India's Internet Generation Is Overwhelmed By What They Save

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A Verifier's Toolkit: Essential Apps & Websites For Everyday Fact-Checking

The internet's great, but watch out. From misleading headlines to fake websites to cropped/morphed videos, navigating what's real and what's fake can be quite challenging. Here is BOOM's quick guide to be smart and safe online. 

'Fake News' Can: 

• Make you believe lies. 

• Make you form misinformed opinions. 

• Spread rumours and misunderstandings. 

• Trick you into sharing personal information or clicking links directing you to fake websites. 

Spotting Fake News: BOOM’s Toolkit! 

• Pause and think: Is it unbelievable? It probably is. 

• Check the source: Who posted it? Is it a trusted website? Look for an "About Us" page and be wary of weird website names. 

• Find evidence: Are there links to reliable sources? Be skeptical if it's just an opinion. Cross-check: Do other trusted news sites report the same thing? One odd website might be wrong. 

• Trust primary source of information. Don't stop at secondary sources. Remember, anyone and everyone can get it wrong. 

• Look for bad grammar and spelling. 

• Are they requesting your passwords or bank information? 

• Consider your own biases – be open to different views.

Read this story where I take you through apps and websites essential for everyday fact-checking.

DECODE

India's Internet Generation Is Overwhelmed By What They Save

Khoobi Gangdev Shah, a freelance editor and content writer, has over 300 tabs open in her browser. She can't remember the last time she felt in control of her digital life. 

Khoobi admitted she rarely revisited the content she saved online. But that didn't stop her from saving it anyway. "Instagram is my biggest trap," she said. "I have private lists for music, recipes, travel tips, and fitness routines. My Safari browser has 325 tabs open. Some of them are from years ago. I know most are outdated or useless, but I just can't close them." 

She's not alone. Across India, a quiet crisis is unfolding behind the screens of young people like Khoobi – a compulsive, often invisible habit of bookmarking, screenshotting, and "saving for later" that never really arrives.

It's called digital hoarding, and experts now warn it could be shaping not only how we remember things, but how we think, feel, and even make decisions. Read Aakriti Sanghi’s story.

EXPLAINED

Bihar’s Voter List Is Being Revised. Who Might Be Left Out?

Sabita Devi (name changed) has dutifully voted in every election since she became eligible—casting her ballot in both the 2020 assembly elections and the 2024 general elections. The 28-year-old from a village on the Nepal border in Bihar's Sitamarhi district has her voter card, Aadhaar card, and all the documents she thought she needed to exercise her democratic right. 

But she has no idea that her name could soon be erased from the voter list entirely.

"I don't know anything and no officials have so far visited my house," she told Umesh Kumar Ray, embodying the information crisis that has engulfed millions of voters across Bihar. 

Just months before Bihar goes to polls, the Election Commission of India has launched what it calls a 'Special Intensive Revision' of the state's voter list. From migrant workers to women married across the Nepal border, this explainer breaks down who’s at risk and why.

LAW, JUSTICE ET AL

Why Karnataka's Fake News Bill Raises Free Speech Concerns

Karnataka government’s proposed law criminalising the spread of fake news is perhaps the first time a state has attempted to define “fake news”, which by itself is sweeping in its mandate to include “anti-feminism” and “disrespect of Sanatan symbols”.

Digital rights groups have cautioned against misuse of the law and government overreach saying it will have a “chilling effect” on free speech and will muzzle independent journalism.

However, Karnataka’s IT Minister Priyank Kharge said the state’s proposed law to ban fake news is still in its preliminary stages and that its “sole objective” is to “address the growing digital information disorder”.

BOOM’s Ritika Jain recaps the concerns raised against the bill.

'FAKE NEWS’ YOU ALMOST FELL FOR

🔍 A digitally altered image of a Muslim teacher imparting anti-Hindu lessons resurfaced on social media. BOOM Hindi had debunked the same photograph when it went viral in June 2019. Read 🔗 Anmol Alphonso’s ↗️ fact-check.

🔍 A video of a violinist pausing her live performance in Kerala, went viral with a false communal claim. Find out what actually happened in this 🔗 fact-check ↗️ .

🔍 A screengrab from a scripted video was circulated with a false communal claim that a 21-year-old Muslim man from Haryana married his grandmother. However, 🔗 Srijit Das ↗️ found it’s an old hoax.

🅱️ RECOMMENDS

This week's recommendation is: Assessing the System-Instruction Vulnerabilities of Large Language Models to Malicious Conversion Into Health Disinformation Chatbots

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Verified By Boom is written by Divya Chandra, edited by Adrija Bose and designed by H Shiva Roy Chowdhury.

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