Fighting Fake News in India with Journalist Mahathi Rangarajan - Episode 10
The introduction of the smartphone to India is irreversible - but has it been for the better?
For many in the country a smartphone presents their first calculator, camera, gaming device, and notably their first always-on portal to the constant stream of internet information.
The implications are far-reaching, but journalist and fellow podcaster Mahathi Rangarajan is scrutinous in observing the encouraging benefits of making more social connections, as well as the unfortunate drawbacks resulting from regulation, censorship, and life-threatening misinformation.
Mahathi joins me on Disconnected this week as we discuss the evolution of technology’s societal impact in India, building trust between the public & service providers, and how network journalism both helps and hinders the news world.
This episode of Disconnected covers:
The cultural and societal impact smartphones have had on India
Impacts of low digital literacy levels and trust in unverified sources
How prolific, unchecked false news is proving dangerous & deadly
Government involvement in regulation and censorship
The good, bad, and ugly side of network journalism
Episode Highlights:
“It's interesting in the sense that, for so many people, smartphones are probably the first music player, or where they can view videos. Some people don't have access to TVs or couldn't afford TVs, so to have it in a device and just carry it along with you really revolutionised a lot of things for them. So it's really interesting to note how it's changed, and how it's only going to keep accelerating.” - 6:30 - Mahathi Rangarajan
“Recently, I read a report that it's actually just 38% of households in India that are digitally literate, which is alarmingly low. In urban areas, it's relatively higher at 60%, which is relative to in rural areas, which is just 25%. So I think, because of this huge chasm of not knowing how to handle such a device, that’s what I think gives impetus to so much fake news and propaganda.” - 12:20 - Mahathi Rangarajan
“This internet world, this social media world, it's a tremendous echo chamber that right now in India a billion people have been thrown into, many of whom went from next to no internet in their lives to being hurled into this crazy Social Media 2.0 world of the internet that we have.” - 16:35 - Jag Sharma
“The thing with India that I think people need to understand is the cultural landscape. There's always been some amount of communal or religious tension, and it's very easy, because of false news or fake reports, to just add fuel to the fire and make it worse. Sadly that's what certain groups, or certain sections of people, try to use it for.” - 21:15 - Mahathi Rangarajan
“There's a certain amount of regulation framework that each country has to set, because social media has become a huge avenue for people to meet and exchange opinions. But it should be done in a way that doesn't infringe upon a person's rights and online freedom.” - 27:00 - Mahathi Rangarajan
“I had just got into Tik Tok to see what the whole hoo-ha was about, because it brought in this whole this bite-sized video that was entertaining and it could be informative. It was a new form of content that you can consume and a completely different ballgame. Just as I was getting slowly used to it, it got banned in India, and a lot of creators were full-time independent on it and earning off of it. So I'm sure they must have been the most severely hit by the ban.” - 39:35 - Mahathi Rangarajan
“Social media has given rise to something called ‘network journalism’, right? It's now not just something where the journalist puts in independent effort. It's now a more collaborative process where user generated content comes in, crowdsourcing comes in. It’s a big game changer for journalism, and that's been propelling more and more. After radio, TV and print, social media is going to be the next, fourth generation of media, and it's something you can't escape so it's definitely a big impact.” - 49:10 - Mahathi Rangarajan
“Information has become so fast paced, and it's constantly being updated. So before you would put out an entire article, now you just put out bite size information as you get it. But the main problem with social media is checking the accuracy, and you don't have control over your content. Once you put it out there, it can be repurposed for something else.” - 50:50 - Mahathi Rangarajan
“As long as there's propaganda behind it, there's always going to be all this fake news and misinformation out there to incite people. But I wish that, for cultural changes or social changes, social media can continue to act more as a positive catalyst. That’s what I'm hoping for.” - 1:01:10 - Mahathi Rangarajan
Links & references:
Mahathi Rangarajan:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahathirangarajan/
https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
Jag Sharma: