Mapping the fake news infodemic amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: A study of Indian fact-checking websites | Intellect Skip to content
1981
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research
  4. Volume 14, Issue 1
  5. Article
Volume 14, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 1751-9411
  • E-ISSN: 1751-942X

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.

© 2021 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/jammr_00026_1
2021-04-01
2024-04-26
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Ahmad, I.. ( 2019;), ‘ Democracy as rumor: Media, religion, and the 2014 Indian elections. ’, in I. Ahmad, and P. Kanungo. (eds), The Algebra of Warfare-Welfare: A Long View of India’s 2014 Election, New Delhi:: Oxford University Press;, pp. 55–90.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Aitamurto, T.. ( 2016;), ‘ Crowdsourcing as a knowledge-search method in digital journalism. ’, Digital Journalism, 4:2, pp. 280–97.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Allcott, H., and Gentzkow, M.. ( 2017;), ‘ Social media and fake news in the 2016 election. ’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31:2, pp. 211–36, https://web.stanford.edu/~gentzkow/research/fakenews.pdf, Alt News, www.altnews.in. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Anand, D.. ( 2005;), ‘ The violence of security: Hindu nationalism and the politics of representing “the Muslim” as a danger. ’, The Round Table, 94:379, pp. 203–15.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Azzimonti, M., and Fernandes, M.. ( 2018;), ‘ Social media networks, fake news, and polarization. ’, working paper, NBER, No. 24462, Cambridge, MA:, https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w24462/w24462.pdf. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Bagchi, S.. ( 2019;), ‘ We are taking every step to prevent abuse, spread of misinformation: Shivnath Thukral. ’, The Hindu, 13 March, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/we-are-taking-every-step-to-prevent-abuse-spread-of-misinformation-shivnath-thukral/article26514928.ece. Accessed 23 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Bakshy, E.,, Solomon, M., and Lada, A. A.. ( 2015;), ‘ Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook. ’, Science, 348:6239, pp. 1130–32.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Barbera, P. Jost, T. J.,, Nagler, J.,, Tucker, J. A., and Bonneau, R.. ( 2015;), ‘ Tweeting from left to right: Is online political communication more than an echo chamber?. ’, Psychological Science, 26:10, pp. 1531–42.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Barthes, R.. ( 1957), Mythologies (trans. A. Lavers.), London:: Vintage Classics;.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Baudrillard, J.. ( 1994), Simulacra and Simulation, Ann Arbor, MI:: University of Michigan Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Bell, E.. ( 2017;), ‘ Facebook can no longer be “I didn’t do it” boy of global media. ’, Columbia Journalism Review, 11 November, http://www.cjr.org/tow_center/facebook_zuckerberg_trump_election.php. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Berelson, B.. ( 1952), Content Analysis in Communication Research, Glencoe, IL:: Free Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Berghel, H.. ( 2017;), ‘ Lies, damn lies, and fake news. ’, Computer, 50:2, pp. 80–85, https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7842838. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Bhajoria, J.. ( 2020;), ‘ Corona Jihad is only the latest manifestation: Islamophobia in India has been years in the making. ’, The Polis Project, 1 May, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/01/coronajihad-only-latest-manifestation-islamophobia-india-has-been-years-making. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Bhaskaran, H.,, Mishra, H., and Nair, P.. ( 2017;), ‘ Contextualizing fake news in post-truth era: Journalism education in India. ’, Asia Pacific Media Educator, 27:1, pp. 41–50.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Bhaskaran, H.,, Mishra, H., and Nair, P.. ( 2019;), ‘ Journalism education in post-truth era: Pedagogical approaches based on Indian journalism students’ perception of fake news. ’, Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 74:2, pp. 158–70.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Bin Naeem, S., and Bhatti, R.. ( 2020;), ‘ The COVID‐19 “infodemic”: A new front for information professionals. ’, Wiley Online Library, 13 June, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/hir.12311. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Boom Live ( 2020;), ‘ Home page. ’, www.boomlive.in. Accessed 20 August 2020.
