Sumaiya Shaikh

Last updated

Sumaiya Shaikh is a neuroscientist. [1] [2] [3]

Shaikh co-founded the Indian fact-checking website Alt News in her role as the science editor. [4] Her work has focused on debunking misinformation related to medicine. [5] [6] She wrote a book titled "India Misinformed: The True Story" with Pratik Sinha of Alt News. It was published by Harper Collins in 2019. [7] [8]

Shaikh has frequently highlighted misinformation related to Ayurveda, including when treatments have been promoted without scientific data. [9] [10]

Shaikh is the founding director of a Sweden-based organisation called ViolEND. The organization aims to rehabilitate extremists who per Shaikh have been shown by research to have an urge to be violent and prefer the dopamine-driven high from violence over other types of highs such as from alcohol or drugs. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Medical Association</span> Society of Indian physicians formed in 1928

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) is a national voluntary organisation of physicians in India. It was established in 1928 as the All India Medical Association, and was renamed the Indian Medical Association in 1930. It is a society registered under The Societies Act of India.

Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation can exist without specific malicious intent; disinformation is distinct in that it is deliberately deceptive and propagated. Misinformation can include inaccurate, incomplete, misleading, or false information as well as selective or half-truths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramdev</span> Indian yoga teacher and businessman

Ramdev, known also by the prefix Baba, is an Indian yoga guru, businessman and brand ambassador for Patanjali Ayurved. He is primarily known for being a proponent of yoga and ayurveda in India. Ramdev has been organizing and conducting large yoga camps since 2002 and broadcasting his yoga classes on various TV channels. He co-founded Patanjali Ayurved and Patanjali Yogpeeth with his colleague Balkrishna in 2006. Ramdev has received criticism over his comments related to modern medicine, yoga, and ayurveda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siddha medicine</span> System of traditional medicine originating in southern India

Siddha medicine is a form of traditional medicine originating in southern India. It is one of the oldest systems of medicine in India.

The Ministry of Ayush, a ministry of the Government of India, is responsible for developing education, research and propagation of traditional medicine and alternative medicine systems in India. Ayush is a name devised from the names of the alternative healthcare systems covered by the ministry: ayurveda, yoga & naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa, and homeopathy.

The number of Indian students studying outside India rapidly increased by 163% between 1999 and 2006 to reach 145,539 as compared to slower growth of 25% between 2006 and 2013 to reach 181,872, according to an analysis of UNESCO data. As of January 2021, more than 1 million Indian students are studying in 85 countries outside India. More than 50% of Indian students study in North America.

Firstpost is an Indian news website owned by Network18 Group, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC TV18. It has posted misinformation on multiple occasions.

<i>Swarajya</i> (magazine) Indian right-wing magazine

Swarajya is an Indian right-wing monthly print magazine and news portal. The publication reports favourably on the Bharatiya Janata Party and has published misinformation on many occasions.

Patanjali Ayurved is an Indian multinational conglomerate holding company, based in Haridwar. It was founded by Ramdev and Balkrishna in 2006. Its office is in Delhi, with manufacturing units and headquarters in the industrial area of Haridwar. The company manufactures cosmetics, ayurvedic medicine, personal care and food products. The CEO of the company, with a 94-percent share hold, is Balkrishna. Ramdev represents the company and makes strategic decisions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sudarshan News</span> Indian Hindi language news channel

Sudarshan News is an Indian right-wing news channel. It was founded in 2005 by Suresh Chavhanke, the chairman and editor-in-chief. Chavhanke was a long-term volunteer of the Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), also associating with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of RSS. He asserts that he practices ideology-driven journalism and prefers that the news programs on his channel be viewed as opinionated campaigns.

