Getting out of hand

Left unchecked, the cycle of misinformation and disinformation online will only get worse.

On September 9, Cyabra , an Israel-based AI-powered platform, published a report claiming that fake accounts had a big impact on the Gen Z protests. Based on the report and without much effort put into checking its credibility and methodology, some media outlets rushed to speculate that the movement was organised by behind-the-scenes forces, even suggesting the presence of foreign actors in the movement. Likewise, in the past few days, the acronym ‘TOB’ has been making the rounds of social media after photos were shared showing young men donning T-shirts with the letters in the protests, spawning speculations about its meaning. One thing led to another, and the situation quickly escalated as curiosity devolved into disinformation, radicalised narratives, and xenophobic attacks, with some users issuing death threats against Nepalis of Tibetan origin.