  19. Butalia, U.. ( 1995;), ‘ Muslims and Hindus, men and women: Communal stereotypes and the partition of India. ’, in T. Sarkar, and B. Urvashi. (eds), Women and Right-Wing Movements: Indian Experiences, London:: Zed;, pp. 58–81.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Campbell-Smith, U., and Bradshaw, S.. ( 2019;), ‘ Global cyber troops country profile: India. ’, Oxford Internet Institute, http://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/93/2019/05/India-Profile.pdf. Accessed 23 January 2021.
  21. Castells, M.. ( 2000), The Rise of the Network Society, Oxford:: Blackwell Publishers;.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Chakrabarti, S.,, Stengel, L., and Solanki, S.. ( 2018), Duty, Identity, Credibility: ‘Fake News’ and the Ordinary Citizen in India, BBC World Service Audiences Research , http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/duty-identity-credibility.pdf. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Chaudhuri, P.. ( 2020;), ‘ Disaster Management Act does not prohibit coronavirus posts on social media. ’, Alt News, 7 April, https://www.altnews.in/disaster-management-act-does-not-prohibit-coronavirus-posts-on-social-media/ 08/07/2020 1.41 AM IST. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Chen, Y.,, Conroy, N. J., and Rubin, V. L.. ( 2015;), ‘ Misleading online content: Recognizing clickbait as false news. ’, in Proceedings of the 2015 ACM on Workshop on Multimodal Deception Detection, ACM;, pp. 15–19, https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2823465.2823467. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Chowdhury, A.. ( 2020;), ‘ Fake news in the time of coronavirus: A BOOM study. ’, Boom Live, 8 May, https://www.boomlive.in/fact-file/fake-news-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-a-boom-study-8008. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Flaxman, S.,, Goel, S., and Rao, J. M.. ( 2016;), ' Filter bubbles, echo chambers, and online news consumption. ', Public Opinion Quarterly, 80:S1, pp. 298–320, https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfw006. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Flynn, D. J.,, Nyhan, B., and Reifler, J.. ( 2017;), ‘ The nature and origins of misperceptions: Understanding false and unsupported beliefs about politics. ’, Political Psychology, 38:S1, pp. 127–50.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Funke, D.. ( 2018;), ‘ Fact-checkers have debunked this fake news site 80 times: It’s still publishing on Facebook. ’, Poynter, 20 July, www.poynter.org/news/fact-checkers-have-debunked-fake-news-site-80-times-its-still-publishing-facebook. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Gentzkow, M., and Saphiro, J. M.. ( 2011;), ‘ Ideological segregation online and online. ’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 126:4, pp. 1799–839.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. George, A., and Raza, D.. ( 2018;), ‘ Fake news warriors: Meet the people who debunk fake news, one post at a time. ’, Hindustan Times, 3 April, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/fake-news-warriors-meet-the-people-who-debunkfake-news-one-post-at-a-time/story-CaPjWwgvz6p4xsRaCkVqOK.html. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Ghosh, D., and Scott, B.. ( 2018;), ‘ Disinformation is becoming unstoppable. ’, Time, 24 January, http://time.com/5112847/facebook-fake-news-unstoppable/. Accessed 20 August 2020.
