HomeArticleIn India, fake news is real and weaponised by the powerful

In India, fake news is real and weaponised by the powerful

Qaisar Mansoor

Christopher Paul and Miriam Matthews considers that politicians ‘s model for propaganda can be called ‘the fire hose of falsehood’ because of distinctive features like high numbers of channels and messages; a shameless willingness to disseminate partial truths or outright fictions; entertain; confusion and overwhelm the audience; rapid, continuous and repetitive propaganda. That is what happening in India whereby the media, subscribed to falsehood, is taking the country to ransom.

Modi government has made lying an art form. This non-stop obvious lying was described by George Orwell as doublethink- “Every message from the extremely repressive leadership reverses the truth. Officials repeat ‘war is peace’ and ‘freedom is slavery,’ for example. The Ministry if Truth spread lies. The Ministry of Love tortures lovers.” People are thus expected to believe as true what is clearly false and also taken at face value mutually contra dictionary statements.

The liberty of the press is palladium of all civil, political and religious rights; however, Indian media has become complaint to an extent that instead of criticizing BJP and Modi; it is acting as a media cell of the party. While ignoring the ground realities, it is focused on projecting PM Modi as an avatar of a god and savior of the country.

During the past seven years, there have been more than 400 cases of internet shutdowns. Systematic efforts have been undertaken to discipline the media by mounting cases and inquires against journalists, besides using various regulatory agencies to target media houses. Indian government has relentlessly conducted crackdown on freedom of speech, with statistics showing a 165% increase in sedition cases between 2016 and 2019.

EU DisInfo Lab exposed India’s 15-year propaganda operation targeting UN & EU to malign Pakistan. EU Chronicle, a website claiming to deliver “news from European Union,” is newest iteration of an influence campaign run by Indian organization, Srivastava Group.

Unfortunately, until now, it has not been possible to punish those who spew fake news and wilfully circulate them. With representatives of the ruling BJP establishment, including those right at the top, seemingly benefiting from the circulation of false news, it is no surprise that the laws continue to remain lax.

The result: when the prime minister is leading the charge on disseminating fake news, then anyone can say anything about anybody, never mind if its fake, often with catastrophic consequences.

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