ruth has been under pressure in Pakistan lately, making the country a glaring example of what was predicted by the Global Risk Report 2024 in January this year. If one is to go by the assessment of about 1,500 global risk experts that the World Economic Forum (WEF) consulted for this report, fake news will continue haunting us for some foreseeable future. Can we not do anything about it?

There are many similarities between cancer and fake news. Cancer arises from the new cells –the process called neoplasia– that our organs generate. These new cells are needed because the organs undergo minor wear and tear every day. All new cells, including the ones that end up being cancer, initially look the same. The regular cells stay together, mature to perform their function, and ultimately die. Those that turn into cancer grow endlessly, have no useful function, invade other organs to suck blood, and refuse to die.

Just like the new cells required by our body to adjust to new situations, our mind also needs new information to make sense of different circumstances. On the face of it, all information, including fake news, appears just that: information. Its fake nature is revealed only when it becomes “viral”— like cancer, which is often diagnosed when it has “metastasized” or spread all over.

The principal determinants of fake news’s origin and virality are neither its creators nor the social media platforms. It is the information vacuum that allows conspiracies to germinate and grow. For example, a lack of information about the origin of the novel coronavirus led to several conspiracies — one of them being that it was made in a laboratory, which is believed by many even today. Similarly, the silence about the election results on the eve of 8 February in Pakistan created a void, allowing all kinds of fake news to grow and bring truth under continuous pressure.

Cancer experts, called oncologists, are still researching ways to prevent or cure the disease. So far, they can treat cancer by surgery, radiation, or medications but cannot cure it. Likewise, the experts on fake news have only been able to offer tools to manage, eg, debunking (issuing corrections after fake news starts becoming viral) and pre-bunking (preparing people to identify and reject fake news), but not cure this problem.

Can something be done other than issuing rebuttals? Unfortunately, we cannot pin much hope on the governments because they have been the biggest peddlers of fake news globally. Moreover, adopting punitive measures like banning platforms, punishing rumour mongers, and removing the content does not work. The octopus of fake news develops new tentacles and reappears from somewhere.

In Pakistan, impartial fact-checking is still in its infancy despite a humungous need. A combination of credible, independent journalists and civil society activists can establish a platform that ensures the accuracy of information while maintaining transparency of its funding sources.

One thing that works, only if governments and organizations decide to do it, is to not create a vacuum by hiding the information. If willing – and it is a big ‘if’ – the best strategy for combatting fake news is factual news. We saw this phenomenon during COVID-19 in Pakistan, which was also published in a recent BMJ Global Health paper (https://gh.bmj.com/content/9/4/e015200). It was the sharing of timely and accurate information about each aspect of the vaccine that helped Pakistan achieve vaccination rates faster than its neighbouring countries, including India, despite the latter’s advantage of in-country manufacturing to have adequate vaccine doses.

Civil society has a more significant role in managing fake news than governments. At the global level, reliable media organisations have fact-checking, which is believed and used worldwide. In Pakistan, impartial fact-checking is still in its infancy despite a humungous need. A combination of credible, independent journalists and civil society activists can establish a platform that ensures the accuracy of information while maintaining transparency of its funding sources. Sincere academe must also consider such collaborations as science is a usual fatality in the age of misinformation —the infodemic during COVID-19 is a case in point.

Still, only some have access to the internet or the habit of fact-checking. This is where the most critical intervention rests: the citizens of Pakistan. As eventual sufferers, people are in the highest need of learning to combat misinformation. Society has entered the digital era where everything, especially education, has become available online. However, not all online information is accurate, just like not every online university is real. It is the need and responsibility of those accessing the information or seeking academic admissions to differentiate between a fake and a genuine entity.

Unfortunately, this means being suspicious (read anxious) all the time. We must develop the habit of questioning the veracity of whatever is forwarded to us on mobile phones or shown on a screen. We must use fact-checking principles (source, medium, content) to make an opinion and not forward any information until we are sure.

If this sounds too tedious, there is another more accessible, safer, and more effective option: Decrease the time spent on mobile or other digital devices, just like you do by moving away from smoke to be safe from cancer.

@ZaeemUlHaq03  is a former adviser to Pakistan’s Ministry of Health on Health & Risk Communication