  32. Gillin, J.. ( 2017;), ‘ PolitiFact’s guide to fake news websites and what they peddle. ’, PolitiFact, 20 April, www.politifact.com/punditfact/article/2017/apr/20/politifacts-guide-fake-news-websites-and-what-they. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Glasser, S.. ( 2016), Covering Politics in a ‘Post-truth’ America, , 1st ed.., Washington, DC:: Brookings Institution Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Gottfried, J., and Shearer, E.. ( 2016;), ‘ News use across social media platforms 2016. ’, Pew Research Centre, 26 May, http://www.journalism.org/2016/05/26/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2016/. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Grinberg, N.,, Joseph, K.,, Friedland, L.,, Swire-Thompson, B., and Lazer, D.. ( 2019;), ‘ Fake news on Twitter during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. ’, Science, 25 January, 363:6425, pp. 374–78, https://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6425/374. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Guess, A.,, Nyhan, B., and Reifler, J.. ( 2018;), ‘ Selective exposure to misinformation: Evidence from the consumption of fake news during the 2016 US presidential campaign. ’, European Research Council, 9 January, http://www.ask-force.org/web/Fundamentalists/Guess-Selective-Exposure-to-Misinformation-Evidence-Presidential-Campaign-2018.pdf. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Guess, A. M.. ( 2016), Media Choice and Moderation: Evidence from Online Tracking Data, unpublished manuscript, https://www.dropbox.com/s/uk005hhio3dysm8/. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Guha, R.. ( 1983), Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India, New Delhi:: Oxford University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Gunther, R.,, Beck, P. A., and Nisbet, E. C.. ( 2018;), ‘ Fake news may have contributed to Trump’s 2016 victory. ’, unpublished manuscript , 8 March, https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4429952/Fake-News-May-Have-Contributed-to-Trump-s-2016.pdf. Accessed 20 August 2020.
  40. Herman, E. S., and Chomsky, N.. ( 2002), Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, New York:: Pantheon Books;.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Hermida, A.. ( 2012;), ‘ Social journalism: Exploring how social media is shaping journalism. ’, in E. Siapera, and A. Veglis. (eds), The Handbook of Global Online Journalism, Malden, MA:: Wiley-Blackwell;, pp. 309–28.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Hermida, A.. ( 2015;), ‘ Nothing but the truth: Redrafting the journalistic boundary of verification. ’, in M. Carlson, and S. C. Lewis. (eds), Boundaries of Journalism: Professionalism, Practices, and Participation, New York:: Routledge;, pp. 37–47.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Hunt, E.. ( 2016;), ' What is fake news? How to spot it and what you can do to stop it?. ', The Guardian, 17 December, https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/dec/18/what-is-fake-news-pizzagate. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. IFLA ( 2017;), ‘ How to spot fake news?. ’, IFLA blog, 27 January, https://blogs.ifla.org/lpa/files/2017/01/How-to-Spot-Fake-News.pdf. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Imranullah, S. M.. ( 2020;), ‘ 159 cases filed for linking Muslims with COVID-19. ’, The Hindu, 7 July, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/159-cases-filed-for-linking-muslims-with-covid-19/article32016493.ece. Accessed 8 July 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Nielsen ( 2020;), ' Digital in India 2019: Round 2 Report. ', IAMAI 2019-Round 2 Report, 7 May, https://cms.iamai.in/Content/ResearchPapers/2286f4d7-424f-4bde-be88-6415fe5021d5.pdf. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  47. Iyengar, S., and Kyu, S. H.. ( 2009;), ‘ Red media, blue media: Evidence of ideological selectivity in media use. ’, Journal of Communication, 59:1, pp. 19–39.
     [Google Scholar]
  48. Jha, P.. ( 2020;), ‘ Video from Bijnor viral with false allegation that elderly Muslim vendor sprinkled urine on fruits. ’, Alt News, 24 April, https://www.altnews.in/video-shared-with-false-claim-that-muslim-fruit-seller-caught-contaminating-bananas-with-his-urine-in-bijnor-up/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=newpost. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  49. Kahn, R., and Kellner, D.. ( 2003;), ‘ New media and internet activism: From the “Battle of Seattle” to blogging. ’, New Media and Society, 6:1, pp. 87–95.
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Kahn, R., and Kellner, D.. ( 2005;), ‘ Oppositional politics and the internet: A critical/ reconstructive approach. ’, Cultural Politics, 1:1, pp. 75–100.
