Fake news

Fake news is a type of yellow journalism or propaganda that consists of deliberate disinformation or hoaxes spread via traditional news media or social media. Digital news has brought back and increased the usage of fake news, or yellow journalism. The news is then often reverberated as misinformation in social media but occasionally finds its way to the mainstream media as well.

• Fake news was not a term many people used four years ago, but it is now seen as one of the greatest threats to democracy and free debate. Fake news is not a new phenomenon. Misinformation has been used by governments for ages to control public opinions for generations.
• The rampant misuse of social media platforms to spread fake news has been a global cause for concern for misinformation shared through WhatsApp messages influences the voters.
• Social media giants like Facebook, Twitter and Google are also under intense pressure to do everything they can to prevent their platforms being misused and manipulated, and to stop the spread of fake news.
• Fake news does not make a person change his beliefs. Fake news only reinforces the existing political ideas and beliefs and brings out the worst impulses within us.
• Fake news is only a catalyst, the demon is within ourselves. 
• People tend to assume new technologies will make it harder to manipulate the truth. In reality, new technologies — from photography to the Internet — open up new avenues for faking.
• In India three major factors drive political behavior: security, public goods and economic patronage. Security issues is not just threats of violence against your family or caste, but also about your civil rights, access to police and legal institutions. The lack of people from lower castes in courtrooms and police station has always been a barrier for dalits to get justice.
• There are lot of poor, upper caste people who are not getting any govt benefits. They feel aggrieved and that is where the fake news comes in. Political parties like the BJP are using this predisposed belief of being 'left out' to get people to vote for them.
• BJP is pushing extremely violent messages in their WhatsApp groups, because those things work in getting their voters to the polling booth. They are targeting people who are going to vote for BJP anyway. On the other hand Congress and other parties, which are trying to stitch together much larger coalitions, have a much harder job. 
• With increased accessibility to smartphones and internet, the dissemination of fake messages has become more decentralised and harder to monitor. The government is freaking out because they can no longer control it.
• At present the BJP has the first mover's advantage. BJP is more organised and can influence people -- at least motivate their own voter to go to the polls by sharing something racist or bigoted. Every political party is trying to do the same thing. Once they catch up, the influence of fake news will wear out. 
• Pushing fake news for power & profit, promising to tickle the soured and stale addictions many have developed to deflection, deception and denial is the domain of disreputable organizations. 
• Purveyors of deflection, deception and denial play on people's weaknesses, their cultivated thirst for contentious reporting, their inability to apply critical thinking and practice the proven ability to evaluate their sources of media before positions are assumed and actions are taken. All of this dysfunction, based on faulty information provided/collected.
• Nations have been compromised and wars, some of them world wars, are started when propaganda is permitted to advance, unchecked. Lying for a profit is right up there with prostitution, drug running and gun trafficking in terms of profitability and this harmful practice has been around just as long. 

The importance of legacy media

In today’s world of information overload, it is estimated in 2016 that every second approximately 6,000 tweets were put out, more than 40,000 Google queries were searched, and more than two million emails were sent. In this deluge, how do we navigate through the minefields of lies, spins, and partial truths?

• There are principles such as first-hand knowledge, verification, bearing witness, and accountability that govern the flow of news. The term ‘fake news’ legitimises outright lies and and partial truths and cannot be linked with the word ‘news’ allowing the debate to be framed as a textual problem, while it is an ethical and social one. 
• The exponential growth in polarised websites and social media activism aimed at ruthless propaganda before elections and trying to invoke Article 19 to defend this act of criminality undermines democracy itself.
• In the complexity of information disorder, the words ‘fake’ or ‘news’ is woefully inadequate to capture this polluted information ecosystem.
• There is a discernible movement away from the constant blur of breaking news on television screens and social media platforms.
• In this environment, legacy media* is regaining its place as a credible information provider. Majority readers have started valuing the process of stringent gate-keeping that forms the bedrock of journalism. *Media such as radio, television, and especially newspapers are considered as legacy media where the receiver does not contribute or interact with the content and remains totally passive.
• The importance of slow journalism is that it takes time to do things properly with the values of journalism — context, analysis and expert opinion. They cut through the noise by not following modern news production methods that are filled to the brim with reprinted press releases, knee-jerk punditry, advertorial nonsense, and churnalism. Instead, they prefer slow journalism as an antidote to menace: Intelligent, curated, non-partisan news coverage designed to inspire and inform.

