HYDERABAD: Vice-Chancellor (V-C) of Osmania University (OU), Prof D Ravinder, on Monday revealed that it is planning to introduce cybersecurity courses in the coming academic year. He was speaking at the concluding ceremony of a workshop on countering disinformation for Urdu TV journalists held in OU in association with the US Consulate in Hyderabad. As many as 35 Urdu and 40 Telugu TV journalists were successfully trained and certified.
Addressing the media, Frankie Sturm, public diplomacy officer at the US Consulate, described how disinformation poses a threat to democracy and how journalists can combat disinformation. “Accurate information is a pillar of democracy and journalists play a critical role in providing accurate information to the public,” Sturm said.
Around 20 per cent of the trainees were women journalists, and five were students from the Maulana Azad National Urdu University. National and international experts in fact-checking were roped in to train the participants.
Sneha Mehra, DCP (Cyber Crime), Hyderabad, said anonymity on social media and lack of sufficient resources to counter misinformation were harming people’s understanding.