     [Google Scholar]
  51. Kang, H.,, Bae, K.,, Zhang, S., and Sundar, S. S.. ( 2011;), ‘ Source cues in online news: Is the proximate source more powerful than distal sources?. ’, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 88:4, pp. 719–36.
     [Google Scholar]
  52. Kazmin, A.. ( 2018;), ‘ India’s crackdown on fake news masks a more sinister message. ’, Financial Times, 10 April, https://www.ft.com/content/aeb21080-38b4-11e8-8b98-2f31af407cc8. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  53. Kirmani, N.. ( 2009;), ‘ Deconstructing and reconstructing “Muslim women” through women’s narratives. ’, Journal of Gender Studies, 18:1, pp. 47–62.
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Krippendorff, K.. ( 1980), Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology, Beverly Hills, CA:: Sage Publications;.
     [Google Scholar]
  55. Lokot, T., and Diakopoulos, N.. ( 2016;), ‘ News bots: Automating news and information dissemination on Twitter. ’, Digital Journalism, 4:6, pp. 682–99.
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Malviya, A.. (@amitmalviya) ( 2020;), ‘ Delhi’s dark underbelly is exploding! Last 3 months have seen an Islamic insurrection of sorts, first in the name of anti-CAA protests from Shaheen Bagh to Jamia, Jaffrabad to Seelampur. And now the illegal gathering of the radical Tablighi Jamaat at the markaz. It needs a fix!. ’, Twitter, 1 April, https://twitter.com/amitmalviya/status/1245083081305776128?lang=en. Accessed 3 February 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  57. McCombs, M., and Shaw, D.. ( 1972;), ‘ The agenda-setting function of mass media. ’, Public Opinion Quarterly, 36:2, p. 176.
     [Google Scholar]
  58. Nazakat, S., and Malik, S.. ( 2019;), ‘ There is a growing tribe of truth warriors fighting false news in India. ’, Poynter, 12 November, https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2019/there-is-a-growing-tribe-of-truth-warriors-fighting-false-news-in-india/. Accessed 23 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  59. Omraam, M. A.. ( 1987), A Philosophy of Universality, Frejus Cedex:: Editions Prosveta;.
     [Google Scholar]
  60. Owen, L.. ( 2016;), ‘ Clamping down on viral fake news, Facebook partners with sites like Snopes and adds new user reporting. ’, Nieman Lab, 15 December, http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/12/clamping-down-on-viral-fake-news-facebook-partners-with-sites-like-snopes-and-adds-new-user-reporting/. Accessed 20 August 2020.
  61. Panigrahi, S., and Singh, J.. ( 2017;), ‘ Deadly combination of fake news and social media. ’, Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, 4 September, http://www.rgics.org/wp-content/uploads/policy-issue-briefs/Policy-Brief-Deadly-Combination-of-Fake-News-and-Social-Media-September-2017.pdf. Accessed 23 January 2021.
  62. Pariser, E.. ( 2011), The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You, New York:: Penguin;.
     [Google Scholar]
  63. Parkinson, H. J.. ( 2016;), ‘ Click and elect: How fake news helped Donald Trump win a real election. ’, The Guardian, 14 November, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/14/fake-news-donald-trump-election-alt-right-social-media-tech-companies/. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  64. Patel, J.. ( 2020;), ‘ ABP News v/s Rubika Liyaquat: 180-degree turn on communalising migrant crisis near Bandra station. ’, Alt News, 16 April, https://www.altnews.in/abp-news-v-s-rubika-liyaquat-180-degree-turn-on-communalising-migrant-crisis-near-bandra-station/. Accessed 20 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  65. Patil, A.. ( 2018;), ‘ Fact-checkers on the web: Social media warriors have arrived. ’, Common Cause, 21 November, https://www.commoncause.in/uploadimage/publication/565970940Fact-Checkers%20on%20the%20Web%20by%20Akhilesh%20Patil%20[CCJ%20Oct-Dec,%202018].pdf. Accessed 23 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  66. Pennycook, G., and Rand, D. G.. ( 2017;), ‘ The implied truth effect: Attaching warnings to a subset of fake news stories increases the perceived accuracy of stories without warnings. ’, unpublished manuscript, SSRN, 14 September, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3035384. Accessed 20 August 2020.
