News Analysis India

Tag: Fake News

  • Gurumurthy calls for total ban on ‘anarchic’ social media to check fake news

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  With the role of media coming under scrutiny amid proliferation of fake news, editor of Thuglak, S Gurumurthy on Tuesday suggested a complete ban on social media while addressing a seminar here to mark National Press Day.

    Calling it anarchic, Gurumurthy said social media poses a risk to “everybody’s image, national security and national interest”.

    Some of the participants in the seminar, organised by the Press Council of India, disagreed saying while measures need to be taken to check the circulation of unverified information, a complete ban on social media would not be an appropriate step to check the spread of misinformation.

    In an audio-visual message, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur also called on the media to curb fake news.

    “National Press Day is a day to reflect upon the role of media and the press in raising the issues that matter to the citizens of India. The media is a watchdog and has a key role to play in the vibrant democracy of India.

    “On this day, I call upon my friends from media to make all efforts to curb the menace of fake news and fake narratives. The government on its part has taken measures like establishment of fact check unit at Press Information Bureau which has gained popularity,” he said.

    Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said the role of media in providing authentic and unbiased news and information assumes huge importance in present times.

  • Video claiming Punjab regiment jawans protesting with farmers is fake: Indian Army

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: The Indian Army on Sunday clarified that the video circulating on social media showing army personnel standing with civilians under a tent saying that Punjab regiment soldiers are protesting with farmers was fake.

    The Army officials further clarified that the ex-servicemen of the unit had arranged tea for the serving personnel while they were moving from one location to another.

    “A video is circulating on social media showing Indian Army jawans standing with civilians under a tent saying that Punjab regiment soldiers are protesting with some farmers. This is fake news,” an army official said.

    “Ex-servicemen of the unit had arranged tea for the serving personnel while they were moving from one location to another,” he added.

    Farmers have been protesting at different sites since November 26 last year against the enacted farm laws: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

    Farmer leaders and the Centre have held several rounds of talks but the impasse remains. 

  • Fake news, riots push India’s crime rate up by 28 per cent amidst pandemic

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Covid-19 norm violations pushed up India’s overall crime rate by 28% last year, even though most major crimes saw a decline, according to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). What kept the police on their toes in the pandemic year was fake news, offences related to adulteration, riots and offences under environmental laws.

    Cases regarding circulation of false/fake news and rumour mongering doubled compared to 2019. Such cases have been on the rise for a while. In 2018, 280 such cases were registered, the numbers rose to 486 in 2019 and last year, as many as 1,527 cases were registered.

    The last year also recorded a surge in the cases of rioting. More disputes as compared to the previous year were reported last year over conflicts concerning religion, sect, caste, agriculture, money, water and land despite the ongoing pandemic. After 45,985 cases of riots in 2019, last year recorded a total of 51,606 cases of riots including 857 cases concerning religious matters, 2,188 agrarian disputes, 10,652 of property altercations and 736 matters of caste conflict.

    Adulteration cases have been increasing too. Under the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act, 25 cases were registered in 2018 and under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 49 and 175 cases were registered in 2018. The following year saw 49 such cases and 362 cases under PFA and FSAS Act, respectively. Last year, 65 and 625 cases were registered under these two laws — PFA and FSAS.

    Overall crime in the country increased by 28% in 2020 over the non-pandemic year of 2019, according to NCRB, but this rise was mainly attributed to violation of Covid-19 norms and guidelines.  The report lists a total of 66,01,285 cognizable crimes comprising 42,54,356 Indian Penal Code (IPC) violations and 23,46,929 crimes under Special and Local Laws (SLL). It shows an increase of 14,45,127 (28%) in registration of cases from 2019 (51,56,158 cases). 

    “Major increase was seen in cases registered under Section 188 of the IPC (Disobedience to Order Duly Promulgated by Public Servant) from 29,469 cases in 2019 to 6,12,179 cases in 2020 and under ‘Other IPC Crimes’ from 2,52,268 cases in 2019 to 10,62,399 cases in 2020….Effectively therefore, there is a decrease in registration of traditional crime by about two lakh cases,” the report stated.

