#FactCheck - Viral Photos Falsely Linked to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's Helicopter Crash

Introduction

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Misinformation is no longer a challenge limited to major global platforms or widely spoken languages. In India and many other countries, false information is increasingly disseminated through local and vernacular languages, allowing it to reach communities more directly and intimately. While regional language content has played a crucial role in expanding access to information, it has also emerged as a powerful driver of misinformation by bad actors, and it often becomes harder to detect and counter. The challenge of local language misinformation is not merely digital in nature; it is deeply social, cultural, and shaped by specific local contexts.

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Why Local-Language Misinformation Is More Impactful

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A person’s mother tongue can be a highly effective medium for misinformation because it carries emotional resonance and a sense of authenticity. Information that aligns with an individual’s linguistic and cultural background is often trusted the most. When false narratives are framed using familiar expressions, local references, or community-specific concerns, they are more readily accepted and shared more widely.

Misinformation in a language like English, which is more heavily moderated, does not usually have the same impact as content in vernacular languages. In the latter case, such content tends to circulate within closed networks such as family WhatsApp groups, regional Facebook pages, local YouTube channels, and community forums. These spaces are often perceived as safe or trusted, which lowers scepticism and encourages the spread of unverified information.

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The Role of Digital Platforms and Algorithms

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Although social media platforms have opened up access to the content of regional languages, the moderation mechanisms have not kept up. The automated control systems for content are frequently trained mainly on the dominant languages, thus missing the detection of vernacular speech, slang, dialects, and code-mixing. 

This results in a disparity in the enforcement of laws where misinformation in local languages:

• Doesn’t go through automated fact-checking tools
• Is subject to human moderation takes place at a slower pace
• Is less prone to being reported or flagged
• Gains unrestrained access for a longer time period than first imagined

The problem is further magnified by algorithmic amplification. Content that triggers very strong emotional reactions fear, anger, pride, or outrage, has a higher chance of being promoted, irrespective of its truthfulness. In regional situations, such content may very quickly sway public opinion even in very closely knit communities.

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Forms of Vernacular Misinformation

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Local-language misinformation appears in various forms:

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• Health misinformation, with such examples as panic remedies, vaccine myths, and misleading medical prescriptions
• Political misinformation, which is mostly identified with regional identity, local grievances, or community narratives
• Rumours regarding disasters that are very hard to control and spread hatred during floods, earthquakes, or other public emergencies
• Economic and financial frauds that are perpetrated via the local dialect authorities or trusted institutions
• Cultural and religious untruths, which are based on exploiting the core of the beliefs

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The regional aspect of such misinformation makes it very difficult to be corrected because the fact-checks in other languages may not get to that audience.

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Community-Level Consequences

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The effect of misinformation in local languages is not only about the misdirection of individuals. It can also:

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• Negatively affect the process of public institutions gaining trust
• Support social polarisation and communal strife
• Get in the way of public health measures
• Help shape the decision-making process in elections at the grassroots level
• Take advantage of the digitally illiterate poor people

In a lot of scenarios, the damage done is not instant but rather accumulative, thus changing perceptions and supporting false worldviews more.

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Why Countering Vernacular Misinformation Is Difficult

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Multiple structural layers make it difficult to respond effectively:

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1. Variety of Languages: Just in India, there are many languages and dialects, which are very hard to monitor universally.
2. Culturally Aware Systems: The local languages sometimes bear meanings that are deeply rooted in the culture, such as by using sarcasm or referring to history, and automated systems are unable to interpret it correctly.
3. Reporting Not Common: Users might not spot misinformation or may not want to be a part of the struggle by showing the content shared by reliable members of the community.
4. Insufficient Fact-Checking Capacity: Resources are often unavailable for fact-checking organisations to perform their duties worldwide in different languages effectively.

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Building a Community-Centric Response

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Overcoming misinformation in local languages needs a community-driven resilience approach instead of a platform-centric one. Some of the key actions are: 

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• Boosting Digital Literacy: Users will be able to question, verify, and put the content on hold before sharing it, thanks to the regional language awareness campaigns that will be conducted.
• Facilitating Local Fact-Checkers: Local journalists, educators, and NGOs are the main players in providing the context for verification.
• Accountability of Platforms: It is necessary for technology companies to support global moderation in several languages, the hiring of local experts, and the implementation of transparent enforcement mechanisms.
• Contemplating Policy and Governance: Regulatory frameworks should facilitate proactive risk assessment while controlling the right to free expression.
• Establishment of Trusted Local Intermediaries: Community leaders, health workers, teachers, and local organisations can engage in preventing misinformation among the networks that they are trusted in.

