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This is a transcript of part one of The Anthill’s podcast series, India Tomorrow. Click here to listen to the full episode. Amogh Sharma : In the last few days, after the Pulwama bomb attack, we have seen Kashmiri students in different parts of India who have actually been attacked for being Kashmiri. So this is really the nature of violence which fake news can engender in India. Annabel Bligh: Amogh Sharma is a PhD researcher at the University of Oxford. We spoke to him in the wake of the recent escalation of the long simmering conflict in Kashmir. He told us how India’s fake news problem has

Although the term itself is not new, fake news presents a growing threat for societies across the world. Only a small amount of fake news is needed to disrupt a conversation, and at extremes it can have an impact on democratic processes, including elections. But what can we do to avoid fake news, at a time when we could be waiting a while for mainstream media and social networks to step up and address the problem? From a psychology perspective, an important step in tackling fake news is to understand why it gets into our mind. We can do this by examining how memory works and how memories

The integrity of Australia’s electoral processes is under unprecedented challenge in this federal election. The campaign has already been marred by fake news, political exploitation of social media falsehoods and amplification by mainstream media of crude slurs made on Facebook under the cover of anonymity. We have seen our first recorded instance of Facebook running Australian fake news. It was a false post about the Labor Party’s tax policies, wrongly saying Labor intended to introduce a 40% inheritance tax. It was interesting to trace how this fakery was created. The false post had a link

From fictitious organizations posting polarizing messages on Facebook to robustly researched news stories being labelled “fake,” the pervasive power and importance of the media are clear. And yet what is most concerning is not that fictitious stories are being shared as “real” and well-researched stories are labelled “fake.” Rather, the biggest problem is the lack of stories about how to thoughtfully address the situation not only through media regulation but also through education. By focusing on media challenges one at a time as they arise, an opportunity is being missed to address the media

Search for “climate change” on YouTube and before long you’ll likely find a video that denies it exists. In fact, when it comes to shaping the online conversation around climate change, a new study suggests that deniers and conspiracy theorists might hold an edge over those believing in science. Researchers found evidence that most YouTube videos relating to climate change oppose the scientific consensus that it’s primarily caused by human activities. The study highlights the key role of social media use in the spread of scientific misinformation. And it suggests scientists and those who