Fake News

News:Recently,twenty countries including France, Britain and India has signed an agreement at the UN to stop the spread of fake news online.

Facts:

• The agreement was initiated by the Reporters Without Borders(RSF), a press freedom watchdog.
• The signatory countries committed to promoting independently reported, diverse and reliable information.
• The agreement also underlined the responsibility of internet providers to promote trustworthy content and pluralism to escape the current information chaos.

Additional information:

Fake news:

• Fake news is the deliberate creation of factually incorrect content to mislead people for some gain.
• Fake news is becoming an increasingly serious problem.It is viewed as a serious threat to the democratic process.

About Reporters Without Borders(RSF):

• Reporters Sans Frontieres(RSF) or Reporters Without Borders is a non-profit organization that works to document and combat attacks on journalists around the world.
• It is headquartered in Paris, France.It also has a consultant status at the United Nations.
• The key documents published by the organisation are: (a)World Press Freedom Index (b)Predators of Press Freedom and (c)Press Freedom Barometer.

Note:In the World Press Freedom Index,2019 India has been ranked at 140th out of 180 countries. Norway has topped the list for the third year in a row followed by Finland.