To Believe or Not to Believe?

Fake-news pandemic

Do you use social media? Do you watch news and debates on TV? Do you read newspapers? How do you manage to sieve mountains of chaff to find the elusive kernels of truth? How do you handle the half-truths, the untruths, and the blatant untruths which bombard you daily?

I asked a few friends. One said: I no longer read newspapers. Another has no social media account. A total waste of time, she said. But, I guess, you may not have resorted to such extreme measures.

Press Information Bureau (PIB)  has issued an advisory (@PIBFactCheck) regarding misinformation and a fake video claiming to pertain to the unfortunate Air India plane crash at Ahmedabad on 12 Jun, 2025. Why would anyone circulate a fake video on the terrible accident in which so many lives were lost, and for which the whole country mourns and grieves? Maybe, the person forwarding the video believed it to be true, and was eager to share it with his contacts at once. It was an old video from Lebanon.

Who creates these viral posts and why? Fake-posts are  by design sensational, exciting, manipulative; and circulate six times faster than simple, unadorned, dull truth. Some are fabricated in pursuance of an explicit or hidden evil agenda - to whip up communal or mob frenzy. Others are to confuse, confound, misinform, and misguide. Many posts are promotional; marketing a product, a political ideology, or an idea. A few may be just for fun while others may be pranks and jokes – usually at the cost of the ‘other.’ Maybe, a do-gooder believes in a magic therapy or solution, and resolves to spread it for the benefit of humankind, as was widely noted during Covid 19. World Health Organisation (WHO) termed it as infodemic.

Social media, with about 5.4 billion subscribers, is truly big, all-pervasive, and impacts the lives of users in more ways than they realise. Billions of messages, photos, videos, and audios are circulated 24x7, swiftly manufactured by creators including AI-enabled Deepfake fabricators, and lapped up by credulous, unquestioning consumers. Sadly, it suffers from a pandemic of fakes. If modern life is a city, and social media its high-streets; it is littered with garbage everywhere, and more is dumped every second with no garbage cleaners in sight. The putrid smell is insufferable except for those who now accept it as the new normal.

Fables on Untruth & Truth

All cultures have their morality tales about Truth and Untruth. Aesop’s tale about the shepherd boy who cried wolf is cautionary: Telling a lie can be dangerous, for the person who often lies will not be believed even when he tells the truth. Panchatantra has a contrarian tale: the Brahmin with a goat who was persuaded by three charlatans that the goat was a dog! Untruth repeated by many begins to sound like truth!

Puranic Fake-news

Fake news is not an invention or a  fabrication of the sick, convoluted modern mind. Puranic fake-stories are quite well-known. Yudhisthira lied to Drona about Ashwatthama’s death, and the lie was orchestrated by none other than Krishna. Truth alone does not win a war!

Samba - Krishna’s son, dressed up as a pregnant woman, and his playmates asked a rishi, all in jest, about the gender of the baby in the womb. The rishi saw through the prank and cursed that the prankster would give birth to a mushala (an iron mace) which would decimate the Yadava clan.

In Ramayana, a washerman made a slanderous remark about Sita’s character, based on a rumour that was going viral in Ram Rajya. It was fake-news. Ram knew the truth since he had already subjected Sita to agni pareeksha. Yet, he banished his pregnant wife to the forest believing that to be his Rajdharma.

Dictators have  a different Rajdharma: Kill those who doubt the untruth promoted by the state, and those who dare tell the truth.

Puranic fake-news had significant consequences. Drona quit fighting after hearing Yudhisthira’s lie, and Kauravas lost the Mahabharata war. Samba’s fake-pregnancy resulted in decimation of the Yadava clan including Krishna’s death by Jara’s arrow, the sharpened, deadly tip of which came from the cursed mushala. Malicious, slanderous rumour about Sita’s purity led to the banishment of the innocent Sita and the innocent children in her womb.

