More than 80,000 fake accounts were created on social media to defame Mumbai Police in Sushant Singh Rajput case, news reports suggest. Eighty thousand is not a small number, and this is what has been unearthed as of yet, in connection to one high profile case that is four months old. Can you imagine how social media misused with these fake accounts? Shouldn't this one example be enough for us to stop and think hard when we read something, and question its authenticity? Should we not take a minute to cross-check facts on our own, rather than believing in what nameless accounts may be trying to reinforce?
According to a report in Hindustan Times the 80,000 accounts that were created on various platforms to "malign" the image of the Mumbai Police and to "derail" their investigation, are under investigation by cyber cell now. Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh told HT, "Our cyber cell is conducting a thorough investigation into this matter and all those found violating the law will be prosecuted under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act."
Also Read: Most Media Reports In Sushant Singh Rajput Case Are Not Based On Facts: CBI
One can argue that the Indian media has done more damage to the investigation in Rajput's death than social media did. But that is just the effect. The cause behind the media's drive to "bring justice" to Sushant Singh Rajput was the massive digital campaign that was fuelled by speculations and theories birthed on Twitter, etc. Our society's limited understanding of mental health issues and stigma around suicide only made matters worse. It was as if a section of social media could not believe that a young and successful star, one who was idolised by millions could end his own life.
Such is the denial that even after a medical board from AIIMS ruled out the angle of murder, the Justice for SSR brigade is not satisfied. Mumbai police's investigation is not enough, a panel from a top medical institute in the country is not enough, even if CBI concludes that Rajput died by suicide, one doubts that speculation will come to end regarding this case, ever. Why? Because we do not want to accept that. And it is this denial that fake accounts, tap into.
Caught in the middle are average social media users like you and me, or our parents, teen cousins, or neighbours, who have a limited awareness regarding the existence of fake news and fake accounts. It rarely occurs to people that news or information can be manufactured. And that if thousands of people, real or otherwise, scream a lie or cast doubt in unison it will be reported as news today, and thus get recorded as a fact tomorrow.
"As a social media researcher, I’ve seen thousands of accounts with the same profile picture “like” posts in unison. I’ve seen accounts post hundreds of times per day, far more than a human being could. I’ve seen an account claiming to be an “All-American patriotic army wife” from Florida post obsessively about immigrants in English, but whose account history showed it used to post in Ukrainian," wrote Jeanna Matthews, a Computer Science professor at Clarkson University, in a piece for The Conversation.
Also Read: Falling For Fake News Is Easier Than You Think. But Why Does It Happen?
If the figure 80,000 bothers you, what would your reaction be to this research whose result was published in PR Week last year? It says 16 million Instagram accounts in our country are fake! When a tweet that says that a star's former girlfriend allegedly did black magic on him is retweeted thousands of times, do we check the authenticity of each and every account that has endorsed it? Or do we just look at the number and let it influence our thought process?
Each one of us needs to think through who we choose to believe on social media because it is no longer just about real versus fake. Social media has turned judge, jury and executioner. We know what noise, even if from fake accounts is capable of doing to the well-being of people. How it can cast them in choppy legal waters, which are intimidating and difficult to tread. No one cares whether anyone is guilty or not, as long as their agenda is spread from one phone to another.
This has happened to Mumbai Police today, it could happen to anyone of us tomorrow. It is in our hands to stop this menace of fake accounts. Demand social networking platforms to have stringent policies, report abusive accounts and those spreading false information. And above everything, always verify what information you are endorsing and who is the source for it.
Image Credit: Zee News
The views expressed are the author's own.
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