  67. Perrigo, B.. ( 2020;), ‘ It was already dangerous to be Muslim in India: Then came the coronavirus. ’, Time, 30 April, https://time.com/5815264/coronavirus-india-islamophobia-coronajihad/. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  68. Pogue, D.. ( 2017;), ' The ultimate cure for the fake news epidemic will be more skeptical readers. ', Scientific American, 1 February, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-ultimate-cure-for-the-fake-news-epidemic-will-be-more-skeptical-readers/. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  69. Rai, M.. ( 2015;), ‘ Like in Muzaffarnagar, social media is misused in Dadri. ’, The Economic Times, 6 October, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/like-in-muzaffarnagar-social-media-misused-in-dadri/articleshow/49235908.cms. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  70. Rao, A.. ( 2019;), ‘ How did social media impact India’s 2019 general election?. ’, Economic and Political Weekly, 28 December, 54:51, https://www.epw.in/node/155783/pdf. Accessed 23 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  71. Reddy, A.. ( 2020;), ‘ The pandemic is amplifying India’s fake news crisis. ’, The Wire, 2 April, https://thewire.in/media/medical-fake-news-coronavirus. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  72. Resnick, P.,, Ovadya, A., and Gilchrist, G.. ( 2018;), ‘ Iffy quotient: A platform health metric for misinformation. ’, unpublished manuscript, Center for Social Media Responsibility, 10 October, https://csmr.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/UMSI-CSMR-Iffy-Quotient-Whitepaper-810084.pdf. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  73. Reyaz, M.. ( 2017a;), ‘ No fatwa to eat wife: How fake news mills are used to fan hatred for Muslims. ’, DailyO, 21 June, https://www.dailyo.in/variety/fatwa-fake-news-muslims-islamophobia-whatsapp/story/1/17930.html. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  74. Reyaz, M.. ( 2017b;), ‘ Basirhat riot: How Bengal is different and why it still gives hope. ’, DailyO, 8 July, https://www.dailyo.in/politics/bengal-basirhat-riot-communal-polarisation-bjp-rss-fake-news-mamata-tmc/story/1/18253.html. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  75. Reyaz, M.. ( 2020;), ‘ COVID-19: Hasty lockdowns, economic crisis and popular PMs. ’, NewsClick, 25 May, https://www.newsclick.in/COVID-Hasty-Lockdown-and-Economic-Crisis. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  76. Roychowdhury, S.. ( 2018;), ‘ Bane of fake news and democracy. ’, International Journal of Applied Social Science, 5:11, pp. 2013–21.
