Infodemic another pandemic: Beware of false information it's more dangerous than ignorance- (Blog)



When the world is fighting against the novel coronavirus, we have yet another serious issue to deal with and that is fake news. Hot weather will kill the virus, the virus probably affects senior citizens and many such messages have taken all of us on a toll within the past few months. The dissemination of fake news not just creates panic and fear in the minds of people but has also impacted our mental health. The growth in the IT sector has escalated the number of active users on Social Media Sites. People forward the information present on such sites without even checking its authenticity. Pop-ups, adds and outrageous headlines often take to sites which are not real.
 The constitutional bodies, government as well as the social media outlets have taken various steps to restrict people from spreading unverified information either by creating awareness or banning their accounts and taking legal action against them. Intermediaries like Facebook, Google and some others have initiated a Information Trust Alliance(ITA) to remove fake contents from their sites.
  Constitutional Bodies like the Press Council of India(PCI), Indian Broadcast Foundation (IBF), News Broadcasters Association (NBA) and Broadcasting Content Complaint Council (BCCC) look after the content aired on news and TV channels.
 Provisions regarding Fake News:
 India does not have any specific provisions which punish the person who spread false information, however there are provisions that indirectly deal with the form of speech and expression which falls within the scope of fake news.
If a person is found circulating statements that may incite a fear and panic in the minds of the people would be punished with imprisonment under Section 505(1)(b), Indian Penal Code(IPC) and Section 54, Disaster Management Act. Section 464 and 471, IPC deals with making false documents or electronic records as an act of forgery shall be punished under Section 465. Section 66, IT Act, 2000 punishes the person who fraudulently damages the computer system with imprisonment or fine or both.
 The Supreme Court has also in many of its judgments ordered the media to be responsible and ensure that unverified news that causes panic in the society is not circulated; one such order was passed in the recent case of Alakh Alok Shrivastava v. Union of Media.
 Conclusion:
 Often people are influenced by such rumors and look for magical cures, while others spread conspiracies against the government to promote their ideologies. There are endless cases where false information is believed to be true, and has misguided the society at large. Misinformation spread by people, often misleads the one who is not informed.
 Certain steps need to be taken by the authorities to stop spread of fake news :
 • Formulating a proper law which specially deals with Fake News
 • Identifying the source of information and debunking it on the same platform.
 • Media needs to verify the news which it publishes or telecasts.
 • Restricting accounts prone to spread misinformation.

- Jhanvi Dua  
Chanderprabhu Jain College of higher studies and school of law
          &
Vrinda Agrawal
Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies.

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