Our attitude towards rumours and news on the Internet

How should we deal with the rumours that appear on the Internet? What
is the Muslim's attitude towards the news that weread here and there,
and what is written in chat rooms, especially since some of it is good
news for the Muslims, but the source is unknown.
Praise be to Allaah.
We live nowadays at a time when many rumours that bring hope are
appearing in the guise of news. These appears on Internet web sites
and chat rooms, so that they may be spread to the people as glad
tidings and so that good-hearted people may accept them as
indisputable facts coming from trustworthy sources. Even if any of
them could be proven, there are still many rumours that can be classed
as no more than fabrications. The one who thinks about this will
understand that many of the global media, including the Arab media,
exaggerate in their coverage of some events and they analyze them in a
subjective manner that shows a complete bias and evident absence of
objectivity, trying to take revenge by adding to the news and
exaggerating, and telling weird news stories. So there is no such
thing as credibility in these media, especially when emotions and
wishes play a part. This is apart from the fact that media objectivity
has become a victim of this current war, and western circles have
rejected the lessons [of objectivity, etc.]that they used to teach
others. But this does not mean that we should dispute the facts or
deny what is taking place in reality, or that we should face this bias
with exaggeration and hopes.
Here we should pause andremind ourselves, and the good-hearted people
who hear this news and tell it to others with good intentions – and
those who fabricate these rumours and take upon themselves the job of
propagating them – of a few facts.
1 – We must be certain about the news we accept,and we should not
accept it simply because it happens to coincide with our hopes and
wishes. We have our own methodology of verifying matters, and we
should beconsistent with regard to what we like and dislike. Itis not
right for us to doubtnews accompanied by pictures from the
battlefield, or to shed doubts on it, when the bottom line is one's
senses. At a time when you see news going around through mobiles from
some internet web sites, there are some people who may accept such
news but it should benoted that there are people who will never
believe it. So they should beware of exposing themselves to being
calledliars. An old proverb says, "Whoever pursues weird news will be
disbelieved."....

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