     [Google Scholar]
  77. Sahoo, N.. ( 2020;), ‘ India: Infections, Islamophobia, and intensifying societal polarization. ’, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 28 April, https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/04/28/india-infections-islamophobia-and-intensifying-societal-polarization-pub-81646. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  78. Saikia, A.. ( 2020;), ‘ The other virus: Hate crimes against India’s Muslims are spreading with COVID-19. ’, Scroll.in, 8 April, https://scroll.in/article/958543/the-other-virus-hate-crimes-against-Indias-muslims-are-spreading-with-covid-19. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  79. Schaedel, S.. ( 2017;), ‘ Misinformation directory. ’, FactCheck, 6 July, www.factcheck.org/2017/07/websites-post-fake-satirical-stories/. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  80. Sen, A., and Nielsen, R. K.. ( 2016), Digital Journalism Start-ups in India, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism , 25 May, https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2017-04/Digital%20Journalism%20Start-ups%20in%20India_0.pdf. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  81. Shin, J., and Thorson, K.. ( 2017;), ' Partisan selective sharing: The biased diffusion of fact‐checking messages on social media. ', Journal of Communication, 67:2, pp. 233–55, https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12284. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  82. Sidharth, A.. ( 2019;), ‘ July 2019 round-up: Child abduction rumours return with vengeance. ’, Alt News, 9 August, https://www.altnews.in/july-2019-round-up-child-abduction-rumours-return-with-vengeance/. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  83. Silverman, C.. ( 2016a;), ‘ Here are 50 of the biggest fake news hits on Facebook from 2016. ’, BuzzFeed News, 30 December, www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/top-fake-news-of-2016. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  84. Silverman, C.. ( 2016b;), ‘ This analysis shows how fake election news stories outperformed real news on Facebook. ’, BuzzFeed News, 16 November, https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/viral-fake-election-news-outperformed-real-news-on-facebook?utm_term=.ohXvLeDzK#.cwwgb7EX0. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  85. Silverman, C., and Alexander, L.. ( 2017;), ‘ How teens in the Balkans are duping Trump supporters with fake news. ’, BuzzFeed News, 3 November, https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/how-macedonia-became-a-global-hub-for-pro-trump-misinfo?utm_term=.uvYP3Eqzw#.prLdJqWP6. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  86. Silverman, C.,, Lytvynenko, J., and Pham, S.. ( 2017a;), ‘ These are 50 of the biggest fake news hits on Facebook in 2017. ’, BuzzFeed News, 28 December, www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/these-are-50-of-the-biggest-fake-news-hits-on-facebook-in/. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  87. Silverman, C., and Singer-Vine, J.. ( 2016;), ‘ Most Americans who see fake news believe it, new survey says. ’, BuzzFeed News, 6 December, https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/fake-news-survey?utm_term=.lazQnopg3#.tbR2yvrL6. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  88. Silverman, C.,, Singer-Vine, J., and Vo, L. T.. ( 2017;b), ‘ In spite of the crackdown, fake news publishers are still earning money from major ad networks. ’, BuzzFeed News, 4 April, www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/fake-news-real-ads. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  89. Singh, P.. ( 2017;), ‘ Ahmedabad, Muzaffarnagar and now Bengal: How social media is used to spread communal hatred. ’, Outlook, 18 July, https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/first-ahmedabad-then-muzaffarnagar-and-now-bengal-how-social-media-is-used-as-pl/299625. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  90. Slater, J., and Masih, N.. ( 2020;), ‘ As the world looks for coronavirus scapegoats, Muslims are blamed in India. ’, The Washington Post, 23 April, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/as-world-looks-for-coronavirus-scapegoats-india-pins-blame-on-muslims/2020/04/22/3cb43430-7f3f-11ea-84c2-0792d8591911_story.html. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  91. Solomon, M., and Westwood, S. J.. ( 2014;), ‘ Selective exposure in the age of social media: Endorsements trump partisan source affiliation when selecting news online. ’, Communication Research, 41:8, pp. 1042–63.
     [Google Scholar]
  92. Solon, O.. ( 2016;), ‘ Facebook’s failure: Did fake news and polarized politics get Trump elected?. ’, The Guardian, 10 November, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/10/facebook-fake-news-election-conspiracy-theories. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  93. Spohr, D.. ( 2017;), ‘ Fake news and ideological polarization: Filter bubbles and selective exposure on social media. ’, Business Information Review, 34:3, pp. 150–60.
     [Google Scholar]
  94. Steiner, L.. ( 2000;), ‘ Ethics and academic politics. ’, Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, 1:1, pp. 48–52.