Recent Fake-news

You may have read one or more of the following Fake-news:

·      When transporting elephants by plane, the cabin is filled with chicks. The elephants are so concerned about crushing the chicks to death that they stay immobile for the entire duration of the flight!

·      Horses are immune to the poison of the deadliest cobra, owing to which these animals are used to manufacture anti-venom vaccine!

·      BHU Foundation was laid by Sant Attar Singh, a Sikh saint!

·      Newton made two holes in a wall in his house for the convenience of his cats – a small one for the smaller cat, and a big one for the bigger cat!

·      New York Times published a Front-Page article in praise of PM Modi!

Not all fake-news are malevolent!

Did you watch the adorable video of two Hiroshima survivors – Kenji on violin and Sayuri on the piano - performing after 80 years of the 1945 holocaust; in a huge auditorium before a live audience with several breaking down to tears?

Had you checked for the source, you’d have easily found the You Tube link which candidly states that it is an AI-generated video created for ‘fun.’ There was no evil agenda, and no wish to hurt anyone; but rather to evoke human sympathy for the unfortunate victims of the man-made disaster.

Fact-check Tools & Portals

Social media giants (Meta, YouTube, TikTok, X) have adopted fact-checking, content removal, demotion algorithms, warning labels, and improved policies to tackle misinformation. Governments and other global organisations have also formulated laws, regulations, and policies to contain the infodemic.

CoPilot’s list of leading Fact-Checking Platforms:

Global Fact-Checking Platforms

• FactCheck.org – A non-partisan fact-checking site focused on U.S. politics and misinformation.
• Snopes – One of the oldest fact-checking websites, debunking myths, hoaxes, and viral misinformation.
• PolitiFact – Specializes in verifying political claims, using a "Truth-O-Meter" rating system.
• Reuters Fact Check – A global news agency fact-checking viral claims and misinformation.
• AFP Fact Check – Operated by Agence France-Presse, focusing on international misinformation.
• Full Fact – A UK-based fact-checking organization covering politics, health, and social issues.
• Lead Stories – Uses AI-powered tools to detect false claims and viral misinformation.
• Africa Check – A leading fact-checking organization focused on African news and misinformation.

Global AI Fact-Checking Tools

• LongShot AI – Uses advanced AI to cross-reference text with trusted sources, ensuring accuracy.
• Detecting AI Fact Checker – Provides real-time fact verification and error detection.
• EarthCheckr – Focuses on environmental fact-checking using AI-driven verification.
• Indicator Media – Offers investigative tools for detecting misinformation and digital manipulation.

These tools leverage machine learning and natural language processing to analyse claims and verify sources.

Fact-Checking Platforms in India

• Alt News – A well-known Indian fact-checking site debunking misinformation and fake news.
• Boom Live – Focuses on verifying viral claims, political statements, and social media misinformation.
• Factly – Provides fact-checks on government policies, social issues, and viral news.
• The Quint WebQoof – A fact-checking initiative by The Quint, debunking fake news in India.
• India Today Fact Check – A dedicated team verifying viral claims and political misinformation.

These platforms are part of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), ensuring credibility and transparency.

Conclusion

We’re condemned to swim in a sea filled with the floating garbage of fake news, stories, and videos. How do we stay afloat and alive?

Long ago, S.T. Coleridge explained why the audience enjoyed a drama which they knew was entirely fictional. They created for themselves a ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ for the duration of the play. In a fictional world, animals could talk, and monkeys could fly. That is also the world of Super-man, Spiderman, James Bond, and the invincible Bollywood hero.

However, today in the world of social media, a contrarian attitude to ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ is required. What should we call it? Shining searchlight of scepticism?

Should scepticism be our main course, or just a modest daily dose of iodised salt?

For every post that is forwarded to us, what may we ask? True or False? Wolf, Goat, or Dog?

Maybe True, or Not? Maybe Untrue, or Not?

To believe or not to believe? That’s the question.

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