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The Way Forward

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Misinformation in local languages is not a minor concern; it is an issue that directly affects the future of digital trust. As the number of users accessing the internet through local language interfaces continues to grow, the volume and influence of regional content will also increase. If measures do not include all language groups, misinformation will remain least corrected and most influential at the community level, where it is also the hardest to identify and address.

Such a problem exists only if the power of language is not recognised. Therefore, one can say that it is necessary to protect the quality of information in local languages, not only for digital safety but for other factors as well, such as social cohesion, democratic participation, and public well-being.

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Conclusion

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Vernacular content has the potential to be very powerful in the ways it can inform, include and empower; meanwhile, if it goes unmonitored, it has the same potential to mislead, divide, and harm. Mis-disinformation in local languages calls for the cooperation of platforms, regulators, NGOs, and the communities involved. To win over the digital ecosystem, it has to speak all languages, not only for communication but also for protection.

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References

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• https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/10/2/15
• https://afpr.in/regional-languages-shaping-indias-online-discourse/
• https://medium.com/@pratikgsalvi03/how-indias-misinformation-surge-and-media-credibility-crisis-are-undermining-democracy-public-dc8ad7be8e12
• https://projectshakti.in/
• https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/02683962211037693
• https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/Digital-Library/volume-8-issue-11/505-518.pdf
• https://www.irjmets.com/upload_newfiles/irjmets71200016652/paper_file/irjmets71200016652.pdf

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Introduction

Election misinformation poses a major threat to democratic processes all over the world. The rampant spread of misleading information intentionally (disinformation) and unintentionally (misinformation) during the election cycle can not only create grounds for voter confusion with ramifications on election results but also incite harassment, bullying, and even physical violence. The attack on the United States Capitol Building in Washington D.C., in 2021, is a classic example of this phenomenon, where the spread of dis/misinformation snowballed into riots. 

Election Dis/Misinformation 

Election dis/misinformation is false or misleading information that affects/influences public understanding of voting, candidates, and election integrity. The internet, particularly social media, is the foremost source of false information during elections. It hosts fabricated news articles, posts or messages containing incorrectly-captioned pictures and videos, fabricated websites, synthetic media and memes, and distorted truths or lies. In a recent example during the 2024 US elections, fake videos using the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) insignia alleging voter fraud in collusion with a political party and claiming the threat of terrorist attacks were circulated. According to polling data collected by Brookings, false claims influenced how voters saw candidates and shaped opinions on major issues like the economy, immigration, and crime. It also impacted how they viewed the news media’s coverage of the candidates’ campaign. The shaping of public perceptions can thus, directly influence election outcomes. It can increase polarisation, affect the quality of democratic discourse, and cause disenfranchisement. From a broader perspective, pervasive and persistent misinformation during the electoral process also has the potential to erode public trust in democratic government institutions and destabilise social order in the long run.  

Challenges In Combating Dis/Misinformation

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1. Platform Limitations:  Current content moderation practices by social media companies struggle to identify and flag misinformation effectively. To address this, further adjustments are needed, including platform design improvements, algorithm changes, enhanced content moderation, and stronger regulations.

2. Speed and Spread: Due to increasingly powerful algorithms, the speed and scale at which misinformation can spread is unprecedented. In contrast, content moderation and fact-checking are reactive and are more time-consuming. Further, incendiary material, which is often the subject of fake news, tends to command higher emotional engagement and thus, spreads faster (virality). 

3. Geopolitical influences: Foreign actors seeking to benefit from the erosion of public trust in the USA present a challenge to the country's governance, administration and security machinery. In 2018, the federal jury indicted 11 Russian military officials for alleged computer hacking to gain access to files during the 2016 elections.  Similarly, Russian involvement in the 2024 federal elections has been alleged by high-ranking officials such as White House national security spokesman John Kirby, and Attorney General Merrick Garland. 

4. Lack of Targeted Plan to Combat Election Dis/Misinformation:  In the USA,  dis/misinformation is indirectly addressed through laws on commercial advertising, fraud, defamation, etc. At the state level, some laws such as Bills AB 730, AB 2655, AB 2839, and AB 2355 in California target election dis/misinformation. The federal and state governments criminalize false claims about election procedures, but the Constitution mandates  “breathing space” for protection from false statements within election speech. This makes it difficult for the government to regulate election-related falsities.