    Cyber offence cases in India rise by 11.8% 

    New Delhi: India recorded 50,035 cases of cyber crime in 2020, with a 11.8 per cent surge in such offences over the previous year, as 578 incidents of “fake news on social media” were also reported, official data showed on Wednesday. The rate of cyber crime (incidents per lakh population) also increased from 3.3 per cent in 2019 to 3.7 per cent in 2020 in the country. In 2019, the country recorded 44,735 cases of cyber crime, while the figures stood at 27,248 in 2018, the data from corresponding years showed. The year saw 4,047 cases of online banking fraud, 1,093 OTP frauds and 1,194 credit/debit card fraud.

  • India reported 11.8% rise in cyber crime in 2020; 578 incidents of ‘fake news on social media’: Data

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: India recorded 50,035 cases of cyber crime in 2020, with a 11.8 per cent surge in such offences over the previous year, as 578 incidents of “fake news on social media” were also reported, official data showed on Wednesday.

    The rate of cyber crime (incidents per lakh population) also increased from 3.3 per cent in 2019 to 3.7 per cent in 2020 in the country, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.

    In 2019, the country recorded 44,735 cases of cyber crime, while the figures stood at 27,248 in 2018, the data from corresponding years showed.

    The year saw 4,047 cases of online banking fraud, 1,093 OTP frauds and 1,194 credit/debit card fraud, while 2,160 cases related to ATM were reported in 2020, the NCRB figures showed.

    There were also 578 cases of fake news on social media, 972 related to cyber stalking or bullying of women and children, 149 incidents of fake profile and 98 of data theft, it added.

    In terms of motive, the maximum 60.2 per cent cyber crimes lodged in 2020 were done for fraud (30,142 out of 50,035 cases), the NCRB, which functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs, stated.

    It was followed by sexual exploitation with 6.6 per cent (3,293 cases) and extortion 4.9 per cent (2,440 cases), the data showed.

    Among states, the maximum 11,097 cyber crime cases were reported in Uttar Pradesh followed by Karnataka (10,741), Maharashtra (5,496), Telangana (5,024) and Assam (3,530), it showed.

    However, the crime rate was highest in Karnataka with 16.2 per cent followed by Telangana (13.4 per cent), Assam (10.1 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (4.8 per cent) and Maharashtra (4.4 per cent), the data showed.

    National capital Delhi recorded 168 such cases during the year with a crime rate of 0.8 per cent, according to the NCRB, which is responsible for collecting and analysing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code and special and local laws in the country.

  • ‘Ultimately, this country gets a bad name’: SC expresses concern over fake, communal news

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday voiced serious concern over running of fake news on social media platforms and web portals, and said even news shown in a section of channels bears communal tone, which may bring a bad name to the country.

    A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana was hearing a batch of petitions including the one filed by Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind seeking directions to the Centre to stop dissemination of “fake news” related to a religious gathering at the Markaz Nizamuddin and take strict action against those responsible for it.

    “Everything shown in a section of private news channels bear a communal tone. Ultimately, this country is going to get a bad name. Did you ever attempt to regulate these private channels,” asked the bench.

    Social media only listens to “the powerful voices” and several things are written against judges, institutions without any accountability, said the bench which also comprised justices Surya Kant and A S Bopanna.

    “There is no control over fake news and slandering in web portals and YouTube channels. If you go to YouTube, you will find how fake news is freely circulated and anyone can start a channel on YouTube,” it said.

    The top court agreed to hear after six weeks the Centre’s plea seeking transfer of petitions from various high courts to itself on the issue of newly-enacted IT rules meant to regulate online content including social media and web portals.

  • Social media by no means altruistic, can polarise public debates: Supreme Court

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Stressing the importance of social media, the Supreme Court on Thursday said such platforms have become power centres unto themselves, having the ability to influence vast sections of opinions. Dealing with a plea related to the summons issued to Facebook by the Delhi Assembly’s Peace and Harmony Committee in connection with Delhi riots, a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy commented, “Facebook has the power of not simply a hand but a fist, gloved as it may be. They cannot wash their hands of the issue as this is their very business. Their role is not as innocuous as they are seeking to contend,” the court said with of Facebook’s role in Delhi riots.

    The observations are significant as social media companies, including Facebook and Twitter, have often argued that they are just intermediaries and cannot be held liable under India laws for misuse/abuse of the platform by the users.

