JOIN USBPRD prepares manual for investigators to tackle fake news during coronavirus
Acknowledging that a “lot of fake news” is “going around during the coronavirus time”, government's police think-tank has come out with a manual to help investigators identify such texts and visuals aimed at spreading communal violence, hatred or panic among the people.
The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) wants police officers to look to adopt the latest cyber investigation methods and procedures for curbing the spread of and prosecuting the sources of fake news and misinformation.
"Digital news has brought back and increased the usage of fake news or yellow journalism. Fake news is written and published usually to mislead with the intent to damage an agency, entity, or person, and/or gain financially or politically, often using sensationalist, dishonest, or outright fabricated headlines to increase readership," it said.
"The extensive spread of fake news has the potential to gravely impact individuals as well as the society at large. Therefore, fake news detection in cyberspace has become an important issue for law enforcement agencies," according to the manual 'Fake News and Disinformation: How to Spot and Investigate'.
The manual identified textual posts as the major source of false information, saying many messages or website links one received may contain hoaxes or fake news. Investigators should look for spelling mistakes in such reports as well as whether the headline supports the visuals or captions.
"Fake news spreading agencies and people may opt for images as tools to make the content viral. In this scenario, someone may misrepresent a photo with misleading text, or morph the photo with deep fake tools," it warned.
On fake videos, it said such content "carries a false message, hatred, communal violence etc to spread panic" and shared the screenshot of a fake video where Muslims were portrayed licking plates and spoons to spread COVID-19 to buttress the point.
Sharing reports about a purported audio clip of Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad where he is accused of asking his supporters to violate lockdown norms, the manual also warned that "viral/fake news-mongers may create voice content" in the present scenario and spread it across the social networking channels.
Interestingly, Delhi Police on Friday denied a news report which said the probe has indicated that the audio clips circulated in the name of Maulana Saad were doctored.
The manual warned that photos, audio recordings, and videos can be edited to mislead the recipient and the investigators should 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.
Investigators should look for putting things out of context even while sharing of genuine content, misleading use of information to link an issue or individual, content impersonated with false or made-up sources as well as genuine information or imagery manipulated to deceive with a doctored photo. It also warned against satire or parody posts where the intention is not to harm but has the potential to fool people.
“Deceptive headlines, opinions presented as facts, distortions, made-up facts and neglected details" as well as "pseudo-experts, imagined experts and misrepresented experts" are another area to watch, the manual said.
How to Identify Fake News?
• False Connection - when headlines, visuals or captions do not support the contents
• False Context - when genuine content is shared with false contextual information
• Misleading Content - misleading use of information to link an issue or an individual
• Impostor Content - when genuine contents or sources are impersonated with false or made-up sources
• Manipulated Content - when genuine information or imagery is manipulated to deceive, as with a “doctored” photo
• Fabricated Content – False news content is designed to deceive and harm
• Satire or Parody - No intention to cause harm, but has, the potential to fool