Bhopal: Fake and misleading news can be prevented on social media with the help of technology and basic principles of journalism. Fake news can be curbed using tools available on Google platform. We need to be more aware in this regard. Particularly, journalists working in newsrooms can contribute more in preventing the spread of fake news.
The resource person for the day-long workshop at Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Bhopal said, on Sunday.
Google Teaching Lab fellow Geetika Rustagi said, “Today, 250 million people watch content on Youtube every month and this figure will double by 2020. Around 60 per cent of the people watching content on Youtube belong to small towns and rest 40 percent are from six large cities.”
Events are being live streamed and in case of doubt, people can flag videos so that Google can review and audit them. She shared tips on digital security, online safety, and tools that can be used in the newsroom and fact checking. Rama Solanki of Google News Initiative spoke on online verification of fake and misleading news.
She said that types of fake news include: satire, parody, misleading, imposter, fabricated, false or manipulated content. One must observe caution and verify before sharing or forwarding any content. Several tools like Google reverse image, Invid can be used for cross checking photo and video content.
Computer application department professor Dr Anurag Seetha, delivered the welcome speech and shared the objectives of the workshop. University’s vice-chancellor Deepak Tiwari was also present there. Over 160 journalists and students of Bhopal and other cities attended the programme.•
