Threats – Journalists

Fake news has wreaked damage several times over the last few years. It has whipped up communal frenzy. It has potentially sabotaged elections. Even as governments and social media companies grapple with methods of countering the publishing of fake news, a particularly alarming strain has come into existence recently, in the Rana Ayyub case.

Last week, Ms. Ayyub, a freelance journalist and author of Gujarat Files , a book about the 2002 riots , registered a police complaint in Delhi about personalised fake news that put her in danger. According to her complaint, Ms. Ayyub was alerted by friends that a fake quote accompanied by her photograph was doing the rounds on social media. It was first tweeted by a fake account mimicking a TV channel’s logo. The fake quote went viral and triggered real outrage.

Ms. Ayyub pointed out on her social media accounts that the quote and the account were fake, but this did not do much to control either the virality of the tweet or the damage. Soon, she began to receive death and rape threats. In addition, pornographic videos using morphed images of her began to make the rounds. Her phone number and home address were posted on the Internet. In her complaint to the police as well as media statements, Ms. Ayyub said she is genuinely scared for her life and the well-being of her family.