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफ फफ फफफफ फफ फफ
फफफफफ फफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफ फफ 'फफफफफफ फफफफफफफफफ' फफफफ फफ फफ फफ फफफ फफ
फफफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफफफफ फफफफ फफफफफफफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफफफ
फफफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफफफ फफ
फफफफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफ? फफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफफफफ फफफफफ फफफफफ फफफ फफ फफ फफ
फफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफ
फफफफफफ फफफफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफफफ
फफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफ फफ फफफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफफफ फफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफफ
फफफफ फफ फफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफफ फफ
फफफफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफ फफफफफफ फफफफफ फफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफफफफफफफ फफ
फफफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफफ फफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफफ फफ
फफ फफफफफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफफफफ फफ
फफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफफफफ फफफ
फफफ फफफफफफ फफफफ फफफफफफफफफ फफ फफ फफफफफफफफ फफफफफफफफ फफफ फफफफफफफ
फफफफफफफफ फफफ फफ फफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफफफफफ फफ फफ
फफ फफफफफफफ फफ फफ फफ फफफ फफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफ फफफ फफफ फफ फफफफफफ
फफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफ फफफ फफ फफ फफफफफफफफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफ फफफफ फफ फफफफफफ
फफफ फफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफफफफफ फफफफफ फफफ 29 फफफफफ 1780 फफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफ
फफफफफफफफफफ फफ फफफ फफफफ फफफ फफ 16, 1924 फफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफफफफफ

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फफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफ 70000 फफ फफफ फफफफफफफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफ
फफफफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफफ फफफ फफफफफफफफ फफ फफफ फफफ फफफफ 100 फफफफफफ फफफफ
फफफफ फफ फफफफफफ फफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफ
फफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफ फ फफफ फफफफ फफ फफफ फफफफ फफ 690 फफफफ फफफफ फफ 690 फफ फफफ
फफफफफ फफफफफफफफ फफफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफ फफफफफ फफ फ फफफफफ फफ फफ फफफफ
फफफफफफफ फफफफफफ फफफ फफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफफ फफ फफ फफफफफफफफ फफफफफफफफ फफफ
फफफफफफफ फफफफफफफफ फफफ फफ फफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफफफ फफ फफफ
फफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफफफफ, फफफफफफ, फफफफफफफ फफ फफफफ
फफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफफ-फफफफ फफफफ
फफफफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफ फफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफफफ
फफफ फफ फफफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफफफफफफफफफफ फफ फफफफफ
फफफफफफ फफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफफ फफफफ फफ फफफफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफ फफफफ फफ
फफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफफफ? फफफ फफफफफफ फफफफफ? फफ फफफ
फफफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफफ? फफ 3 फफफफफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफ
फफफफफफ फफ फफ फफ फफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफ फफ फफफफफफफ
फफफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफफफफफफफ फफफ फफ फफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफफफ फफ
फफफफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफ, फफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफफ फफफफ फफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफफ
, फफफफ फफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफ फफ फफफ फफ फफ फफफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफफफ
फफफफफ फफ फफफफफफफ फफफ, फफफफफफफफफफफफ फफ फफफफफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफ
फफफफफफ फफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफफफ फफफफफफफफफफफ फफफफफ फफफफफफफ फफफफ फफफफफ
फफफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफफफ फफ फफफफ फफ फफफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफ फफ फफफफ फफ
फफफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफ फफ फफफफफफ फफ फफ फफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफफ
फफ फफफफफ "we" फफफफ फफ फफफफ फफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफ
फफ फफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफफ
फफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ
फफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफफफफफ फफफफफफ फफफफ फफफफफफफफफ फफफफ
फफफफफ फफफफफफफफफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफफफफफफफ फफफफफफफफ फफफफफफ
फफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफ फफफ
फफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफफफफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफ फफ फफफ फफफ फफ फफ
फफफ फफ फफफ फफफफफफफफफफ फफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफफफ फफफ फफ फफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफफफ
फफफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफ फफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफफफ-फफफफ फफफफफफफ फफ
फफफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफ फफफफफफ फफफ फफ फफफ, फफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफफ
फफफफफफफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफफफ फफफफ
फफ फफ फफफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफ फफफफफ फफफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफ
फफ फफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफ फफफ फफफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफ फफफफ फफ फफ

45
फफफफफ फफ फफ फफफफफफ फफफफफ फफफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफफफफ फफ फफ
फफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफफ फफफफफफफफफफ फफफफफ फफफफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफ
फफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफ फफ
फफफफ फफफफफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफफफफ फफफफफ
फफफफफफ फफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफफफ फफफफफफफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफफफफफ फ
Kartikay Harbola
Journalist, Lok Sabha TV

