BBC research says nationalism is the ‘driving force’ behind fake news in India, suggests Right-wing networks are more organised in pushing these stories

A new piece of research commissioned by BBC World Service found that nationalism in India is the driving force behind fake news in the country. The research found that facts were less important to some than the emotional desire to bolster national identity. It said, “Social media analysis suggested that Right-wing networks are much more organised than on the Left, pushing nationalistic fake stories further.”

It also found an overlap between fake news reports and “support networks” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Current affairs is the most popular topic in India when it comes to the percentage of messages shared on WhatsApp, with issues spanning news related to Modi, demonetisation, business and economy, Aadhaar, army and terrorism, and anti-BJP messages.

Research was conducted in India, Kenya and Nigeria. According to BBC, “In all three countries, distrust of mainstream news outlets pushed people to spread information from alternative sources, without attempting to verify it, in the belief that they were helping to spread the real story. People were also overly confident in their ability to spot fake news. The sheer flood of digital information being spread in 2018 is worsening the problem. Participants in the BBC research made little attempt to query the original source of fake news messages, looking instead to alternative signs that the information was reliable.”

It also said the sharing of fake rumours on WhatsApp led to a wave of violence in India.