n acquaintance of mine recently got a friend request from an unknown woman on Facebook. Some people cherish the idea of having many followers, believing that it adds to their ‘authenticity’ or ‘value.’ Unknowingly, this person fell into the trap and accepted the request.

The next day he received a video call from the new follower on FB messenger. He was shocked to see a naked woman. It took a few seconds for him to understand the situation. He then turned off his camera and ended the call. However, he had already been ‘caught’ on record. The blackmail began soon.

Ever since, he has unfriended all those he doesn’t really know, a lesson he learnt late. He says he had never been told by anyone not to accept requests from strangers; he was never ‘educated.’ This is one of the ways social media has been used by some to destroy lives and cause anguish. The advent of the digital age and the springing up of social media platforms have not been without their share of challenges, at times lethal. A poor decision on social media risks making the rest of one’s life miserable. There is a dire need to educate and train people in the digital age so as to avoid harm.

The internet has been around for a long time now, yet incidents such as these still occur. The pace of its spread and penetration have left many losing their breath. Many countries in the West have tried to control the harm that this relatively unbridled beast has the potential to pose but developing countries like Pakistan lag far behind.

There can be no doubt that we are in the midst of a misinformation and disinformation chaos. Political as well as personal battles are now fought in digital spaces. Today, a social media post travels faster than conventional modes of information dissemination. If it has a clever spin, its speed can be monumental.

When (because of historic reasons) official statements lack credibility, alternate narratives, even if doubtful, gain ground and fill the trust vacuum. In such situations, there is no patience to listen to official clarifications or explanations. A recent example of this is an alleged rape on a college campus in Lahore.

Since the Pakistani society lacks perceptions of fairness and justice, and everyone is suspected of grinding their own axe rather than advancing public interest, such matters get complicated. There is a general tendency to listen, like and share online content that is extremely opinionated and accusatory even if it is not backed up by any evidence to substantiate the claims being made. Online, people can frequently accuse and judge their opponents with impunity. Large audiences not only engage with that content but also enjoy it. The perpetual political turmoil nurtures this toxic environment. A large number of people appear to draw a semblance of satisfaction from seeing authority figures attacked.

How does one navigate through this chaos? Media literacy is a vital survival tool in today’s society. This means knowing how to “read” media messages. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation emphasises that being literate means having the ability to interpret and make informed judgments as skilful prosumers [consumers and producers] of media.

In Pakistan, there is very little focus on educating people, especially the youth, about issues pertaining to the media. There is a need to educate the people about the spin media managers apply to set their narrative apart, at times, for wider acceptance. People need to check the background of a website, its ownership and its political ideologies. Only then can they fully understand the story behind a social media post or a vlog.

News media literacy is a genuine worry. This is even more important in Pakistan on account of its youth bulge. Pakistani teenagers are fast shying away from consuming news. Research has shown that the negative trend is more evident amongst Pakistani women than men. What power brokers have turned our politics into is putting the general public off. The fear is that if this trend is not reversed, people will be less likely to participate in politics.

Apart from trainings here and there, there is hardly a concerted effort to help the public acquire media and information literacy competencies. This needs to start as early as in schools.

A study published in the Global Media Journal found that teenagers in Pakistan are unable to spot fake news, mainly because they don’t verify the source of the information.

Despite the growing importance of digital media, education on this topic is lacking in Pakistan. Big news organisations need to take the lead and offer community service to educate consumers, win them over (again) by earning their trust. For this, they first need to self-check their content and aim to be more credible.

Consumers, especially teenagers, lack skills to critically evaluate online news. We need to educate them. Many schools in Pakistan, especially in the public sector, lack proper libraries and digital devices. We also need to integrate digital media literacy into school curricula.

These steps will help Pakistan foster a more informed and critically thinking population, better equipped to navigate the complexities of online news consumption.

The writer, a journalist for 33 years, has been an editor at the BBC in Pakistan for over two decades. Currently, he is the managing editor at Independent Urdu