Alt News is an Indian non-profit fact checking website founded and run by former software engineer Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair. It was launched on 9 February 2017 to combat fake news. In October 2022 Harsh Mander, along with the campaign he launched in 2017, Karwan-e-Mohabbat, a campaign supporting and showing solidarity with the victims of hate crimes, along with Mohammed Zubair and Pratik Sinha have been nominated in the Henrik Urdal's list of "worthy candidates"/"worthy recipients" for 2022 Nobel Peace Prize. A note on the official website of Peace Research Institute Oslo read, "Other worthy candidates for a prize focused on combating religious extremism and intolerance in India are Mohammed Zubair and Pratik Sinha, the co-founders of Alt News, a fact-checking site making significant contributions to debunking misinformation aimed at vilifying Muslims in India". Alt News was a signatory partner of the International Fact-Checking Network until April 2020.

BGR-34 is an Ayurvedic-derived product that is sold in India as an over-the-counter pill for the management of type 2 diabetes. It was developed in 2015 by two government-owned laboratories and launched commercially in 2016. It has been tested in only one, modest-sized, human trial. The drug has been heavily criticized, and without more clinical trials, its efficacy remains unproven. The manufacturers have refused to acknowledge the claims of inefficacy and other concerns.

Fake news in India refers to fostering and spread of false information in the country which is spread through word of mouth, traditional media and more recently through digital forms of communication such as edited videos, websites, blogs, memes, unverified advertisements and social media propagated rumours. Fake news spread through social media in the country has become a serious problem, with the potential of it resulting in mob violence, as was the case where at least 20 people were killed in 2018 as a result of misinformation circulated on social media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 misinformation</span> False or misleading virus information

False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messaging, and mass media. False information has been propagated by celebrities, politicians, and other prominent public figures. Many countries have passed laws against "fake news", and thousands of people have been arrested for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. The spread of COVID-19 misinformation by governments has also been significant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic</span> Aspect of viral outbreak

Media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic has varied by country, time period and media outlet. News media has simultaneously kept viewers informed about current events related to the pandemic, and contributed to misinformation or fake news.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 misinformation by governments</span> False or misleading virus information

During the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, many people began to spread false or un-confirmed data and information. This included politicians and other government officials from administrations in several countries. Misinformation about the virus includes its origin, how it spreads, and methods of preventing and curing the disease. Some downplayed the threat of the pandemic, and made false statements about preventative measures, death rates and testing within their own countries. Some have also spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. Changing policies also created confusion and contributed to the spread of misinformation. For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) originally discouraged use of face masks by the general public in early 2020, advising "If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection," although the WHO later changed their advice to encourage public wearing of face masks.

The Trusted News Initiative (TNI) is an international alliance of news media, social media and technology corporations which claim to be working to identify and combat purported disinformation about national elections, the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 vaccines. TNI was founded by Jessica Cecil, a leadership figure at the BBC who also serves as the initiative's director.

References

  1. ↑ "How Prepared Is India for the Coronavirus Outbreak?". Time. 2020-03-12. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  2. ↑ IANS /Kochi (2019-06-05). "Kerala braces to fight Nipah and fake news". Gulf Times. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  3. 1 2 Chishti, Seema. "A radical shift in the infosphere is changing the Indian common sense". The Caravan. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  4. ↑ Pundir, Pallavi (2020-06-26). "An Indian Yoga Guru's 'COVID-19 Cure' Invited Controversy, a Criminal Complaint and State Bans". Vice. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  5. ↑ "The rise of India's 'Covid quack'". BBC News. 2021-05-04. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  6. ↑ Team, N. L. (2022-01-22). "Hafta 364: Omicron cases in India and the third wave, Tek Fog investigation". Newslaundry. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  7. ↑ "Fake news, the Indian TV newsroom, and a novel on toxic masculinity". Hindustan Times. 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  8. ↑ Pillai, Ajith (14 May 2019). "Fake news and India's tryst with post-truth politics". Deccan Chronicle.
  9. ↑ "Stop advertising claims of 'Ayurvedic COVID-19 medicine' until verification, Ayush ministry tells Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurveda-India News , Firstpost". Firstpost. 2020-06-23. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  10. ↑ Kumar, Ruchi (2020-04-27). "Face It: The Indian Government Is Peddling Pseudoscience – The Wire Science" . Retrieved 2023-09-26.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.