Dubai: Think before you link your internet content on social media, advises a UAE internet specialist.
Once sent online, fake news, videos or images cannot be retrieved from the social media sphere.
Farrukh Naeem, tech blogger and social media strategist, told Gulf News on Wednesday that “the danger with online messaging and social platforms is that you cannot easily retract or take back any message that you send out to people. Information gets wings of its own as soon as you share it online — and it can reach hundreds and thousands of people”.
Naeem noted that social media users often share content on impulse without weighing the gravity of sending sensitive or inaccurate material on the internet which can be illegal in the UAE.
“In most modern countries like the UAE, there are clear and firm laws about spreading inaccurate information — even if all you do is send it out to your personal connections. It can be easily traced back to you,” he said.
“It is not worth it for a bit of amusement to spread and share any messages or content that may be inaccurate, or have the potential of damaging a person’s, company’s or country’s image and reputation.”
So how can people avoid sharing fake news on their social media channels?
“Before you send out or forward any critical message, it is best to verify that it comes from a credible source like a reputed newspaper or government organisation. A quick online search mentioning the key terms of the message, specially in the ‘News’ tab of Google, can tell you in seconds if the news has been reported by credible organisations,” he said.
“Sometimes, the social media handles of news organisations break news faster than their print counterparts so searching on a micro-messaging platform like Twitter and checking the source can also give you a quick idea of breaking or developing stories. In case of critical, political or religious stories, it is best to share the content along with a credible source link or directly from the source using the share feature,” Naeem said.
