How is it possible to stop the spread of false information?

Like in other countries of the world also in Pakistan Social media The trend of spreading fake news and misinformation is increasing at an alarming rate. Lahore There is news of the alleged rape of a female student in a private college, after which the students staged a fierce protest and several students were arrested.

Regarding this incident, the investigation committee formed by the Punjab government has submitted its report to Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, in which it has been said that by spreading false information through social media, the students of private colleges were sent to different cities of Punjab. I was provoked to protest when there is no victim student present, no witness and no evidence found.

The report also stated that the claim of the alleged student’s death or hospitalization was also based on false statements. The statements of the students regarding this incident were also recorded.

Earlier, Chief Minister Punjab had said in his press conference that workers belonging to a political party are spreading wrong information on social media, in which some journalists who are supporters of this party are also involved and action is being taken against them. is

Prominent figures spreading misinformation later themselves denied the incident as a lie, but before that there had been massive protests by students in several cities including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Multan and Gujarat.

Advocate General Punjab Khalid Ishaq told the Lahore High Court on Friday that ‘false information was given in an Instagram post on October 12 about a private college student, which was shared by thousands of people without verification. No one knew who the student was, where she lived, and whether there was a student with that name. Everyone started exaggerating the issue. Then people vlogged it on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Many users spread the information about the girl’s death. Based on this information, hundreds of students came out to protest.

After which the Chief Justice of Lahore High Court Alaa Neelam said that the full bench of the High Court will hear on Tuesday (October 22) regarding these recent events and the spread of fake news on social media, where the Director General of the Federal Investigation Agency (FI) A) has been summoned in personal capacity including on record.

On the basis of false information or fake news, there was a violent protest in Britain some time ago and in this regard Farhan Asif, a resident of Lahore, was arrested by the police on the charge of spreading fake news, who was later released on bail by the court.

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Several YouTubers and social media activists in Pakistan have also been detained by the FIA ​​for spreading misinformation, but most of these arrests have been based on propaganda against the government of the day.

There are laws against falsely accusing someone or spreading fake news, but they do not seem to be fully enforced. Digital rights activists see this as a ‘dangerous trend’.

Nighat Dad, head of Digital Rights Foundation based in Lahore, says that ‘the spread of wrong information has become a big challenge, but the way the Lahore incident was presented and spread chaos is a very dangerous tradition.’

Speaking to Independent Urdu, he further said that the incident was not handled effectively by the Punjab government and the conflicting statements of the top officials created doubts.

According to Nighat Dad: ‘Any citizen can create an account on social media platforms and use it, but this sense of responsibility is found in very few citizens to be verified before sharing or posting any information. These problems are compounded by adding the element of income. Most people make their videos or posts controversial or post falsehoods, which are more likely to go viral. This is a dangerous trend.’

At the same time, he said: ‘We also don’t have an extensive network of fact-checkers who can quickly verify any false information and call it fake. On the other hand, whenever there is an incident, the confirmed information comes only after an inquiry and it takes time, but by the time the situation is clear, the information has reached millions of people.’

Police officers stand near a burnt vehicle and motorcycle during a protest on October 16, 2024, after the news of the alleged rape of a college student came out in Lahore (Arif Ali/AFP)

Nighat believes that this awareness should be given in educational institutions. Even in our educational institutions, there is no strategy to inform the students about the prevention of wrong information on social media. I think it should now be included in the curriculum on how to avoid and use the influence of social media.’

How is it possible to stop the spread of false information? To find out the answer to this question, Independent Urdu contacted the former director of FIA, Sajjad Mustafa, who said that this is not the work of any one organization, but everyone should work together in this regard.

Sajjad Mustafa said: ‘Before the term fake news or false information became common, fabricated information was spread for political interests, but now this matter has spread to educational institutions and has become a serious situation. Stopping it is not the work of any one organization, but all organizations including PTA, Necta, Police and FIA must make a joint plan and act.

He said, ‘There is a law to proceed only on the basis of the complainant’s request, but by the time an affected party files a complaint, the information has spread.’

He added: ‘Be it social media or journalistic institutions, all of them are indeed a means of conveying information to the people. Now the question arises whether the information or news is correct or not? Actions are also being taken in this regard, but the problem is that our institutions cannot take action against anyone unless an aggrieved person applies. By the time a request is made, the misinformation or propaganda has spread rapidly and there is no way to stop viral information, but whoever posts it first gets it.’

The former FIA director added: ‘Not only the consumers but also our top officials and institutions are not playing their active role in this regard. People do not have complete trust in any government or institution, so most people are not ready to believe the investigation of the institution or authorities.

“There is no institution or ruler whose word people fully trust, so whenever someone spreads propaganda based on false information, there seem to be more people sharing it and less people telling the truth, so everyone First of all, institutions and authorities must build trust in the public.’

In this regard, Nighat Dad says that our institutions and governments are also responsible in not stopping the spread of fake news or false information. Whenever there is an incident, the authorities concerned prefer to hide the information rather than share it. Even media people are avoided to provide correct information. When government authorities explain an incident, then no one is ready to believe it.’

According to Nighat: ‘Every government claims that access to information will be ensured, but today in this age of social media access to information is not possible. Other laws, including defamation, are in place but there is a need to build trust among people. Students also do not believe in the management in educational institutions because they were never taken into confidence, nor were they counselled. Now new approaches have to be adopted to deal with new challenges, otherwise it will not be possible to overcome this huge problem.’