Being one of the last to break news can inform readers in a way that the constant stream of 24x7 news updates cannot. One of the best things about a print edition is the virtue of finite space. They don't fall into 24/7 news traps: the speculation, conjecture and hot air. It is up to the readers to support journalism and not fleeting social media trends.

We systematically overestimate the change that will occur in two years, 

while underestimating the change that will come in the next ten years ... Bill Gates

Implausible Indian media suffers trust deficit

During 2017 increasing numbers of people express no faith in the mainstream media. Main stream media houses owned by business houses are biased and are TRP driven. Their focus is on earnings, breaking news, advertisements and hardly get any chance to verify the veracity of the news. Driven by competition, the media and journalists became corrupt, lacked ethics & morals, irresponsible, spread fake stories and fake propaganda etc leading to erosion of public faith. With media suffering enormous trust deficit, their viewership has eroded and people started depending more and more on social media.

• During the last two decades, rules and norms of journalism have been cast aside amidst the frenzied competition. Loose allegations, without even the basic verification, are broadcast and published with little fear of defamation. When today's news is the next hour's history, then truth can lose out to sensationalism with worrying consequences for media credibility.
• Journalism is the activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and information. The purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with the information they need to make the best possible decisions about their lives, their communities, their societies, and their governments.
• Journalism must be fair and accurate through objective methods and managing bias. Journalism is different from other forms of communication and that is what make it indispensable to democratic societies.
• Our journalists of present days are simply presstitutes not journalists.        Presstitute is defined as an individual reporter or news broadcaster, or a media news group, who reports to be unbiased but is in fact tailoring their news to suit someone's goal of corporations or big businesses or political parties.
• The implausible Indian media is known for spreading fake stories and fake propaganda and none believes its news stories. The journalists turned to be PR agents of few political parties to earn benefits.
• There are now more than 500 channels across the country, a third of which are news channels. Add over a 100 million newspaper copies that are sold every day, more than 8 million internet users, and the image of a news-driven society is complete. When consumption reaches such mammoth proportions, the media is bound to play a larger-than-life role in our lives.
• Media is one of the most corrupt institutions with no ethics, no morals, no patriotism and no responsibility. They are divided by names and united by TRP ratings. In most countries people won't trust media content which has vested interests and exploit the situation for gaining TRPs.
• Every night we see news anchors to play judge, jury and executioner. From being neutral and detached observers of the news, media have arrogated to themselves the right to speak for the nation. If you look at media now, all the hosts of these other shows are interviewing themselves. The guests are a prop for the anchors.
• Very often Indian journalists use silly issues blown out of proportions to create panic among public. In India media and people form Lutyens club of Delhi and play main role in spreading fake stories. The poor and middle classes have no idea what exactly is the truth and tend to believe these media stories as truthful.
• With trust deficit, news channels have turned out be gossip boxes. With emergence of social media, main stream media has lost relevance and viewership declining.
• The media pretends it is speaking for the anonymous masses but the same audience believes it has the right to hold the media accountable. The media, which holds the rest of society to a higher standard of accountability doesn't adhere to those same rigorous standards. 
• History reveals that the more democratic a society, the more news and information it tends to have. The media is supposed to reflect the opinion and voice of the unheard where as in reality they are for rich and influential people giving rise to total trust deficit.
• The media as a whole must not be judged by the flawed behaviour of a few. The media is made up of hundreds of committed journalists, reporters and news gatherers all of whom do a tough honest day's job in bringing you the news without fear or favour. It is they who uphold the spirit of journalism.
• A recent poll suggested that 97% of those polled did not trust journalists. Another poll ranked the media just above real estate agents and politicians in the trust factor. Restoring the media trust deficit is a distant mirage.

