Social media platforms are the epicentre for the spread of fake news. Almost all social media giants are alarmed regarding the current scenario and every platform is trying the best way possible to keep those in check. Just recently, Whatsapp added its “forwarded” tag to let people know that a certain text had been forwarded by some guy sitting across the screen. There have been advertisements also, asking the people to judge the matter and verify the news from reliable sources before simply forwarding them to others.
On Friday, Twitter said it has closed down thousands of news accounts across the world for spreading fake news as well as pro-government propaganda including in places like the UAE, China and Spain.
Twitter claimed to have identified 4,302 accounts based in China “attempting to sow discord about the protest movement in Hong Kong.”
Reportedly there are accounts hailing from China aiming at sowing discord among protesters in Hong Kong which were closed down. Twitter claimed there were accounts propagating a pro-Saudi message coming from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates directed at Qatar and Yemen.Fake news accounts were also suspended in Spain and Ecuador.
Twitter said they had identified 4,302 accounts based in China “attempting to sow discord about the protest movement in Hong Kong.” This follows the identification in August of more than 200,000 fake accounts in China engaged in catalysing public discord in Hong Kong.
Facebook also got rid of fake accounts based in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE last month for broadcasting fake information about regional places of disturbance including Libya, Sudan and Yemen.
