There is encouraging news for Pakistanis. A recent global survey has revealed that Pakistanis are the most sceptical of fake news appearing on Facebook, Youtube, blogs, Twittter and other social media platforms. People in Egypt are the most gullible. The United States tops the list for spreading fake news, followed by Russia and China, according to the annual Ipsos survey of more than 25,000 internet users in 25 countries. The survey results show that 86 per cent internet users have been duped by fake news — most of it spread on Facebook. Respondents said they want both governments and social media companies to take deterrent action on these activities, as they are contributing to an increasing distrust of the internet as well as negatively impacting economies and political discourse. The results also revealed a widespread distrust of social media companies and growing concerns over online privacy and biases baked into algorithms used by internet companies.
We all know political and other kinds of lying have been on the rise in recent years. An important case in point is the lies about Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction. Now there is the fake news. Whether a piece of news is fake or not depends on whether it affects one adversely or one profits from it. US President Donald Trump describes all news that portrays him in a bad light as fake. He has no problem with panegyrics about him, his family, friends and allies. He has given a variety of names to news that does not suit him like anti-fact, untruth and fake news and innumerable suchlike. “What is truth?” said the Jesting Pilate. And he did not wait for an answer. This implies an answer but he did not want to hear it. This applies to people who do not like to hear the truth because of their prejudices and inclinations.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 13th, 2019.
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