International Fact-Checking Day: How to spot fake news

International Fact-Checking Day falls on April 2. Fake news continues to be a serious concern and training the public to spot it should be a top priority, say news and fact-checking experts. 

Common subjects

Fake news does not follow a pattern, says Raghavendra D L, a fact checker with ‘Naanu Gauri’, a news website launched by Gauri Media Trust. The website also does fact-checking. “During elections, fake political news is circulated widely. In Karnataka, fake news around guarantee schemes is always doing the rounds,” he points out. 

Misinformation always surrounds sensitive issues like the Farmers Protests. News of paid actors participating in the protest was circulated during the time. “Recently, during Kumbh Mela, several ‘miracles’ were reported and pictures (generated through AI) of celebrities participating in the festivities did the rounds on social media,” he recalls. 

Ekta Sharma, chief editor from Bengaluru-based Check4Spam, says aside from medical and political misinformation, fake news relating to financial issues is on the rise. This is dangerous because it can lead to scams. 

The Media Triangle has been conducting media literacy workshops at schools and colleges. The sessions cover how one can spot fake news and check facts. Prathik Desai, director, says that fake news often appears where there is a sense of urgency. “Political issues around elections and health-related news around health emergencies (like the pandemic) are common. Social media influencers pick up whatever they find and create content with clickbait statements. This can lead to misinformation or disinformation,” he adds. 

Keeping a check

Google Reverse Image check is one of the easiest ways to check information, says Raghavendra. 

“When you spot a fake video, take a screenshot of it, and upload it via Google Lens to see if there are other entries on the same content. If an image or video is real, similar information will pop up. With this, one can find out if it was an actual event, and when it happened,” he explains. If it’s newly generated content, one will find no search results. 

Ekta says that fraudsters often use random video clips and add audio to them. “Check if the voice lip syncs with the visual. To check for misleading text, search it on Google, to find its source. If you see sensitive information online, checking comments on the post can often help judge its source and credibility,” she adds. 

Desai explains what to look for when one wants to re-share information. “Ask yourself if there is a sense of emergency, is something being created to flare up emotions of people, and is it sensitive or derogatory?” he says. 

The best thing to do when reading “something shocking” is to pause, he adds. “Nine out of 10 times one can do nothing by sharing such news as what had to happen has already happened. Unless the information can help save someone’s life, just hold back from sharing it,” he adds. It is ideal to step back from things that sound “too good to be true”.

“Another checkpoint is if credible sources have been cited in the information,” he adds. 

Is it AI?

AI content images and videos are easy to spot. “In case of AI-generated images or visual content, they often lack details and sport an ‘airbrushed’ look. Often images of people having six fingers or toes and body deformations can be seen in videos,” Raghavendra adds. 

Fact or fake

Fact check information on websites like Boomlive, The Quint (webqoof), Alt News, Factly, Fact Crescendo, Vishvas News, Factcheck.org and PolitiFact, experts say. 

Tools to use:

InVid Verification Plugin (fact-checking through video verification)

Hive Moderation (reviews AI-powered content)

NewsGuard (an Internet browser extension)

Google Factcheck (aggregates all fact-checked content according to themes)