46
The disinformation that is circulating on social media has often been talked as they affect
adults who either circulate fake news or become victim it. The millennial’s of Gen-z have
rarely been made part of study and how the fake news that they are reading on WhatsApp or
social networking sites are affecting them.
How the fake news are changing their point of view of the world. The adolescents is age of
learning where one is ready to foray into the outer world but the sudden change in
information landscape with bombardment of information from everywhere can often be
confusing, triggering and stressful.
Social media makes it seem like every information is important and whole information
landscape is filled with information landmines, where the adolescents are required to
navigate and find what information they actually need are important for them.
One important aspect that is left of the debate is how the infodemic is affecting the critical
thinking to these young/impressionable minds.
The hate filed fake messages have the capacity of turning these young people into radicals
which we have seen with attack by white supremacist young people in western nation who
believe in Nazi and have attacked schools with guns.
It is important for parents & schools to intervene here. The word is intervention not
interference. It is important that the young people are helped so that they can learn how to
check fake news, know what to believe and not to believe and keep their critical thinking on.
They also are provided a sense of security so that they share their social media interactions
which affect them negatively with their parents and teachers.
Bharat Nayak
Technical Expert

47
Fake news spread uncertainty, panic, stress and anxiety in students and parents. This may
hinder the youngster's mobility out in the open fearlessly as parents may be deterred from
fake news of crimes for instance. If this escalates children from such households can slowly
feel lack of freedom to step out, to meet with friends and stay out of home carefree which
would eventually lead to isolation from peers.
When such misinformation or fake news increases to impact parents and students it takes the
form of what can be called an infodemic, an overabundance of information, which can be a
kind of pandemic in its own right, an overabundance of information, which makes it difficult
for parents to find reliable sources of information leading to consequences of an overload of
misinformation and play on their mind leading to uncertainty, fear, anxiety.
Children need social interaction to build emotional bonds, to form healthy relationships, to
build on interpersonal skills that help in teaching them life skills and shaping their
personality. This also plays a role in building and boosting their self esteem and self
confidence.
Parents and guardians along with children must look into news received with a lens of logic
and research. After finding out what is true and what is not it is imperative that a parent
doesn't succumb to a generalized state of anxiety or stress. Becoming and staying aware is
crucial.
Media and technology that should create awareness is creating stress, panic and
misinformation. This leads to stressed parents and depressed, isolated and frustrated children.
Akshata
Renowned International Psychologist.

48
‘फफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफ फफफफफफफफ फफ फफफ फफ’
फफफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफ, फफफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफफफ फफफफ
फफफ फफफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफफफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफ फफफ फफफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफ
फफफ फफ फफ फफफफ फफ फफफफफफफफफफफ फफ फफफ फफफफफफफ फफ फफफफफफ फफफ फफफ फफ
फफफ फफफफफफफफफ फफफफफफ फफफफफफफफफफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफ
फफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफफफफफफफफफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफफफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफफफ
फफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफफफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफ फफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफफफ
फफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफफ फफफ फफफफफ फफ फफ फफफफफ फफ, फफफफफ
फफफफफफफफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफफफफफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफ फफ
फफफ फफफ फफफफफ फफफ फफफफफफफफ फफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफफफ
फफ, फफफफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफफफ फफफफ फफफफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफफफ
फफ फफफफफफफफफफफ फफफफ फफफफफफफफफफफ फफ फफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफफ
फफफफ फफफफ फफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफफफफफ फफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफ फफफ फफ फफफ
फफफफफफ फफफफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफफ फफफफफ फफफ फफ फफ फफफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफफफफ
फफफ फफफफफफ फफफफफफफफ फफफफ फफफफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफ फफफ
फफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफ फफ,
फफफफफ फफ फफ फफफफफ फफफफफ फफफ फफफफफफफ फफफफफफफ फ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफफ फफ
फफफफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफफ फफफ फफफफ फफ फफफफफफफ फफ फफफफफफफफ फफ फफफफफफफफ
फफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफफ फफफ फफफ फफ फफफफफफफफफ फ फफफफफफफफफ फफफफफ
फफफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफ फफफफ फफ
फफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफफफफ फफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफफफफ फफ फफफफ
फफफफफफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफफ फफफफफफफफफफफ फफफ फफफफफफफ
फफफफ, फफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ, फफफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफफ फफफफफ
फफ फफफफफ फफफफ फफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफफ

