1 in 2 Indians receiving fake news via Facebook, WhatsApp

Ahead of the general elections, spread of misinformation through social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp seems to have gathered pace, with a study claiming that one in two respondents have received fake news in the last 30 days.

Circulation of fake news on digital platforms has been a pain point, and the government has warned social media companies that any abuse of the platforms to influence electorate will not be tolerated.

Accordingly, social media giants like Facebook and Google have stepped up election safety efforts, inducing transparency in political ads, roping in an army of fact checkers and commissioning tools to weed out content that is flagged to be false.