They were shown a WhatsApp screenshot of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘message’ requesting people to use Telegram messaging app instead of WhatsApp because the former is an ‘Indian app’ and the quiz master asked them to answer in 30 seconds whether this was a genuine or fake news.
The teams of students from class VIII to class XI that participated in the district-level competition were asked a series of such questions in different rounds during the quiz programme organised by the district administration here on Monday as part of its campaign ‘Satyameva Jayate’ to create awareness among schoolchildren on enlightened Internet use.
Apart from questions on what fake news is, how it comes up and what they need to do to prevent prevalence of fake news circulated online, the 40 teams of students participating in the contest were shown screenshots of fake news.
One of the screenshots shown was a satellite photo of the earth showing India bright while the rest of the world is dark with a message that this was taken from outer space during Diwali celebration. The participants could search on mobile phone and answer whether it is true or false within 30 seconds. Chinmaya Vidyalaya lifted the first prize in the competition.
“The main content of the quiz programme is based on the classes and presentation we shared as part of the ‘Satyameva Jayate’ campaign,” said District Collector Mir Mohammed Ali whose brain child the campaign is. As many as 200 schools in the district had been covered under the campaign, he told The Hindu . “The campaign against fake news has started a very important conversation in schools and homes about the prevalence of misinformation online,” said Mr. Ali who was the quiz master in the final round of the contest.
An initiative started in the wake of the anti-MR vaccination drive through social media, Satyameva Jayate campaign has now evolved into an organised drive to create awareness among students on the dangers of fake news. It has now been turned into a cyber security awareness campaign to make students understand how to avoid being made a fool and used by unscrupulous people.
‘‘In the first phase, teachers were trained with the Collector himself taking classes with presentation,’’ said Midhun Krishna C.M., project manager, District e-Governance Society, who is also involved in the campaign. During the preliminary quiz programmes, teachers as well as parents had been sensitised on the dangers of fake news, he added.