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CyberPeace Recommendations

1. Strengthening Election Cybersecurity Infrastructure: To build public trust in the electoral process and its institutions, security measures such as updated data protection protocols, publicized audits of election results, encryption of voter data, etc. can be taken. In 2022, the federal legislative body of the USA  passed the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act (ECRA), pushing reforms allowing only a state’s governor or designated executive official to submit official election results, preventing state legislatures from altering elector appointment rules after Election Day and making it more difficult for federal legislators to overturn election results. More investments can be made in training, scenario planning, and fact-checking for more robust mitigation of election-related malpractices online. 
2. Regulating Transparency on Social Media Platforms: Measures such as transparent labeling of election-related content and clear disclosure of political advertising to increase accountability can make it easier for voters to identify potential misinformation. This type of transparency is a necessary first step in the regulation of content on social media and is useful in providing disclosures, public reporting, and access to data for researchers. Regulatory support is also required in cases where popular platforms actively promote election misinformation.
3. Increasing focus on ‘Prebunking’ and Debunking Information: Rather than addressing misinformation after it spreads, ‘prebunking’ should serve as the primary defence to strengthen public resilience ahead of time. On the other hand, misinformation needs to be debunked repeatedly through trusted channels. Psychological inoculation techniques against dis/misinformation can be scaled to reach millions on social media through short videos or messages.
4. Focused Interventions On Contentious Themes By Social Media Platforms: As platforms prioritize user growth, the burden of verifying the accuracy of posts largely rests with users. To shoulder the responsibility of tackling false information, social media platforms can outline critical themes with large-scale impact such as anti-vax content, and either censor, ban, or tweak the recommendations algorithm to reduce exposure and weaken online echo chambers. 
5. Addressing Dis/Information through a Socio-Psychological Lens: Dis/misinformation and its impact on domains like health, education, economy, politics, etc. need to be understood through a psychological and sociological lens, apart from the technological one. A holistic understanding of the propagation of false information should inform digital literacy training in schools and public awareness campaigns to empower citizens to evaluate online information critically. 

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Conclusion

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024, the link between misleading or false information and societal unrest will be a focal point during elections in several major economies over the next two years. Democracies must employ a mixed approach of immediate tactical solutions, such as large-scale fact-checking and content labelling, and long-term evidence-backed countermeasures, such as digital literacy, to curb the spread and impact of dis/misinformation.

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Sources

•  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/2024-election-misinformation-fbi-fake-videos/ 
•  https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-disinformation-defined-the-2024-election-narrative/ 
•  https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/cyber/russian-interference-in-2016-u-s-elections
• https://indianexpress.com/article/world/misinformation-spreads-fear-distrust-ahead-us-election-9652111/ 
•  https://academic.oup.com/ajcl/article/70/Supplement_1/i278/6597032#377629256 
• https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/policy-solutions/how-states-can-prevent-election-subversion-2024-and-beyond 
•  https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2dpj485nno 
• https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2022/how-misinformation-and-disinformation-influence-elections 
• https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/a-survey-of-expert-views-on-misinformation-definitions-determinants-solutions-and-future-of-the-field/ 
• https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2023-06/Digital_News_Report_2023.pdf 
• https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/03/disinformation-trust-ecosystem-experts-curb-it/ 
• https://www.apa.org/topics/journalism-facts/misinformation-recommendations 
• https://mythvsreality.eci.gov.in/ 
• https://www.brookings.edu/articles/transparency-is-essential-for-effective-social-media-regulation/ 
• https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-should-social-media-platforms-combat-misinformation-and-hate-speech/ 

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Introduction

In recent years, the city of Hyderabad/Cyberabad has emerged as a technology hub, a place with the strong presence of multi corporations, Startups, and research institutions, Hyderabad has become a hub of innovations and technological advancement. However, this growing land of cyber opportunities has also become a hub for cybercriminals as well. In this blog post, we shall explore the reasons why professionals are being targeted and the effects of cyber fraud on techies. Through this investigation, we hope to raise awareness about the seriousness of the problem as well as give vital insights and techniques for Cyberabad’s computer workers to defend themselves against cyber theft. We can work together to make Cyberabad’s technology ecosystem safer and more secure.

Defining Cyber Fraud

In today’s age, where everything has an interconnected digital world, cyber fraud cases are increasing daily. Cyber fraud encompasses a wide range of threats and techniques employed by bad actors, such as Phishing, Ransomware, identity theft, online scams, data breaches, and fake websites designed for users. The sophistication of cyber fraud techniques is constantly evolving, making it challenging for individuals and organisations to stay ahead. Cybercriminals use software vulnerabilities, social engineering tactics, and flaws in cybersecurity defences to carry out their harmful operations. Individuals and organisations must grasp these dangers and tactics to protect themselves against cyber fraud.

Impact of Cyber Frauds

The consequences of Falling victim to cyber fraud can be devastating, both personally and professionally. The emotional and financial toll on individuals may be a challenge. Identity theft may lead to damaged credit scores, fraudulent transactions, and years of recovery work to rehabilitate one’s image. Financial fraud can result in depleted bank accounts, unauthorised charges, and substantial monetary losses. Furthermore, being tricked and violated in the digital environment can generate anxiety, tension, and a lack of confidence.