    “These platforms are by no means altruistic in character but rather employ business models that can be highly privacy intrusive and have the potential to polarise public debates,” the bench said. Highlighting the spread of misinformation on such platforms which has created ripples across the globe, the court elaborated that even “election and voting processes, the very foundation of a democratic government, stand threatened by social media manipulation”.

    “The concern is whether the liberal debate which these platforms profess to encourage has itself become a casualty.” The bench held that for intermediaries to say they can sidestep this criticism is a fallacy, as they are at the centre of these debates. “It has to be noted their platform has also hosted disruptive voices replete with misinformation.

    These have had a direct impact on vast areas of subject matter which ultimately affect the governance of states. In this modern technological age, it would be too simplistic for an intermediary like Facebook to contend they are merely a platform for exchange of ideas without performing any significant role themselves, especially given their functioning and business model,” the court said.

    The bench observed governments have expressed concern for necessity of greater accountability by these intermediaries which have become big business corporations with influence across borders. It said algorithms, which are sequences of instructions, have human interventions to personalise content & influence opinions.

  • Twitter withholds 50 tweets related to alleged assault of Muslim man in Ghaziabad

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Twitter has “withheld” 50 tweets related to a communally sensitive video clip of an elderly Muslim man in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh on the microblogging platform, according to sources.

    According to information on the Lumen database, Twitter received a legal request from the Indian government on June 17 for actioning 50 tweets.

    These tweets have been withheld and the content could not be independently verified.

    Upon clicking on the blocked URLs listed on Lumen database, a message saying the tweet has been “withheld in India in response to a legal demand” is displayed.

    According to sources, these tweets contained content related to the said video clip.

    When contacted, a Twitter spokesperson said: “As explained in our Country Withheld Policy, it may be necessary to withhold access to certain content in response to a valid legal demand or when the content has been found to violate local law(s)”.

    The spokesperson noted that the withholdings are limited to the specific jurisdiction/country where the content is determined to be illegal.

    The account holder is notified directly – by sending a message to the e-mail address associated with the account(s), if available – so that the user is aware that Twitter has received a legal order pertaining to the account.

    “The legal requests that we receive are detailed in the biannual Twitter Transparency Report, and requests to withhold content are published on Lumen,” the spokesperson added.

    Requests received by Twitter for withholding content are published on Lumen database – an independent research project studying cease and desist letters concerning online content.

    The Ghaziabad police have booked Twitter and six people for circulating a video that claimed to have the elderly Muslim man saying he was allegedly thrashed and asked to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’.

    Police say this was done to create communal unrest.

    The Ghaziabad police have sent a notice to Twitter India Managing Director Manish Maheshwari, asking him to join a probe in connection with the case.

    Twitter has drawn flak for failure to fully comply with the new IT rules, which mandates among other requirements, the appointment of three key personnel – chief compliance officer, nodal officer and grievance officer by social media platforms with over 50 lakh users.

    All the three personnel have to be resident in India.

    While the rules came into effect on May 26, Twitter is yet to adhere to the social media guidelines, despite repeated reminders from the government.

    The government, last week, had slammed Twitter for deliberate defiance and failure to comply with the IT rules, which has led to the US giant losing its intermediary status in India and becoming liable for users posting any unlawful content.

    Twitter and the government have been at loggerheads over multiple instances in the past months, including during the farmers’ protest and later when the microblogging platform tagged political posts of several leaders of the ruling party BJP as “manipulated media”, triggering a sharp rebuke from the Centre.

    Twitter has an estimated 1.75 crore users in India, as per data cited by the government recently.

    Earlier this month, Twitter had blocked accounts of Punjabi rapper JazzyB, Sydney-based hip-hop artist L-Fresh the Lion and two others following demands by the Indian government.

    Earlier this year, more than 500 accounts were suspended and access to hundreds of others in India blocked after the government ordered the microblogging platform to restrain the spread of misinformation and inflammatory content related to farmers’ protests.

  • UP cops book villager for complaining to media on Covid

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: The UP Police have booked a villager for allegedly spreading “false information” in the media about the neglect of Covid positive patients in a village in Greater Noida of UP’s Gautam Buddha Nagar district. The accused is yet to be arrested.

