Detect Fake news

Police get a guide to detect fake news

Manual asks officers to fact-check with reliable sites, including thehindu.com

10/05/2020, VIJAITA SINGH,NEW DELHI

The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) has published a step-by-step guide for law enforcement agencies to identify “fake news” and videos intended to spread panic through hatred and communal violence in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The think-tank under the Union Home Ministry, in the detailed guide, has said “digital news has brought back and increased the usage of fake news or yellow journalism” usually “published with the intent to damage an agency, entity or a person and gain financially or politically “often using sensationalist, dishonest or outright fabricated headlines to increase readership.”

‘Look for trusted source’

“Photos, audio recordings, and videos can be edited to mislead the recipient. Look at trusted news sources to verify whether the story is being reported elsewhere. When a story is reported in multiple places, it is more likely to be true,” the manual said, asking the officers to read beyond “outrageous” headlines designed to attract clicks. It asked them to read the whole story and also do a “quick search on the author” if he or she is “reliable and real.”

The manual gives an indicative list of websites that could be accessed for fact-checking including thehindu.com, pib.gov.in and reporterlabs.org among others.

Communal angle

To explain the communal aspect, the guidelines include a screenshot of a fake video which accused Muslims of licking cleaned plates and spoons to “transfer the virus to people at large”.

It also attached a clip where miscreants used fake URLs to mislead people who wanted to donate to PM-CARES fund.

The guidelines ask police and other investigating agencies to use open domain tools to authenticate content such as Google Reverse Image search for collecting more information on fake videos.

The research body, however, cautioned that the “Investigating officer may consider the case sensitivity because these websites are hosted on foreign servers/cloud systems, that may influence or mislead the investigation due to data leakage.”

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