Nasir : Ajay, is that a fruit drink in your hand?
Ajay: Yup.
Nasir: I’m not sure if you should drink it. I recently read a WhatsApp message which said an employee of this juice company is polluting the drinks. I’m wondering why more people are not calling out this brand after a serious accusation like this.
Ajay: Because it’s only an accusation. In other words, fake news, misinformation, or disinformation. Many businesses like this juice brand are today facing serious threats from organised disinformation campaigns. From semiconductor giants to telecom companies to restaurants Tomorrow it could be you. So please exercise some caution before brandishing WhatsApp forwards as ‘information’.
Nasir: Oh, I’m so sorry. That’s very serious. Is there something businesses could do to guard against such attacks?
Ajay: Giving media literacy to each and every employee and starting awareness campaigns among customers is a good place to start.
Take stock of the vulnerabilities that are specific to your organisation and then strengthen those points.
Assign dedicated staff to watch the patterns in disinformation campaigns, spot the methods, monitor social media and do sentiment analysis. This would help to identify a negative campaign in its nascent stage and nick it in the bud.
Have authentic and genuine conversations with your existing and potential customers. Build a positive narrative about your brand and make your customers your strongest advocates. Connect with your business partners too in a similar way.
Last but not the least, have a plan ready to counter fake news campaigns. Try to anticipate in advance campaigns likely to be launched against you and practice your defence, just like how you conduct mock drills against fire hazard. Because this hazard is no less and can gut your business if you have not been careful.