    Yogesh Talan, husband of a former village pradhan of Mewla Gopalgarh village, was booked on Monday under various sections of the IPC as well as the Epidemic Act. “The complaint was lodged by the Jewar PHC in charge. Efforts are on to arrest him,” said Jewar police station in-charge Umesh Singh.

    The PHC in-charge has alleged that an elderly man was reporting fever for a few days and was getting treatment from a local quack. When his condition started worsening, he was taken to Jewar CHC, where he tested Covid positive. Doctors referred him for admission to a designated Covid hospital.

    “Instead, the patient told doctors that he would get admitted to a private hospital. However, he continued to be treated by the quack,” said the police. Some days later, the patient complained of difficulty in breathing for which the PHC gave him oxygen support. “Meanwhile, the accused called journalists and narrated them a false story of neglect by government doctors in Greater Noida,” the Jewar SHO said.

  • Centre warns against fake ministry statement enumerating COVID-19 related inputs

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: The Fact Check Unit of Press Information Bureau (PIB) has clarified that a message circulating on WhatsApp enumerating several COVID-19 related inputs is falsely claiming to be a press release by the Ministry of Health.

    It clarified that the claims made in the message are fake, adding that no such press release has been issued by the Ministry of Health.

    Sharing a picture of the fake press release, PIB Fact Check from its official Twitter handle tweeted today, “A message circulating on WhatsApp enumerating several COVID-19 related inputs is #falsely claiming to be a press release put out by the Ministry of Health.#PIBFactCheck The claims made in the message are #Fake. No such Press Release has been issued by the @MoHFW_INDIA”

    According to PIB’s Fact Check Unit, the fake press release claimed, “The fears expressed earlier regarding the spread of COVID-19 in India for the last 3-4 weeks were finally confirmed today in the press release issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).”

    In order to check the spread of fake news on social media and following observations of the Supreme Court, PIB had set up a dedicated unit to bust rumours getting viral on social media.

    ‘PIB Fact Check’ is a verified handle on Twitter that continuously monitors trending messages on social media platforms and conducts a comprehensive review of its contents to bust fake news. 

  • GoM report on media control shows government’s draconian attitude: Editors

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Editors Guild of India has expressed concern over a Group of Minister’s (GoM) report which the body said was prepared with an “embedded toolkit” to control the narrative about the government in the media.

    The EGI said since the report was made public, several of those named in the report have denied any involvement in its drafting.

    “The Editors Guild of India expresses shock and disbelief at the manner in which a group of ministers (GoM) has prepared a report with an embedded toolkit to control the narrative about the government in the media.

    “This GoM, comprising five cabinet and four ministers of state, had been constituted by the government in mid-2020, without any provocation and at a time when various press freedom and democracy indices show a rapid slide,” the EGI said in a statement.

    “The preparation of the report and its debilitating import on media freedom and journalists is a major concern for the EGI, which demands that the government should make it clear that it is committed to the plurality of viewers in the media,” it said.  

    The report, which was prepared at the end of 2020 and has recently emerged in thee media, further illustrates the government’s “increasingly draconian attitude” against any critique and inquiry by the press, the statement said.

    It said the suggestions from the report hinted at increased surveillance and targeting of journalists who depart from the government’s narrative.

    “One of the most disturbing instances is the suggestion by a Union minister that refers to developing a ‘strategy to neutralise the people who are writing against the government without facts and spread narratives/spread fake news’. In the absence of any clarity on what will constitute fake news and the process to be followed, such observations smack of an intention to muzzle any criticism of the government,” it added. 

    It added that the preparation of the GoM report and “its debilitating import on media freedom and journalists is a major concern for EGI, which demands that the government, which is supposed to safeguard constitutional values of freedom of expression should make it clear that it is committed to the plurality of views in the media.”

    The report of the Group of Ministers has suggestions of “tracking 50 negative and 50 positive influencers” on social media and “neutralise people who are writing against the government without facts to spread fake news”.

    The GoM comprising nine ministers — Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar, Smriti Irani, S Jaishankar, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Hardeep Singh Puri, Babul Supriyo, Anurag Thakur and Kiren Rijiju — had held six meetings between June 14 and July 19 2020 before putting together the 97-page report.

    (With PTI Inputs)