In the infamous 2G Scam case of Rs.176,000 crores, the special CBI court judge, on Dec 20, 2017, acquitted all accused stating that prosecution has miserably failed to prove any of the charges against any of the accused. Special court judge said that “a huge scam was seen by everyone where there was none. Some people created a scam by artfully arranging a few selected facts and exaggerating things beyond recognition to astronomical levels.” Former PM Manmohan Singh said the 2G scam was a massive media propaganda against the UPA without any proof. 

Empathy deficit disorder

• You may not realize it, but a great number of people suffer from empathy deficit disorder (EDD). Although empathy has become something of a political buzzword, it is surprisingly difficult to define. Its meaning has shifted significantly over time. 
• Empathy deficit is a highly consequential characteristic of antisocial personality disorder, a psychodynamic formulation.The origin, maintenance, and possible resolution of this profound deficit are not very clear. 
• Sympathy is, "I understand how you feel" whereas Empathy is, "I feel how you feel." Even the narcissist can be sympathetic. Empathy is certainly more important and that builds healthy, mutual relationships, an essential part of mental health.
• Normal variations of mood and temperament are increasingly redefined as new disorders. The EDD is becoming more pronounced in today's world.
• Empathy excess is much rarer than empathy deficit. While people with empathy excess suffer alone, those with empathy deficits cause others to suffer. Or at least some of them do.
• Zero-positive empathy people are with autism but their systemising nature means they are drawn to patterns, regularity and consistency. They are likely to follow rules and regulations and the patterns of civic life. Zero-negatives empathy people are with borderline antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder. They are capable of inflicting physical and psychological harm on others and are unmoved by the plight of those they hurt.
• Given that testosterone is found in higher quantities in men than women, it may come as no surprise that men score lower on empathy than women. Another biological factor is genetics. 
• Our increasingly polarized social and political culture of the past few years reveals that EDD is more severe than ever. It has profound consequences for the mental health of both individuals and society. Yet it's ignored as a psychological disturbance by most mental health professionals.
• EDD keeps you locked inside a self-centered world, and that breeds emotional isolation, disconnection and polarization. That's highly dangerous in today's interconnected, globalized world. 
• Lack of empathy has consequences for the most vulnerable and for politicians too.
• More troubling are differences in empathy and compassion between upper classes and lower classes. Higher class individuals actually had a more difficult time recognizing emotions in others. Lower classes develops more perceptive social skills than the upper in making empathetic connections. Lower class individuals proved to be more generous, charitable, trusting and helpful compared to upper classes. Upper-class people, in spite of all their advantages, suffer empathy deficits and there are enormous consequences. 
• One of the more surprising and confounding facts of charity in America is that people who can least afford to give are the ones who donate greatest percentage of their income. Those with earnings in the top 20% contributed 1.3% of their income to charity and those in bottom 20% donated 3.2% of their income.
• Overcoming EDD is easier than you may think. Literally, you do feel another's pain or other emotions. You can overcome EDD by retraining your brain through conscious practices. Generosity and altruistic behavior light up pleasure centers of the brain. In effect, what you think and feel is what you become. And it means you can learn to grow empathy and overcome EDD. 
• Empathy could also be taught in schools. Surely beliefs are a much bigger cause of evil than biology or upbringing.
• The rush to harsh judgment with troubling frequency is amplified by social media. In social media, anyone can share with the world their own hasty conclusions formed more by the pressure to be first rather than to be fair.
• Trolling is now reasonably common but rudeness is barely given a second thought before self-publication, displays a massive empathy deficit, a reckless indifference to others.
• Being able to see different points of view is what helps people to be reasonable, or you don't understand someone until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.
• When strangers told each other about painful moments in their lives, there was more empathy expressed by the less powerful person. 
• The most effective leaders are outstanding at abilities that build on empathy, like persuasion and influence, motivating and listening, teamwork and collaboration. This fact of social life poses a danger for leaders.
• A remarkable number of people who are supposed to be devoting their lives to representing others seem clueless about how their constituents actually live and what they need.
• Leaders at higher levels are most in danger of coming down with empathy deficit disorder, as you rise through the ranks fewer and fewer people are candid with you, willing to give you frank feedback on how you seem to others.
• Almost two-thirds of working Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. And they’re worried sick about whether their kids will ever make it. They need leaders who understand their plight instead of denying it. At the very least, they need leaders who empathize with what they’re going through, not those with EDD.
• According to Barack Obama, the "empathy deficit" is a more pressing political problem for America than the federal deficit.

