Exposure of fake news to the Indian social media users

Abstract

In the modern world, people are too techno-friendly and dependent on technology using the Internet for every work. The same goes for the news. People are shifting from traditional mass media to digital news platforms and getting news through websites, news portals, social media, etc. If you are dependent on the Internet for every kind of information, then you will face false information on the Internet. False or fake news is defined as any information that does not have any credible and reliable source behind it or any misleading information that is likely to mislead the public. The aim behind fake news transmission is to damage a person's or entity's reputation or advertising revenue. If you want not to fall into the fake news you should know about fake news detection and media literacy. The main purpose of the study is to check the exposure of fake news awareness and fake news detection methods among social media users. In the current scenario, this is much necessary to know that social media users have the advisable knowledge of fake news detection and media literacy because people easily fall into the rumors. Mob lynching is one of the biggest rumors on the Indian Internet. In this research, the survey method and questionnaire for data collection were used. The questionnaire was distributed randomly over different social media platforms and emails to the intended respondents. The findings obtained reveal that most fake or false news in India is transmitted through WhatsApp, but social media users have adequate knowledge of fake news and media literacy.