How news organisations are separating fact from fiction

It's a fact that social media can make it possible to spread lies in real time

When a statue costs Rs 3,600 crore to build, you want it to do more than just stand there. So citizens were relieved to learn when the Shivaji sea memorial was launched in December that it would be able to track movements of suspicious boats. With the help of a renowned Finnish scientist, it would also tap enough solar energy to power all government offices in Mumbai. The only problem, it would emerge later, was that all of these details — listed in a WhatsApp message — were entirely fabricated.

The news was first cooked up for a mocking piece