 

Empathy deficit disorder -- do you suffer from it?

Read the source article

Modi's decisions of demonetisation, GST etc subjecting large numbers of lower classes to avoidable hardships, loss of jobs, income erosion, destruction of economy, agrarian distress and so on are reflection of enormous empathy deficit disorder suffered by him and pointing needles towards his authoritarian tendencies & attitudes. Modi’s penchant for style and no substance has a chilling similarity with Mussolini’s Fascist Italy with less concerns for efficient governing of people in solving their economic problems but focused more on the spectacle of power, on the visual and impressive display of symbols, myths and rituals. His focus is only on strategies for winning elections one after another and anything else is part of this larger scheme of things for achieving his goal by any means no matter what ever is the price the nation has to pay. So far people were mesmerized to believe his sincerity but all the people cannot be fooled all the times.

Social media greatly impacts society

Social media websites are some of the most popular haunts on the Internet. They have revolutionized the way people communicate and socialize on the web. Social media has tremendous impact on culture, business, politics, socialization with some negative effects such as cyber bullying and privacy.

• Social websites have played an important role in many elections in many countries.
• Companies are using social media to advertise their products, to enhance brand image and popularity which costs nothing.
• Social networks offer the opportunity for people to re-connect with their old friends and acquaintances, make new friends, trade ideas, share content and pictures etc. 
• Users can stay abreast of the latest global and local developments, and participate in campaigns and activities of their choice. 
• Professionals use social media to enhance their career and business prospects. 
• Students can collaborate with their peers to improve their academic proficiency and communication skills.
• Social networks is the choice for the bloggers, article writers and content creators.
• Social networking sites is to unite people for the achievement of some specific objective to bring the positive change in society.
• There are a some downsides too to social networking. 
• Many introverts and socially reclusive users place too much emphasis on virtual interaction, and ignore the real world outside. 
• If you are not careful, unscrupulous people can target you for cyber bullying and harassment on social sites. School children, young girls, and women can fall prey to online attacks which can create tension and distress. 
• Social media or network could lead to addiction. Spending countless hours on the social sites can divert the focus and attention from a particular task. It lowers the motivational level of the people, especially of the teenagers and students. 
• Many companies have blocked social networks on their office internet as addicted employees can distract themselves on such sites, instead of focusing on work. 
• Kids can be greatly affected by these social networking sites. Sometimes people share photos on social media that contains violence and sex, which can damage the behavior of kids and teenagers. 
• What you post on the Net can come back to haunt you. 
• Revealing personal information on social sites can make users vulnerable to crimes like identity theft, stalking, etc. 
• Many companies perform a background check on the internet before hiring an employee. If a prospective employee has posted something embarrassing on social media, it can drastically affect their chances of getting the job. 
• Our loved ones and friends may get to know if we post something undesirable on social networks.
• Even with the tight security settings your personal information may leak on the social sites. Downloading your videos or pictures and copying your status is an easy task.
• Social media has its above mentioned advantages and drawbacks. 
• Anther disadvantage of social media is the low control of the integrity of posted information.
• It is up to each user to use social sites wisely to enhance their professional and social life, and exercise caution to ensure they do not fall victim to online dangers.

