NEW DELHI: Terming ‘malicious and weaponised disinformation’ a matter of great concern for governments across the globe, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Anurag Thakur on Friday said that ‘fake news’ is a ‘virulent virus’, which should be countered with ‘trustable news’.
Speaking at the valedictory ceremony for Indian Information Service (IIS) officer trainees at Indian Institution of Mass Communications (IIMC), he said that the alarming rise of malicious disinformation dissemination, which is a global phenomenon, is greatly facilitated by the advent of social media platforms.
“It is of great concern, not only for us but governments around the world, how malicious disinformation often seeks to intervene and influence the political process…Fake News, the other virulent virus of our times, can be, should be, and must be fought robustly with Trustable News,” said the minister.
He added that IIS officers are the frontline defenders of the country’s official information system that protects India’s interests and shields its democratic structure. “It would be your job to think out of the box, cut the clutter and relentlessly push the facts. There should be no compromise on this simple necessity for an official information system. Prompt, precise and perfect – that is the threefold target you have to set for yourselves,” said the minister. Thakur further stated that the primary task of the officers would be to fuel an informed understanding of issues so that public discourse is well-informed.
Highlighting the menace of this ‘infodemic’ further, Thakur said that while democratisation of public spaces offered by tech platforms has no doubt had a positive impact and allows bottom-up participation in popular debate and discourse. “At the same time malicious, weaponised disinformation, whether internal or external, has worked against the positive gains of this democratisation of public spaces,” said the minister.