India’s Floating Disinformation during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Viral diffusion of fake news is very significant in India with its 1.38 billion population, because it impacts how the public receives information required to make responsible, informed decisions and shape views on socio, economic, and political issues. Fake news is not a new phenomenon on Indian social media. The availability of low-cost Internet via mobile networks in India has resulted in a significant growth in the number of social media users (Banerjee, 2021). One out of six pieces of COVID information generated from India in 2020 was fake, which makes India the country for the source of most COVID misinformation.

India’s unfortunate distinction as the purveyor of misinformation is tied to the higher Internet penetration rate and increasing social media consumption. India has almost 323 million Internet users, out of which 67% are urban and rest 33% are rural. Lack of media literacy remains one of the key factors in the spread of misinformation during the pandemic.

Mainstream media and floating disinformation

Disinformation, a term for information presented as fact without scientific proof, has been a serious concern in every health crisis. The early years of the HIV pandemic were particularly marked by this problem (Mian & Khan, 2020). Conspiracy theories, rumors, and disinformation about HIV harmed efforts to battle the pandemic. The same has been true during the current COVID-19 outbreak, with bogus news and disinformation generating anxiety and impacting prevention efforts (Kadam & Atre, 2020). Because of the significant growth in Internet users, the Internet became a primary source of information about COVID, exacerbating the problem of fake news. Indeed, the World Health Organization declared on February 15, 2020 that the new coronavirus pandemic was preceded by an “infodemic” of disinformation, which spreads faster than viruses (Brennen, Simon, Howard, & Nielsen, 2020). “An infodemic is an abundance of knowledge on an issue that makes solving it more difficult.”

As India reported its first COVID-19 case on January 30, 2020, the country’s social media space experienced a huge surge in all kinds of information in the form of videos, short interviews, films, and documentaries on issues related to the pandemic. One of the first major fake messages was about vitamin C virus removal home remedies. Then, a series of fake videos started mingling on social media claiming respected Dr. Devi Shetty was recommending people to take hot water with lemon juice to improve immunity. Then, before fact-checking sites debunked it, millions of fake messages began to appear on most major social media platforms, including catchy and beguiling videos promoting the miraculous power of cow urine or gau mutra to cure disease. Promoted by some pro-Hindutva organizations and endorsed by some BJP Ministers including Member of Parliament Pragya Thakur, this piece of fake news misled many people, who organized cow urine drinking parties. India’s apex medical research body (ICMR) has repeatedly appealed to people not to fall prey to such false treatment.

In March 2020, the controversial congregation of Islamic missionary Tablighi Jamaat created a super spreader event when it met in Delhi’s Nizamuddin in mid-March and was linked to a huge spike in positive cases in many parts of India. Videos depicting the group as “Corona Villan” spread on WhatsApp and other social media platforms. Mainstream news channels then played off these fears and used dramatic and provocative headlines blaming the group’s followers for the spread. In the same way, several fake videos were in circulation depicting Tablighi members spitting on healthcare workers and deliberately sneezing to spread the infection. These fake videos were later found to have been created by an offshoot of a major political party to polarize communities and portray the minority as irresponsible.

Attacks on journalists

During the first phase of pandemic between March and May 2020, the India media watchdog Rights and Risks Analysis Group documented more than 55 journalists who faced adversity, including arrested, court summons, physical assaults, and threats for reporting on the pandemic or exercising freedom of expression. Journalists have been charged for spreading fake news and arrested after they exposed government failures, such the lack of PPE kits for health workers or about the shortage of food.

In Uttar Pradesh alone, 11 physical attacks on journalists were reported. In the state of Maharashtra, 15 criminal cases and defamation suits were filed against journalists from print, TV, or online portals for highlighting the failures of state administration in response to the COVID-19 (Shantha, 2020). Om Sharma, Hindi Daily senior journalist from Himachal Pradesh, faced charges of spreading fake news after he did a Facebook live story where he showed stranded workers in need of food during the lockdown.

Floating press council guidelines

Indian journalists are supposed to follow the mandatory guidelines of the Press Council of India while reporting the pandemic and that mandate includes promoting the scientific temper within the communities they serve. However, during the pandemic, the opposite frequently occurred. While some journalists were taking risks opposing disinformation, by and large India’s major media companies remained busy promoting provocative but misleading claims, such as when guru businessman Baba Ramdev launched of Coronil as a COVID vaccine at the holy site Haridwar. (He later admitted when questioned by Indian Medical Association that it might only be good as a booster dose.) Even then, news channels continued to discuss the value of Coronil all while airing advertisements for Ramdev’s brand Patanjali.

Conclusion

Media organizations, politicians, and celebrities are expected to be accountable and act with caution and credibility, but unfortunately in India, most of the fake news was propagated by them. Indian journalism today faces a sincere crisis of credibility. If the media does not undergo reforms, then robbed of reliability and authenticity, it will soon cease to be important to a large group of people and just be another source of entertainment and titillation. The Indian press should follow the basic guidelines set up by its press councils, the Editor Guild of India, and the News Broadcasting Association and fulfill its core objective to present factual and unbiased information.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author..