Not disputing anything, it leans heavily in favor of the positives. Social media is greatly implicated in increased depression, feelings of isolation and loneliness, spreading of false information, creation of "echo chambers", break down of inter-personal communication skills, break down of intimate relationships and cause of broken friendships/ relationships. Social media  is a prime catalyst of social decay with unquantifiable negative impact.

Hindustan or Lynchistan?

• They were no soldiers executed in war, civilians butchered by deadly terror groups, or rebels crushed by state power. They were the people of the world's largest democracy, who were hunted, beaten and tortured to death by vengeful, bloodthirsty crowds. Bodies desecrated, they died in extreme fear and pain, pleading innocence and begging for mercy. All for a word the Indian Penal Code (IPC) does not even recognise: 'lynching'.
• Heart-wrenching horror have gripped the nation, as Indians kill Indians in some of the most grotesque mob violence, in total disregard for the law. Horrific reports of people being tortured or dying terrible deaths are surfacing every week. Yet our leaders remain silent. Will Prime Minister Narendra Modi do anything to stop this madness?
• At Aligarh, railway police stopped a woman in burqa and were surprised to see Nazmul Hasan, a man emerging from under the veil. Hasan confessed to using the garb as a ruse "I thought no one would target a woman." The lynching of a Muslim boy on a train had put the fear of lynching in his heart. 
• Lynching, as a legal term, does not exist in India, but it's seen as the extrajudicial punishment and murder of someone by a mob.
• The slaughter of cows is banned, consumption of beef restricted, in most Indian states, though millions of Muslims and Dalits depend on the meat and leather industries. Vigilante groups seizes cows from people they accuse of illegally transporting them, or sending for slaughter, have become active across the country. Most of the lynchings are being committed by them in the name of the cow. 
• Lynchings is a "new phenomenon" and what makes these incidents different is its extreme violence and brutality.
• Thirty-two people have been killed in 20 cases in the past three years. Almost all victims were Muslim or Dalit; 70% were suspected of killing or smuggling cows. The accused in almost every case of killing were linked to 'gau rakshak' or cow vigilante groups. Even in cases triggered by rumours of rape or child-lifting, the victims were Muslims or Dalits.
• Law enforcers witnessed the lynchings but did not do anything (at times they collaborated); No politician visited the families of the victims or made immediate public statements; in most cases, the charges against the accused were flimsy charges and given bail. The victims (even if dead) were charged of cattle smuggling and trading.
• On June 29, 2017, PM Modi made an appeal at Ahmedabad. It came after thousands of citizens protested decrying the government's inability to protect citizens from lynchings in social media. Within hours of PM Modi's condemnation, mob India reacted by unleashing a new spate of lynchings in Jharkhand. In the week that followed, at least three more people were lynched.
• With the new issue of beef and cattle trade, lynching is becoming ubiquitous. It can happen anywhere, anytime.
• It's strange how normal people turn beasts when part of a crowd. A raging crowd can affect an individual's behaviour. It's is contagious now. A mob also provides cover for the release of deep-seated emotions: anger, fear, suspicion, resentment, frustration, prejudice, malice. Lynchings and riots do not necessarily rely on criminals.
• The ordinary citizen seems to be in the throes of an epidemic of anger: with their incomes, their quality of life, their relationships, their political leaders, the lack of jobs, healthcare, decent education and opportunities. With all the grave uncertainties of life, rage spills over into collective violence. People take the law into their own hands when 'fear' takes huge proportions, making it an issue that they feel must be dealt with instantly.
• Cow vigilante groups are a huge network of young people, who are enrolled as members, given ID cards, responsibilities, mentors to take instructions from and even work in shifts. They also get informed by ex-cow smugglers. If caught, vigilante justice usually involves some hard slaps, punches and kicks, nothing more. For the unlucky it can cost a life.
• Social media have made mobbing and lynching easier. A WhatsApp message, with pictures of dead children, had been circulating for a month.
• Two people died in the first lynching at Jadugora. Mohd Naeem, blood-soaked and pleading to villagers with folded hands to spare his life. He was a good son to his ageing parents and a good father to his children, said his family members, refusing to accept the compensation of Rs. 2 lakh offered by the district administration.
• There have been almost no convictions or punishments, even in high-profile cases, and perpetrators seem unconcerned about the consequences of their actions. Our laws are quite adequate to deal with lynchings. Murder in any form falls under Section 302 of the IPC. But there are loopholes that needs to be plugged.
• What makes this moment unique is the silence of the political leadership. PM Modi has spoken against lynchings only after about 20 mob lynchings this year. That silence has become the hallmark of almost all top NDA leaders and chief ministers of BJP states. That silence has also generated a growing belief that our leaders have no answers for the problems that face us.
• The silence from the top is juxtaposed by inflammatory speeches from below. The frenzy of hate speeches was leashed somewhat with finance minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley saying "their statements (were) not appreciated by the party at all".
• The Union government issued a circular, banning sale of cattle for slaughter in cattle markets. The circular was first stayed by the Madras High Court and later by the Supreme Court. 
• Violence has always been an undercurrent in our society. There is a great degree of social connivance, otherwise lynchings won't happen. People are always violence-prone, selfish, looking out for their own interests. What keeps them in check is the fear of the law. The lynchings happening today are in many ways a continuation of our inability to impress the rule of law upon people. So what leaders say, and how, is very critical. The silence of leaders over lynchings gives encouragement. The more you find impartiality in law enforcement, the better are the chances of curbing violence. 

