Muslims in India are the largest targets of communally charged dis/misinformation campaigns, according to a survey of fact checks by BOOM Live. In an examination of fact-checks that was reportedly compiled from data collected over the last three years, BOOM Live’s has brought to light an alarming pattern which shows that the Muslim community in India is the primary target of fake news and dis/misinformation. According to the piece by BOOM Live, from 2021 to 2023, the Muslim community consistently found itself in the middle of multiple dis/misinformation campaigns.
For instance, in the time between January 2 and December 31, 2023, BOOM Live published around 190 fact-checks in English, Hindi, and Bangla. They analysed this data and it revealed that about 15.4% of these fact-checks which amounted to a total of 183 instances were claims that specifically targeted the Muslim community.
BOOM Live’s analysis of 211 fact-checks targeting religious groups reveals that Muslims bore the brunt of these fact-checks, with nearly 87% of them being directed at the religious minority, while Hindus faced 11% and Christians faced about 0.9%. The nature of the dis/misinformation was taken out differently for Hindus and Muslims for, even though both groups were subjected to misleading and false content, the proportion of these claims showcased a stark contrast. For instance, 67.4% of misleading claims targeted Muslims, while only 5.2% were directed at Hindus, with Christians facing 0.48% of such content.
BOOM’s analysis shows that a significant 72.2% of those posts aimed at Muslims carried a communal undertone, and seemingly sought to ignite animosity between religious groups. In contrast, the fact-checks targeting Hindus reflected a mere 5.26% with similar communal implications. One common trope amongst these campaigns was that of a concentrated effort to raise alarm about a population conspiracy. Citizens for Justice and Peace has previously busted this claim as part of this Hate Buster segment, and various outlets too have revealed that this solely exists as a means of polarising sentiments and creating hate against minorities.
A staggering percentage, about 84.2%, of these claims were seen to be disseminating these alarming claims of ‘population explosion.’ The internet is replete with these claims that cry about an alleged demographic conspiracy slated by Muslims to ‘take over’ the Hindu population and reduce it to a minority. This claim has not been backed by any facts and, in fact, has been effectively debunked by research institutes as well. For instance, the Pew Research Centre has projected a growth in India’s Muslim community to 311 million by 2050 but this would be in relation to the Hindu population, which also grow by millions. Thus, even if this progression of population continues according to current growth rates, Muslims are expected to remain a minority in a country of 1.7 billion people.
Yet, these fact-checks have not deterred the proliferation of disinformation on social media platforms, such as Facebook and WhatsApp. False narratives predicting India’s immediate transition to a Muslim-majority country have fast gained traction which in turn are fuelled by conspiracy theories that claim Muslims are plotting to secure numerical supremacy. These narratives thereby have been long propagated by Hindutva adherents serve to not only distort demographic projections but also perpetuate social fissures.
Politics
Furthermore, BOOM Live’s fact-checks have further unearthed that while the Muslim community emerged as a consistent central point in these campaigns, political figures and political currents do not remain aside. It discovered that political figures, including the Prime Minister Narendra Modi also are subjected to these campaigned, however, it seems in a different manner. For instance, BOOM outlines that of the 1,190 fact-checks conducted, only 63 were directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi but unlike the negative portrayal endured by the Muslim community, Modi was subjected to a number of false claims that portrayed him in a positive light.
Interestingly, international events were not spared either as one of the most fact-checked topics of the year was the Israel-Palestine conflict. BOOM reported that it had over 100 fact-checks dedicated to unpacking fake news related to the issue. Furthermore, in terms of domestic politics, there was a considerable number of fact-checks devoted to smear campaigns against political parties which saw that the BJP was the primary target, with 44% of smear campaigns directed at them, followed by the Indian National Congress at 30% and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) at 12%.
Media
BOOM Live further fact-checked 77 instances of false or misreported news by mainstream media, news websites, and wire agencies throughout 2023. The results were surprised as it was revealed that mainstream media outlets such as News18, Times Now, and Zee News have been identified as key contributors to media-related dis/misinformation.
Moreover, the analysis revealed that Asian News International (ANI) led the pack among these agencies. BOOM Live’s reports that there were about eight instances of false news reported by them. Interestingly, the analysis also shows the lack of fact-checking exercises by some of these media houses as they have also been reported to be falling for fake news propagated by right-wing accounts on platforms like Twitter. Accounts such as Megh Updates, BALA, Rishi Bagree, The Right Wing Guy, Kreately, Dr. Nimo Yadav, and The Tatva played a role in disseminating dis/misinformation, with media outlets being duped by at least nine tweets from Megh Updates alone, according to the analysis by BOOM.
Similarly, India’s largest minority, Muslims have also been recorded to be the target of hate speeches in 2023. According to Al-Jazeera, throughout the initial half of 2023, Muslims faced a surge in hate speech gatherings. The article details there were about 255 incidents of hate speech at gatherings which documented. These instances reportedly saw the Muslim community as being the target of hate speech as well as dis/misinformation.