Fake news and coronavirus, two global pandemics to counter!
In a world that is becoming increasingly connected it is imperative to verify the truth before releasing any information becomes essential. What can you do? How? What tool? What channel?
Everyone is in agreement with the following description: “[ fake news is] false information, which is a form of infox, misleading information that is aimed at of deceiving or manipulating.” However, fake news can be multi-faceted. There are two types which are, in my opinion, the most popular.
Let’s begin with the vagueness mistakes, inaccuracies or errors
The person who spreads the fake news will eliminate parts of the information, twisting it , and giving it a different orientation or a different direction from its initial purpose.
For instance In Cote d’Ivoire, the news that “18 illegal Italians” were discovered within the Sassandra district (in the southern part in the south) was been circulated Pills are Buy ivermectin 6 mg | Buy ivermectin 12 mg | Buy Ziverdo Kit. This is not true and insufficient. In fact the truth is that 18 white people were evidently found in the region , but there weren’t any Italians in the group. They were more Europeans as well as other nationalities as the ambassador of the European Union to Cote d’Ivoire stated.
Fake news also uses facts that are true, but is presented in a different context.
This is the situation with the image posted in Cote Ivoire that depicts victims of police infractions. The person who posted it was trying to demonstrate what the Ivorian police tortured people who violated the curfew. The only difference is that the photo was taken at a protest within the Republic of Guinea in January 2020.
For the common person the information that is available on the Internet is invariably accurate. The most troubling part is that the media assume the information without examining it. What are the motives behind this? It is important to remember that the spread deceitful news stories is a part of a battle for information between various parties. You don’t want to be deceived by them, but you need truthful and fact-based news!
How can you tell if fake news is being reported?
There is a fundamental assumption that you should not systematically believe any information that is useful. The same attitude calls for us to (always) double-check.
In addition there are five other strategies to help you detect fake information.
Pay at the finer details. It is a good sign if you see a attractive, and stunning title, it is usually accompanied by an exclamation point at the end, or written with capital letters. A closer look will reveal that this post does not contain any specific date or location.
Then, ensure you’re getting news from a reliable source. Who will be sending you the information? A family member? A stranger? A news website? The government? The WHO (World Health Organization)? use corona pills Buy Dexona 4 mg | Buy Doxycycline 100 mg | Buy Ciprofloxacin 500 mg
Recommendations: Use trusted sources. Information from the government, scientific journals. Be cautious when you are reading individual blogs as well as websites. They are often filled with personal opinions that are nothing more than opinions.
If an individual is quoted or has comments associated with his name, the first step is to visit the official websites and social media profiles of the person. In order to ensure that the source of the quote actually is a result of him or her.
For example, A message goes out through WhatsApp and Facebook informing users the following: Barack Obama “asks Africans not to be a part of the vaccines that come via Europe”. This information can be examined on the previous U.S. President’s website and Twitter, Facebook, as well as Instagram accounts. In this instance there is no statement like this found on his website or his social media accounts. This is clearly a fake news fabrication from scratch.
The next thing to do is diversify your news sources. When you read other articles on the same topic you can check and compare the information. If the similar information is discussed in multiple sources, and quoting the same sources, it’s much more probable to be correct.
The fifth and final requirement is that you need to “decrypt images.” Locate the source of an image to make it more contextual make sure you take care of the structure or utilize reverse search engine, such as Google Images, to check whether the image hasn’t been taken over by a hacker.
In summary If you have received information, do not be too eager to pass it along. The chance of becoming the conveyor belt for fake news is very high. Always double-check. It’s best to be the first person to post authentic news rather than be the first person to distribute false information. Your credibility is at risk.