It is not mere intolerance. It is the emergence and establishment of an oppressive regime that wants to do way with the minorities of India and proclaim Hindu Rashtra as conceived by the founders of RSS.

Secular and democratic forces should unite under a banner to counter this cultural intimidation. If a state fails to have power over such fundamental forces that asphyxiate the rights of the disadvantaged, it is very much a failing state.

In UP, as against 41 rapes last year, there were 179 this year. Murders went up from 101 to 240 and cases of dacoity rose from three to 20. All these are not communal crimes or ones engineered by Hindutva outfits. But it is the unleashing of Hindutva outfits that has contributed to building up this climate of fear.

My View:

As RSS pracharak, Modi propagated its cosmic theory wherein every Muslim is a traitor and a potential terrorist. Modi in his unreleased book, describes scavengers assigned role in the caste order as a job bestowed upon them by Gods. Modi, a hardcore RSS pracharak has no respect for constitution, institutions, judiciary or legislatures and possesses fascist tendencies. He has no great qualities or accomplishments of any kind but yet he was able to mesmerize people with his speeches and relentless publicity. The manner in which he collaborated 2002 Gujarat riots resulting in 2,000 Muslim deaths, large scale destruction of Muslim properties & livelihoods and displacement of lakhs of Muslims is a telling example of his hatred of Muslims. By unleashing order, that was stayed by Madras HC and SC later, banning cow slaughter, cattle trade and beef consumption, he has overnight destroyed livelihoods of millions of Muslims and Dalits throughout the country. With the senseless demonetization, Modi has destroyed livelihoods of millions of people in informal sector and agriculture. Yet he shows the whole world and make them believe that he is savior of India. During his three year rule of nation there is no area which has shown improvement and there is no accomplishment worth advertising. The deteriorating Kashmir situation and tensions with neighboring Pakistan and China are the pinnacle of his failures and maladministration. Job-less growth and growth-less jobs are the highlights of our economy today. The results of his hurried roll out of mangled GST, will surface after few months. Needless to mention that he (as Gujarat CM) was singularly responsible for stalling GST six years ago during UPA regime.