PERSISTENT THREAT
The fake news in India has become headache for many who holds the responsibility to run the country as it has lately become the cause of rifts and conflicts between communities besides sowing the seeds of alienation as many nations hostile to India are using social media platforms and other media online to work against the sovereignty of the country. Though things seem to be normal when a common man uses social media or YouTube Channels, the enemies of the nation using the fake news have crafted things in a way which can prove detrimental to India and have the potential to create unrest. The government of India and the state cyber cells across the country besides Press Information Bureau website are working hard to act against the fake news perpetrators and to a large extent things have come under control but the threat is dynamic and persistent therefore a constant watch and correction course is a must to tackle with new-age menace. The trend in vogue of using social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp to disseminate bogus information is ushering in a dangerous trend. True stories and information unfortunately are getting buried in an avalanche of concocted information and hoaxes, which are spreading like wild fire in India and creating rifts between various communities, castes and religions. Lately, there have been numerous instances of fake news misleading people, spreading propaganda or maligning images of people as well as entire communities. The problem is becoming bigger and bigger as Indians increasingly receive their news and information from social media thus making it imperative to stop fake news by all means. In this context, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur has said that the government blocked 94 YouTube channels, 19 social media accounts and 747 uniform resource locators (URLs) during 2021-22 for spreading fake news. He was responding to a question in Rajya Sabha. It is good that the government has strongly acted against agencies working against the sovereignty of the country by spreading fake news and spreading propaganda on the internet but still much has to be done to counter this relatively new threat which is risky for the society as people are being swayed using false information.