New Delhi, Oct 31: In 2020, the Bihar Assembly election was announced even as the country was coming out of the Coronavirus pandemic and citizens were slowly stepping out of a ‘lockdown’; and when the worldwide web proved to be the most effective means of communication.

While the poll process had to be undertaken on time in keeping with the rules in a Parliamentary democracy, the Election Commission had to issue strictures on physical campaigns to adhere to health and hygiene safety protocols. As the election campaign and political outreach further increased on the internet, fraudsters sharpened their skills on the internet. Election propaganda was infiltrated with fake news meant to influence voters. Some were detected, some were not.

But as technology brought election information on mobile screens, it also introduced with it the underbelly of false and fraudulent data and content. Misinformation and disinformation on social media evolved among challenges against maintaining electoral integrity, along with money, muscle, including violations of the Model Code of Conduct. However, the Bihar election 2020 was conducted successfully against all odds.

Now, the 2025 Assembly polls will be the first among state elections to be held after the Election Commission launched a “register” for information on false and misleading information during the process, with answers to frequently asked questions. The poll body launched a “Myth vs Reality Register” on April 2, 2024, a few days ahead of the Lok Sabha polls that year. It will be updated with information with inputs from the coming exercises collected through the Commission’s monitoring sources.

However, with the advancement in technology and the vastness of the worldwide web, monitoring and sharing such fake-bursting information is time-consuming, proving difficult sometimes.

In August this year, the Election Commission dismissed news circulating on various social media platforms claiming that the poll body had suddenly removed e-voter rolls of many states from its website. The Commission added that anyone can download the electoral rolls for any of the 36 States and Union Territories through its website ‘voters.eci.gov.in’.

On October 24, the poll body released an advisory, specifying guidelines on the use of AI-generated content for election campaigning ahead of the Bihar Assembly election this year. Fake news on the internet is not recent, though the extended use of social media and video communication applications increased during the pandemic-induced lockdown.

A few years ago, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that false news travels significantly faster and wider online than real news. Their findings were published in the journal Science, which revealed, “Fake news spreads faster than true news on Twitter (renamed X) – thanks to people, not bots.” It added that such posts containing falsehoods were 70 per cent more likely to be retweeted than truthful tweets.

The researchers analysed a huge dataset, comprising about 1,26,000 news cascades on X (then Twitter) that encompassed over 45 lakh tweets by around 30 lakh users between 2006 and 2017.

To ensure accuracy, the study relied on the assessments of six independent fact-checking organisations, resulting in a high degree of consensus on the veracity of the news stories.

Notably, fake news was found to be particularly prevalent in the political arena.

“Whether in India, the UK, or the United States, where social media is extensively used to reach out to a certain section of voters, you will find such misinformation and disinformation,” said Dr Sambit Pal, In-Charge Director at the International School of Broadcasting and Journalism, MIT Art, Design and Technology University, Pune.

“Fake news has become an integral part of political communication everywhere. In India, social media has been used aggressively by political parties with a dedicated IT department to microtarget voters and change the narrative. Here, many supporters misuse the process to suit their own narrative,” added Dr Pal, who is also part of the India Training Network of Google News Initiative, conducting workshops on fact-checking and fake news verification.

United Nations, June 6: The Security Council demanded the immediate and unconditional release of personnel from the United Nations, nongovernmental and civil society organizations and diplomatic missions who were detained by the Houthis in Yemen.

In a press statement on Thursday, the members of the Security Council reiterated that all threats to those delivering humanitarian aid and assistance are unacceptable. They reiterated their demand that the Houthis ensure respect of international humanitarian law with regard to safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to ensure assistance can reach civilians in need.

The council members welcomed the continued work of the United Nations through all possible channels to secure the safe and immediate release of those detained.

According to media reports, Council members acknowledged that the Eid al-Adha holidays would be particularly difficult for those detained, their families and others who are themselves living in fear of detention.

This week marks one year since the wave of detention by the Houthis. According to the world body, 23 UN staff members and five personnel from international nongovernmental organizations remain detained. One UN staff member and another from Save the Children have died in detention.

In the past few days, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as well as heads of UN agencies and programs have called for the release of the detained personnel.

Earlier on June 3, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also called for the immediate and unconditional release of UN staff detained by the Houthis in Yemen.

“This June marks one year since the arbitrary detention of dozens of personnel from the United Nations, national and international NGOs, civil society organisations, and diplomatic missions by the Houthi de facto authorities in Yemen,” he said in a statement.

“I renew my call for their immediate and unconditional release, including those held since 2021 and 2023, and most recently this January.”

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners should never be targeted, arrested or detained while carrying out their mandates for the benefit of the people they serve, said Guterres.

Sanaa, April 10: The death toll from fresh US airstrikes on Yemen’s capital Sanaa rose to three, with several others wounded, medics and health authorities told Xinhua.

The airstrikes targeted the Al-Nahdayn area which is surrounded by densely residential neighbourhoods on Wednesday late night.

Shrapnel hit many houses and shattered windows, causing damage and killing three residents. Several wounded civilians have been rushed to hospital.

This was the latest wave of US airstrikes on northern Yemen since the US military resumed airstrikes on the Houthi group on March 15 to deter the group from targeting Israel and US warships in the northern Red Sea.

The airstrikes also targeted several locations across other northern areas late on Wednesday, including the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah and the Island of Kamaran, where no casualties have been reported so far.

The US military has yet to comment, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier on April 9, Yemen’s Houthis said that they had shot down another US MQ-9 drone, the 18th since the start of the war in Gaza, the military group said.

“Our air defences shot down a US MQ-9 drone in the airspace of Al-Jawf province, using a locally manufactured surface-to-air missile,” the group’s spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, said in a televised statement aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

“This is the 18th US drone shot down by our air defences since October 2023,” Sarea said, referring to the timeframe when his group began launching attacks against Israeli targets to show solidarity with Palestinians a few days after the outbreak of war in Gaza on October 7, 2023.

The last MQ-9 was reportedly shot down by the Houthi forces on Thursday over the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

This type of drone has become well-known to Yemenis because it has been hovering overhead across northern Yemeni provinces almost daily since October 2023.

The Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen, have been launching regular rocket and drone attacks against Israel and disrupting “Israeli-linked” shipping in the Red Sea since November 2023 to show solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip amid their conflict with Israelis.