Mapping the fake news infodemic amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: A study of Indian fact-checking websites

Abstract

Fake news, a term that was never heard a decade back, has established a subculture of misinformation and disinformation, whether intentionally or unintentionally, on social media by its users. The personal bias as well as unverified content sharing through the click of a button has not only led to the epidemic of fake content across the world, but in countries like India, it has also led to lynching and violence in various places. This article tries to find the rate of debunked or fact-checked content during the COVID-19 pandemic in India related to the enforcement of the nationwide lockdown, false claims of cure or immunity boost, political blame gaming, the impact of the pandemic on economy, religious polarization, as well as fake news on related issues concerning other countries apart from India. We try to discern in this article whether fact-checked items of disinformation were more on communal issues than the cure/claims of alternative medicines. We also try to unearth if there were a larger number of international items covered by the fact-checking sites given the status of the COVID-19 crisis in other countries than the lockdown (issues related to nationwide lockdown declared in India). Using content analysis of two fake news debunking websites Boom Live and Alt News, for six months (March–August 2020) during the COVID-19 pandemic, we argue that there were a lesser number of disinformation or fake news on treatment-related fake news compared to those on polarizing issues. We also posit that there were more fake news on the nationwide lockdown imposed in India than on its impact on the economy. In a bid to map the fake news and disinformation debunked by these two select websites, we find that the genealogy of fake news works with our personal biases and fears, thereby making media literacy all the more indispensable given the reach of internet-based news. The urgent need for stringent regulations by an autonomous body of the government to curb the fake news ecosystem is recommended by us along with emphasizing digital media literacy.