Information turned into Infodemic
by Bishwojit Das Bijoy
The use of digital technology has greatly increased in the current era. There are very few people who have not been touched by digital technology. According to authors Tolbert, Mossberger, and McNeal, those who regularly and effectively use the Internet, or digital technology, are entitled to digital citizenship. Digital citizenship is the way of connecting socially with others in any part of the world through the internet or online. In other words, digital citizenship means responsible use of information technology to socially engage with different people. That is to use the technology by the rules and regulations. There are 9 components to digital citizenship. These are Digital Access, Digital Commerce, Digital Communication, Digital Literacy, Digital Etiquette, Digital Law, Digital Rights, and Responsibilities, Digital Health and Wellness, and Digital Security. Digital citizenship plays an important role in building a healthy and normal society. The elements of digital citizenship influence the formation of a healthy society in many ways. Communication can be done quickly with the help of digital citizenship. As a result, important messages can reach people in a very short time. If a citizen is aware, then his or her walk through digital will be very polite, there will be no harm done by him or her. There will be no cyberbullying or crime because of the content he or she will share. The rumors that are spread online will not spread and the rumors will not lead to organized crime. Violations of this are an attempt to control crime by providing punishment under digital law. Through which a healthy and normal society will be formed.
Digital literacy is an important theme of digital citizenship. At present, digital literacy has become a very important element. Digital literacy means acquiring literacy in information technology. That is, to create information or data using information technology and to acquire the ability to analyze information. The lack of digital literacy has led to the spread of fake news and rumors. As a result, various crimes are happening.
We have already gained a little bit of idea about digital literacy. Now we will look at two examples of digital literacy, through which our idea about digital literacy will become clearer.
Firstly, we will discuss misinformation. Misinformation is information that when someone shares it, countless people share it without realizing it. In this case, who shares the information first, may not know the veracity of the information. He or she may have posted the matter unintentionally. And the tendency of the people of Bangladesh to verify the veracity and accuracy of the information is not very noticeable. Which is called fact-checking of information. Basically, fact-checking is the process of verifying the veracity and accuracy of any information. This is because of the lack of digital literacy. People are accessing the digital world right here but they have lacked the desire or tendency to analyze data. Which led to events like the Ramu tragedy. In 2012, rumors of desecration of the Holy Quran were spread on social media Facebook. When the matter spread on Facebook, people started sharing the incident on their Facebook without verifying the veracity of the information. Some local people formed a public opinion against this incident. In view of this, on September 29, 2012, miscreants set fire to 12 Buddhist monasteries, 30 houses in Ramu, and on September 30, 7 Buddhist monasteries and 11 houses in Ukhiya and Teknaf. All the thousand-year-old archeological specimens in the temple were burnt. Six more Buddhist monasteries and half a hundred Buddhist homes were looted and vandalized (Six years of Ramu Attack). If people had verified the information of desecration of the Holy Qur'an, such incidents might not have happened.
A Buddhist temple in Cox's Bazar was damaged in Attack by miscreants in a Buddhist village in Ramu. Photo: Bhorer Kagoj
Due to the lack of digital literacy, the people of this country have faced many more tragedies like Ramu. Because people are spreading many rumors in the digital medium without understanding, without true-false analysis of information. As a result, various crimes are happening. The amount of misinformation in our daily life is constantly increasing. The spread of this misinformation during the Corona period has taken the shape of an epidemic like Corona. As a result of misinformation, the society and the people of the society are being severely affected. Conflicts are taking place between different religions, lives and property are being lost, medical services are being disrupted. For example, at present, there are rumors that thankuni leaves, candle lighting, etc. are the medicine of CoronaVirus. People are accepting these things believing such rumors. As a result, the treatment of the Corona Virus is being affected.
Secondly, we will discuss disinformation. Disinformation is false information or news that a person intentionally spreads among people for the purpose of misleading people or for his own benefit. But people believe that information without verifying it and spread it among more people. For example, in 2019 we are seeing a rumor that there may be a shortage of salt in the country. The price of salt will exceed taka 100 per kg. This rumor is mainly spread by some unscrupulous traders in the country to increase the sales of salt. Without verifying the veracity of this information, without listening to any government instructions, just believing the rumors spread on Facebook, people across the country started buying and storing salt at higher prices. If people had the right idea about digital literacy, they would not believe the rumors, would first verify the veracity of the information, and would also refrain from buying and storing more salt.
Like misinformation, disinformation is also increasing in our daily life. As if growing with one another. However, disinformation is being spread by some unscrupulous traders to further their interests. As a result of creating an artificial market crisis, the prices of daily commodities are increasing in the market. For example, an artificial crisis of the mask has been created during Corona. As a result, people are buying masks at higher prices, thinking that they will not be able to buy the original price when they need them. Besides, rumors are being spread that religions are being attacked and temples are being demolished. Because of this people are being harmed economically, culturally, and socially.
Misinformation and disinformation are constantly influencing our daily lives. We are constantly being the victim of various rumors. To get rid of this, it is necessary to verify the authenticity of any information before accepting or sharing it from a digital medium. This requires proper knowledge about the use of information technology.