Fake news must be combated on all fronts

It is the responsibility of every individual to ensure they are in no way party to this counter-cultural travesty

The flutter caused by yet another viral video which showed a man on fire in a shopping mall that was said to be in Dubai, and was clearly not, is a renewed call to stem the pernicious onslaught of fake news in today’s times. Thanks to technology’s ubiquitous individual empowerment, not just the spreading of news but even the creation of it has become the lowest common denominator of modern life.

The perils of circulating and partaking of fake news are many, and all of them are highly dangerous. Such kind of false information is more than just a nuisance value, it can create fissures in the societal edifice, perpetuate regressive social thinking and even promote radicalisation and extremist ideologies. The resultant price to pay, for all of us, is high as many instances around the world in recent times have revealed.

The UAE has made participation in the propagation of fake news a punishable offence and rightly so. Anyone found guilty of it can be jailed for up to three years and incur a fine of Dh250,000. But fear of the law is not the only reason to desist from fake news. It is the fundamental duty and responsibility of every individual to ensure that they are in no way a party to this counter-cultural travesty and they can fulfil this responsibility by being acutely aware of what they are imbibing, assessing the news for its veracity and impact and if deemed to be subversive or mal intentional, report the matter to the concerned authorities.

As consumers of news, we all have a role to play in ensuring our habits and preferences are always, and only, for the betterment of society.