Rise of fake news

Recently, the entire cricketing world went in a frenzy after news spread that Pakistani skipper Babar Azam was allegedly involved in a “sexting” scandal with another player’s girlfriend. It was later ascertained that the fake news originated from a parody Twitter account and was subsequently taken up by an Australian news outlet, Fox Cricket. The original tweet has since been deleted and the handler, who chooses to remain anonymous, has claimed that it was meant for laughs and giggles.

The entire ordeal has received much criticism from veteran cricketers as well as fans but points towards a much graver issue of just how easily misinformation can be accepted as a reality. The rise of social media has resulted in an overall decrease in critical thinking skills among users. This makes it difficult for them to discern truth from falsehood. The production of information is now being controlled by content creators who do not hesitate to morph reality to forward their own agenda and gain followers. Thus, information sharing with a click of a button and without authentication becomes a habitual process for many. Those consuming it believe that content creators are reliable and truthful. Opinions are often treated as facts and information is morphed to fit a certain ideology. The internet has therefore become an amalgamation of real, fake and manufactured information. The dilemma is in handling it. Enforcing regulations on different types of information will in turn create a structure of power and oppression while increasing internet freedom creates more misinformation and disinformation.

Digital rights experts need to toil with this moral conundrum to find an adequate solution. Meanwhile, it would bode well for platform like Twitter and Facebook to keep a criterion for verified accounts and sharing of information.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2023.

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