IN an age without satellites or screens, truth travelled on foot. Messengers crossed deserts and battle lines to verify what was real. Even enemies trusted one another’s envoys for the sake of authentic news. Back then, information was sacred — its authenticity defined trust itself. Human behaviour has always danced to the rhythm of information. When the message carries peace, societies breathe in harmony. But when the news whispers of danger, anxiety seeps into the collective mind, reshaping how people think, act and respond. Likewise, if people receive information that supports their mental well-being, they live happier lives. Yet, exposure to negative information can lead to mental and psychological difficulties. In earlier times, the process of finding and passing on information felt more trustworthy. The sources remained largely known and the information could be verified through various checks. Then mass media emerged, spreading news through radio, TV and print. This gave people simple access to the most recent information.
The world was quickly transformed due to globalization. It connected societies, turning the world into a global village. The internet’s arrival paved the way for social media platforms to spread news instantly across the globe. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU, 2024) indicates that approximately 5.6 billion people use smartphones today and about 67% of the world’s population has internet access. This new level of connection has made information a weapon available to anyone. This made societies more susceptible to false information. The trend extended beyond news; people began sharing opinions shaped by emotion rather than fact. Hence, the sharing of information became influenced by personal feelings. It undermined the truthfulness and credibility of the news. The modern AI era marked the gravest phase of this evolution. People now use artificial intelligence to generate information and rely on it for content creation.
Compounding the problem, the misuse of AI—particularly through deepfakes and synthetic media—has increased society’s vulnerability to misinformation. A 2024 Europol report warned that by 2026, AI could create or alter as much as 90% of online content, threatening democracy and social trust. Similarly, the Stanford Internet Observatory and BBC Verify reported that deepfake videos affected political narratives in India, the U.S. and various African countries during the 2024 elections. As social media use surged, sharing unverified content became normal. The 2024 Reuters Institute Digital News Report found that 57% of global users had shared unverified news online and 42% encountered misinformation on a weekly basis. This media façade has created a world where fake news can destroy reputations within minutes. The present age is, therefore, a struggle against the dissemination of fake hate. For instance, creating a false profile on Facebook or X to attack someone online has become easy, often driven by personal grudges.
Similarly, it has become simple to make videos that unfairly accuse companies using fabricated evidence. Meta removed over 1.8 billion fake accounts and millions of disinformation campaigns in 2023 alone. Comparable trends are evident in institutions and governments worldwide. Misinformation has incited mass protests against governance based on false interpretations. According to Amnesty International and The Atlantic Council’s DFRLab, misinformation campaigns on Telegram and Twitter contributed to unrest in Brazil, Iran and Myanmar in 2022–23. While social media once empowered democratic voices and helped spark movements such as the Arab Spring, it has since evolved into a domain shaped by manipulation. Politicians now employ bots and algorithms to generate favorable campaigns. Russian bots, for example, spread misinformation to influence voters during the 2016 and 2020 U.S. elections. In 2023, the Oxford Internet Institute reported that states sponsored organized political manipulation on social media in 87 countries.
Social media also fuels hate in multi-ethnic societies. The 2023 UN report found that social media hate speech intensified ethnic conflicts in Ethiopia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Thus, from individuals to institutions and governments, everyone is now vulnerable to the negative impacts of the media’s declining authenticity. However, solutions exist. In the current era, strong and coordinated measures can restore the media’s genuineness. The first step is to establish news verification centers in every city, requiring registration for those sharing “news” on social media to ensure accountability, supported by digital literacy programs and anti-fake-news registries like those in Finland and Singapore. Secondly, AI should detect and remove unverified information, with major platforms legally obliged under the EU’s Digital Services Act (2024) to eliminate misinformation and mark synthetic content. Thirdly, all AI-generated material should carry a clear label, reinforced by digital watermarking technologies introduced by companies such as Google DeepMind and OpenAI in 2025 to uphold transparency.
Regional complaint centers should also be established to handle cases of misinformation quickly and fairly, especially when individuals or institutions are targeted without evidence. Globally, UNESCO’s Internet for Trust framework (2024) provides a model for nations to develop shared standards for transparency, fact-checking and digital ethics. The prevailing belief is that future conflicts will increasingly exploit disinformation and digital manipulation, rather than conventional warfare. This silent conflict aims to fracture societies from within. Now is the time to confront this challenge. As societies weaken under the weight of falsehoods, urgent action is necessary to prevent a social catastrophe. Making the media authentic again will pave the way for peaceful and harmonious societies.
—The writer is Commoner from 44th Common Educationist — Founder of WHI Institute.based in Sargodha.
