By Farah Khairil
Scrolling through social media, we get to read a lot of interesting news and stories especially during this Movement Control Order (MCO). People on the net share their daily life routine, playing bingo, games online and even share latest updates regarding COVID-19.
However, there are news that are not even true. Most of the netizens would share their assumptions based on the headline of news that they read and some of them also make story or such statement by themselves without the authority’s command. The question is, do most of them even read the whole article before expressing their thoughts? Are they aware that the authorities are the one who should make such announcement?
Fake news and hoax stories have become the nature on media and it begins even with the internet that existed but of course, it is much chaotic when social media was invented because people can now easily write their mind online. So, how are we going to curb this?
It is vital to make sure that we are not one of the fools of social media. Therefore, I prepare here three basic ways of trusting news.
Consider the source
Before trusting a news, it is very important to check the source. Where does this news come from? If the news comes from a newspaper company or a government official page, it is legitimate and that is the primary source that we should trust.
Check the author
Fake news can be done by any of us and easily forwarded without knowing who wrote it. This happens usually on WhatsApp. Most of the fake news spread on this application is done to make people more afraid of what is happening outside without us thinking twice, where did this come from.
Read beyond the headlines
As stated, the headline can be misleading and netizens who do not read the whole article will make their own assumption of the news. Most of the headlines are just eye-catching, to make the news more appealing than their competitors. It is better to have the whole article being read by yourself.
Have you followed the basics? Good. Now that means that you are a responsible reader. It is not hard to trust news if you are following these basics.
As a Muslim, this is also a way for us to refrain spreading false information which may cause fitnah. Sharing true knowledge with reliable sources is a must for us so we are not in the wrong track.
Happy reading and stay safe!***