49
ननननन नननननन
फफफफफफ फफफफफफफफ
फफफ फफफफफ
फफफफफफफ
Readers need to learn to differentiate between the sources they are getting information from,
and figure out whether it is a credible source or not. Not everything served on social media is
worth believing in. One must do fact checking before forwarding it to anyone. It is one way to
keep fake news from spreading further.
Isha Upadhyay
Reporter, Daily World

50
फफफ फफ फफफ फफफफफ फफफफफफफ फफफफ फफ फफफफफफफ, फफफफफफ फफ फफफफफफ फफफ फफ
फफफ फफफफफफफफफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफ फफफ फफफफफ
फफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफ फ फफ फफ फफफफफ फफफ फफफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफफफफफफफफ:
फफफफफफफफफफ फफ फ
फफफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फ फफफफफफफ फफफफफ फफ
फफफफफफफफ फफ फफफ फफ, फफफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफ फफफ फफफ फफफफ फफ फफफफफ फफ फफ फफफ
फफ फफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफफ फफ फफफफफफफ फफफफ फफ
फफफफफफ फफ फफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफफफफ फफफ फफफफफ फफ फफफ फफफ फफफफ
फफफ फ फफफ फफफफ फफफ फफ फफफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफफफ फफ फफ फफफफफफफ फफफफ
फफफफफफफफ फफफफफफफफफ फफफ फफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफफफफफफफ फफफ फफ फफफफ,
फफफफफफ फफफफफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफ फ फफफ फफफ फफफफ फफफ फफफफफफ फफफफ फफ फफफ
फफ फफफफफ फफ फफफफफफ फफ फफफफफफफफ फफ फफ फफफफफफ फफ फफ फफफ फफफफ फफफफफ फफ
फफफ फफफफफफफफ फफफफ फफफफफ फ
फफफफफफफ
Varuchi Sharma
Assistant Professor
Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics
Sri Guru Gobind Singh College Sector 26, Chandigarh.

51
While the India is trying to get to grips with coronavirus (Covid-19), social media platforms
are rife with all sorts of posts, ranging from information about the disease’s outbreak to
false news about its origin and spread, not to mention offering untested ‘treatment’.
These misleading posts are further amplified when picked up by gratuitous sections of
mass media.
This action has been identified as ‘intermediaries’ under the Information Technology (IT)
Act, 2008 — need to step up to the plate and remove such content without waiting for law
enforcement or judicial reference. WhatsApp is one such intermediary being used to
propagate false content about Covid-19.
Provisions of Section 54 of the Disaster Management Act (DMA), 2005 — which deals with
‘false alarm or warning as to disaster or its severity or magnitude, leading to panic’ — have
been applied in the few actions taken against false news made so far. Breaking this law can
lead up to one-year imprisonment or a fine. However, Section 54 is very specific to
disasters, and the ambit today of fake news is much beyond that.
Section 505(1) (b) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) addresses a wider canvas —spreading
false and mischievous content that results in ‘fear or alarm to the public, or to any section
of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or
against the public tranquillity’. Under this law, the convicted can be punished with
imprisonment of a maximum of six years and a fine.
Applying Section 54 of DMA together with Section 505(1)(b) of IPC in the current scenario
of the Covid-19 crisis could deter many. But the need for legal provisions for fake news
within the IT Act is more crucial now than ever. This calls for a larger awareness
programme, in which the IT Act should take the lead, and is supported by institutions and
corporates.
Clearly, a concerted war against coronavirus has to be fought on multiple fronts. Fake news
on the pandemic is one such critical front.
Advocate Anand Rohilla
Punjab and Haryana High Court

53
Personal Story
“A few weeks ago, Rupinder, 17, shared a hoax
story about the alleged death of former President,
Pranab Mukherjee.”
"I thought it was real and shared it with family
members. A lot of people were quite upset," she
says.”
“When the truth emerged that Pranab Mukherjee
was alive and well, Rupinder says she felt stupid.”

54
Personal Story
The first main experience of fake news was when
my 11-year-old brother stumbled across a news
story about the end of the world. “Initially, he was
genuinely very scared and upset, because it didn’t
look obviously fake,” says Ketan.”
Thanks to family conversations and school
lessons, my brother is fairly private online and
doesn’t use his real name, to avoid issues like
cyber bullying.

55
Pledge:
‘I hereby pledge to be A Fake News Warrior and will
verify the information before passing it on.’
#Fakeisfake Kartikay Harbola
#Identifyfake Bharat Nayak
projectfakenw@gmail.com Akshata
Arjun Kamboj
Navdeep Mishra
Isha Upadhyay
Varuchi Sharma
Anand Rohilla
& All the participants

Fake Is Fake - Identify Fake News Impacts on Youth

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