The proliferation of social media over the past decade has connected billions of people, making them heavily dependent on various virtual platforms and online network systems to communicate and share thoughts. With more than 60 per cent of the world population using social media, the impact is truly global. According to the Singapore-based global advisory firm Kepios, there were 5.17 billion social media users worldwide at the start of July this year, equivalent to 63.7 per cent of the total global population. In 2017, the number of social media users stood at less than 3.0 billion. Currently, on an average, 8.9 new users are joining social media every second, further expanding this global network.
With the increase in social media users, there is also a surge in misinformation and disinformation in the virtual world, negatively affecting the lives of billions of people. Due to the deluge of information from various sources, detecting the accuracy of a piece of information has also become a big challenge, especially in the public sphere. The legal tools to curb the flow of misinformation and disinformation are also limited and sometimes wrongly applied only to make things worse.
It is to be noted that misinformation is fake news that is created and spread by mistake by someone who usually doesn't realise that it's false, according to the BBC. On the other hand, 'disinformation is fake news that is created and spread deliberately by someone who knows full well that it's false.' So, there is a fundamental difference between the two, and one needs to remember that misinformation is not created intentionally to deceive other people. Generally, it is a piece of information extracted from a real event, fact or news and presented without putting it into context. Giving someone a piece of wrong information unintentionally or carelessly is also misinformation. On the other hand, disinformation is creating or spreading any fake news deliberately to cause trouble, and those who do this are well aware of what they are doing. So, misinformation is harmful but can be corrected by providing accurate information, whereas disinformation is more dangerous, causing severe damage which is difficult to amend.
Bangladesh has witnessed a surge in disinformation for the past couple of years, courtesy mainly of an autocratic regime's ill intention to deceive people and spread fear among them. In the name of fighting disinformation, the government cracked down on free speech and free press to a large extent. It used various surveillance tools under the umbrella of repressive laws, and so it became tough for the media to report on corruption and irregularities of the government. Again, the government also sponsored some people and media outlets to spread disinformation to justify media curbing.
In the name of countering the propaganda against the country and also protecting the image of the country abroad, the government machinery was also used to spread targeted disinformation. During the protest movement launched by students, disinformation against the protestors mushroomed as the Awami League (AL) and other organisations affiliated with the party with help from the administration engineered the process. The intention was to create a distorted and false image of the protestors so that their protest movement could be undermined. The disinformation also provided a pretext for initiating oppressive treatment of the protesters in various forms.
In the changed atmosphere, there is an expectation that the proliferation of disinformation will be curbed as much as possible. However, devising and applying remedial measures is challenging and requires extensive investment. More importantly, it requires people's awareness and active participation. By being vigilant and learning to detect disinformation, even individuals can play a crucial role in combating this issue and protecting themselves from being misled by any false news or piece of information that looks exciting.
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