Speakers at a workshop on Tuesday highlighted the dangers of fake news and misinformation noting that these are severe deterrence to the progress of any nation.

They also highlighted the importance for individuals to know how to discern fake news from authentic ones, especially for the youth.

The workshop titled, ‘Developing a Critical Understanding against Fake News & Disinformation’, was held in a hotel in the city on Tuesday.

"Society has evolved at a rapid pace in the last decade but so have the methods of producing fake news. Key information such as the legitimacy of the COVID-19 vaccine is put under question due to propaganda," said Shafqat Munir, Research Fellow of the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) at the BIPSS workshop.

“The most prioritized target audience of misinformation is the youth. They are a vulnerable population and it is important for us to make sure they can distinguish between what is authentic and what is fake”, said Munir.

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He said that the impact of misinformation is absolutely pervasive and it touches all sectors of society. This can lead to massive security implications and result in social destabilization.

The interactive workshop was attended by young professionals, students and youth representatives from various disciplines.

Three sessions were conducted where the opening one presentation was delivered by Sharlina Hussain-Morgan, Cultural Affairs Officer of the US Embassy in Dhaka, followed by Subham Barua and Tasnuva Alam Ahona, members of the BIPSS Research Team.

Sharlina Hussain-Morgan began the first session by explaining the differences between disinformation, misinformation and fake news.

She also added that most people did not know much about fake news quite recently. 

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Morgan also discussed the issue from an American perspective, including examples such how in some cases news media sometimes use fake news to cause chaos and panic.

When questioned about what to do when there is an institutional deficiency in providing authentic information, Sharlina emphasized that the youth should not feel powerless when it comes to tackling these challenges and that they should take firm initiative as the nation’s future generation of leaders to fix the problem.

Barua and Ahona began their presentation by recalling a famous quote by Al Gore: “Fake news has been around as long as news has been around. “They pointed out that during the pandemic, the credibility of news information is even more important.

“Social media has the largest density of fake news and this is quite concerning. Fake news consumption is very high since the number of users of these app is tremendous,” they said.

Ayesha Kabir said there is always a rush to publish breaking news but delivering genuine content is most important.

She also highlighted how fake news was good news for media outlets. Mainstream media seemed to be losing ground as consumers opted for social media-based content.

However, with the meteoric rise of fake news on trending social media apps, people now look to the mainstream media for authenticity of information, she said.

Participants of the workshop voiced a number of opinions ranging from the responsibility of the state to ensure genuine media content to intentional publication of fake news by media outlets to bolster consumer viewership.

The workshop concluded with participants receiving certificates for their participation and new wisdom on how to combat misinformation.