Context:

Karbi Anglong police have promised to take strict action against objectionable report or news circulated on Whatsapp and Facebook.
While taking part in a meeting organised on bandh culture and NRC by the Karbi Anglong district administration at the Circuit House here, the Additional Superintendent of Police, Karbi Anglong, Indranil Baruah said that the police are keeping a close watch on those who are misusing the social media.

What is fake news?

Fake news is a type of yellow journalism that consists of deliberate misinformation or hoaxes spread via the traditional print, broadcasting news media, or via Internet-based social media. Fake news is written and published with the intent to mislead in order to gain financially or politically, often with sensationalist, exaggerated, or patently false headlines that grab attention.

The main driving force behind fake news remains:

Getting easy viewership through sensational news-e.g. dubbing foreign prisoners as spies or terrorists without any proof
Directed towards a particular organization or person with an intention to either glorify it or to bring malice.eg. a news channel was established to defend the accused in Jessica Lal murder case.

Dangers of fake news:

• Political: Swaying or polarising public opinion. Example Recent American election, UP elections where certain facts are quoted out of context/partially. Significant impact on the nature of polity.
• Religious: Promoting religious ideologies. Glorifying one religion while despising others Ex. Right wing violence meted out by Gau rakshaks leads to religious polarisation and communal unrests.
• Criminal: Sensationalising crimes by blowing them out of proportion. Misleads people rather than making them aware. Instils irrational fears.
• Fake news has also been used to dupe gullible people financially. The reach of news has given chit fund schemes an altogether new arena as well as has introduced the concept of online fraud through spam mails.
• It hampers spirit of common brotherhood and raises intolerance. Eg. 2012 mass exodus of North-Eastern people from Bangalore on false online threats.
• Over the time it shapes the thinking of society at large. Portrayal of India as an unsafe destination for women by international media has created a false image of a nation.