THE internet is full of supposed facts - The world is flat, climate change is not real, aliens are taking over the world and much more.
Most of this is passed off in very authentic sounding language and in formats which look very professional and believable.
This makes it very difficult to differentiate between fact and reality but it is very important for everybody to have the ability to do so.
Fake news is often news that is false and misleading, often leading to tragic consequences. There are many examples around the world of people who have been duped into parting with their money or property by people who use convincing messages.
Even students often fall prey to admission agents who supposedly offer admission to prestigious universities without the required credentials – at a cost, of course.
How could people, especially youngsters who have made the internet their home, protect themselves from such sophisticated fraud? Education is the key.
An article in Bloomsbury, a leading publication house, identifies three important ways in which reading critically could safeguard young adults from succumbing to false narratives.
The first is to recognise that all news comes with a certain bias. It is thus important to dig deeper into the authors, their intentions and their background. One may accept or reject ideas, but it is important to first understand where the writer is coming from.
It is also imperative to realise that extreme and emotional content online often gets the most likes and comments, which is turn gets the necessary revenue for the person posting.
So the content and language is often made to look attractive – but not necessarily true. This is most true today when online platforms are the single source of news, entertainment and scholarship for most youngsters.
The more one reads, the easier it becomes to understand the purpose and strategies used in a text. The text could be just a single post or tweet, but it comes within a context which is important to understand. This is where training and practice comes in handy.
Educational institutions need to introduce critical reading very early in the school curriculum. This is because the internet is the single source of information today and children need to be trained very early on to read by asking questions and talking about what they have read.
Healthy discussion with children is crucial in making them face the challenges they will face in their future.
Of course, setting the right example is equally important. Parents and family, as well as educationists and the community should all be equally aware and trained in the pitfalls of falling for the wrong kind of news.
Only then will youngsters understand and follow by example.
Asking simple questions like where a news item came from, how reliable the source is, what kind of evidence is backing up the news and could the evidence itself be trusted are all questions that should be automatically asked while reading.
Once this becomes a habit, it will be easy to stay aware of the information around us. The result is definitely worth this effort.
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