HYDERABAD: At a time when fake news and false information is rampant on the internet and driving several netizens from the news media, Factly, a Hyderabad-based initiative, has launched a video series on YouTube to demystify elections and related subjects. DECODE, the video series has been made in order to help voters understand the voting process and bust myths about policy misinterpretation ahead of the 17the Lok Sabha elections. The Youtube series, which has been on air since March 16, has already opened to a wide response with at least 1.7k views on the 10-minute explainer about the methodology of the Indian election.
“In our interaction with people, we realised that people want to engage with political and policy issues but find them monotonous. With this initiative we are making policy issues entertaining and engaging,” noted Rakesh Dubbudu, founder of Factly. The fact-checking initiative has been in place for years now, however, the weekly Youtube series started only a few days ago, in view of the elections. “This is the best time to educate people about the democratic process as there is a lot of excitement and chatter about these things,” added Rakesh.
Rakesh further added that the main motive of Factly is to bust fake news. “Fake news takes over when there is no credible information. We will be giving official sources on government websites so that people can verify the facts for themselves,” he said.