The impact of cyber fraud goes beyond immediate financial losses and can have long-term consequences for individuals’ and organisations’ entire well-being and stability. As the threat environment evolves, it is critical for people and organisations to recognise the gravity of these repercussions and take proactive actions to protect themselves against cyber theft.

Why are Cyberabad Tech Professionals Targeted?

Tech professionals in Cyberabad are particularly vulnerable to cyber due to various factors. Firstly, their expertise and knowledge in technology make them attractive targets for cybercrooks. These professionals possess valuable coding, Software, and administration skills, making them attractive to cybercriminals.

Secondly, the nature of work often involves enormous use of technology, including regular internet contacts, email exchanges, and access to private information. This expanded digital presence exposes them to possible cyber dangers and makes them more vulnerable to fraudsters’ social engineering efforts. Furthermore, the fast-moving nature of the tech industry, with many deadlines and work pressure to deliver, can create a distraction. This can let them click on some malicious links or share sensitive information unknowingly all these factors let the cyber criminals exploit vulnerabilities.

Unveiling the Statistics

According to various reports, 80% of cyber fraud victims in Hyderabad are techies; the rest are the public targeted by cyber crooks. This surprising number emphasises the critical need to address the vulnerabilities and threats this specific segment within the IT community faces.

Going further into the data, we can acquire insights into the many forms of cyber fraud targeting tech workers, the strategies used by cybercriminals, and the impact these occurrences have on individuals and organisations. Examining precise features and patterns within data might give important information for developing successful preventative and protection methods.

Factors Contributing

Several reasons contribute to the elevated risk of cyber fraud among ICT professionals in Cyberabad. Understanding these aspects helps explain why this group is specifically targeted and may be more vulnerable to such assaults.

Technical Expertise: Tech workers frequently have specialised technical knowledge, but this knowledge may only sometimes extend to cybersecurity. Their primary concentration is writing software, designing systems, or implementing technologies, which may result in missing possible vulnerabilities or a lack of overall cybersecurity understanding.

Confidence in Technology: IT workers have a higher level of confidence in technology because of their knowledge and dependence on technology. This trust can sometimes make individuals more vulnerable to sophisticated frauds or social engineering approaches that prey on their faith in the services they utilise.

Time Constraints and Pressure: Tech workers frequently operate under tight deadlines and tremendous pressure to reach project milestones. This may result in hurried decision-making or disregarding possible warning signals of cyber fraud, rendering them more exposed to assaults that prey on time-sensitive circumstances.

Cybercriminals know that technology workers have valuable knowledge, trade secrets, and intellectual property that may be economically profitable. As a result, they are attractive targets for attacks aiming at stealing sensitive data or gaining unauthorised access to critical systems.

The best practices that cyber techies can apply to safeguard their personal and professional data by following these simple tips:

Strong Passwords: create a strong password, using passwords for all your online accounts and changing them regularly. Remember to use unique combinations!

MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication): Enable MFA wherever possible. This provides an extra degree of protection by requiring a second form of verification, such as a code texted to your mobile device and your password.

Use Secured WiFi: Use secure and encrypted Wi-Fi networks, especially while viewing sensitive information. Avoid connecting to public or unprotected networks, as they can be readily exploited. Recognising Red Flags and Staying Ahead

Social Engineering: Be sceptical of unwanted solicitations or offers, both online and offline. Cybercriminals may try to persuade or fool you using social engineering tactics. Before revealing any personal or private information, think critically and confirm the veracity of the request.

Secure Web Browsing: Only browse trustworthy websites with valid SSL certificates (look for “https://” in the URL). Avoid clicking on strange links or downloading files from unknown sources since they may contain malware or ransomware.

Report Suspicious actions: If you encounter any suspicious or fraudulent actions, report them to the relevant authorities, such as the Cyber Crime Police or your organisation’s IT department. Reporting events can assist in avoiding additional harm and aid in identifying and apprehending hackers.

Stay Current on Security Practises: Stay up to speed on the newest cybersecurity risks and best practices. Follow credible sources, participate in cybersecurity forums or seminars, and remain current on new threats and preventative measures.

Conclusion

The rise in cybercrimes and fraud cases among tech experts in Cyberabad is a disturbing trend that requires prompt intervention. We can establish a safer tech cluster that lives on creativity, trust, and resilience by adopting proactive actions, raising awareness, and encouraging cooperation. Let us work together to prevent cybercrime and ensure the future of Cyberabad’s IT ecosystem.