Protests over the death of two young men who were lynched because of rumours they were child lifters, 2018. Image: Dhruba Dutta/Zuma Press/PA ImagesIn his seminal book, Ignited Minds, former Indian president A. P. J Abdul Kalam wrote that for India, “the greatest danger to our sense of unity and our sense of purpose comes from ideologists who seek to divide the people.” While Kalam’s text was penned in 2002, the greatest threat to India’s plurality remains unchanged, and it persists in an era of disinformation and demagoguery.
To validate the threat of disinformation, one only needs to review recent events where its effects have proved damaging. The list of nations assailed by disinformation is geographically diverse, and its forms vary from the manipulation of voter perception (Brexit, Catalonia, France, Kenya, US) to the fomenting of realised violence against ethnic groups (Myanmar, Sri Lanka). In the specific case of India, the detriments of disinformation pose an inexorable threat to pluralism. As a nation rife with ethnic, religious, and linguistic lines to exploit, the consequences of inadequately addressing the nation’s proliferation of “fake news” could very well be on display in the 2019 general elections. As made clear by recent elections and referendums, an under-informed base of users capable of amplifying disinformation at dizzying speeds could pose an existential threat to pluralism.
As would be expected, some of India’s recent bouts with disinformation can be attributed to foreign adversaries, most notably Pakistan. False reports of 158 casualties suffered by India’s military during tensions in Doklam originated from a Pakistan-based news channel. Similarly, Pakistan’s government scrambled to dispute India’s surgical strikes following the Uri attack in 2016, an ambiguous event that even among India’s press garnered incredulity.