     [Google Scholar]
  95. Strauss, V.. ( 2018;), ‘ The News Literacy Project takes on “fake” news – and business is better than ever. ’, The Washington Post, 27 March, www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2018/03/27/not-sure-whats-real-or-fake-anymore-the-news-literacy-project-teaches-kids-how-to-tell-the-difference-and-its-growing-faster-than-ever/. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  96. Stroud, N. J.. ( 2008;), ‘ Media use and political predispositions: Revisiting the concept of selective exposure. ’, Political Behavior, 30:3, pp. 341–66.
     [Google Scholar]
  97. Sunstein, C. R.. ( 2001), Republic.com, Princeton, NJ:: Princeton University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  98. Sunstein, C. R.. ( 2009), Republic.com 2.0, Princeton, NJ:: Princeton University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  99. Tiwari, S.. ( 2020;), ' COVID-19: Social media platforms fight fake news under pressure from government. ', Mint, 14 April, https://www.livemint.com/industry/media/covid-19-social-media-platforms-fight-fake-news-under-pressure-from-government-11586843895979.html. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  100. Tony, H.. ( 2011;), ‘ Research and reflection. ’, Journalism Practice, 5:1, pp. 161–76.
     [Google Scholar]
  101. TwoCircles.net ( 2013;), ‘ Fake Pakistani video used by BJP MLA and Hindutva forces to fan communal riots in Muzaffarnagar. ’, TwoCircles.Net, 8 September, https://twocircles.net/2013sep08/fake_pakistani_video_used_bjp_mla_and_hindutva_forces_fan_communal_riots_muzaffarnagar.htm. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  102. Vosoughi, S.,, Roy, D., and Aral, S.. ( 2018;), ‘ The spread of true and false news online. ’, Science, 359:6380, pp. 1146–51.
     [Google Scholar]
  103. Walk-Morris, T.. ( 2016;), ‘ The future of fact-checking. ’, Nieman Report, 70:2, pp. 34–35.
     [Google Scholar]
  104. Ward, S. J. A.. ( 2010;), ‘ Inventing objectivity: New philosophical foundations. ’, in C. Meyers. (ed.), Journalism Ethics: A Philosophical Approach, Oxford:: Oxford University Press;, pp. 137–52.
     [Google Scholar]
  105. Wardle, C.. ( 2017;), ‘ Fake news: It’s complicated. ’, firstdraftnews.org, 16 February, https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/fake-news-complicated/. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  106. Webster, F.. ( 2014), Theories of the Information Society, , 4th ed.., London:: Routledge;.
     [Google Scholar]
  107. Zhou, X., and Zafarani, R.. ( 2019;), ' Network-based fake news detection: A pattern-driven approach. ', ACM SIGKDD Explorations Newsletter, 21:2, pp. 48–60, https://arxiv.org/pdf/1906.04210.pdf. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  108. Zhou, X., and Zafarani, R.. ( 2020;), ‘ A survey of fake news: Fundamental theories, detection methods, and opportunities. ’, ACM Computing Surveys, (CSUR), 53:5, n.pag., https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3395046. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  109. Zhou, X.,, Zafarani, R.,, Shu, K., and Liu, H.. ( 2019;), ' Fake news: Fundamental theories, detection strategies and challenges. ', in Proceedings of the 12th ACM International Conference on Web Search and Data Mining, pp. 836–37, http://zafarani.net/publications/files/FakeNewsWSDM.pdf. Accessed 20 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  110. Laskar, Kaifia Ancer, and Reyaz, Mohammad. ( 2021;), ‘ Mapping the fake news infodemic amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: A study of Indian fact-checking websites. ’, Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research, 14:1, pp. 93–116, doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/jammr_00026_1
     [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/jammr_00026_1
Loading
Mapping the fake news infodemic amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: A study of Indian fact-checking websites
Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research 14, 93 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1386/jammr_00026_1
/content/journals/10.1386/jammr_00026_1
/content/journals/10.1386/jammr_00026_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): COVID-19; fact-checking; fake news; infodemic; polarization; social media

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error