64 per cent of Indian­s survey­ed have encoun­tered fake newsWith the fake news phenomenon affecting countries with upcoming elections, it comes as no surprise that India has the highest numbers in terms of the spread of fake news. The term “fake news” went mainstream during the 2016 US presidential campaign when hundreds of websites and social media accounts published false or biased stories. Fake accounts can be major distributors of harmful and misleading content, and Facebook claims to have removed nearly six million such accounts globally in the first quarter of 2018. People aged 65 and above are more likely to share fake news in the US according to the findings of a study conducted by Princeton and New York University. Senior citizens share fake news the mostMeanwhile, research carried out by BBC shows that a rising tide of nationalism in India is driving ordinary citizens to spread fake news.

Source: The Express Tribune March 03, 2019 12:00 UTC