Executive Summary

The rapid growth of social media has transformed how news is created, consumed, and shared in India, but it has also intensified the spread of fake news and misinformation. Digital platforms are increasingly shaping public opinion; hence, understanding the nature of misinformation and user behaviour is of critical concern for policymakers, platforms, and society at large.

Researchers at ISB’s Institute of Data Science, Prof. Manish Gangwar, Prof. Arani Roy, Dr. Shruti Mantri and Major Vineet Kumar examine how fake news manifests across social media in India, with a focus on consumption patterns. Furthermore, the study explores how users perceive news on social media. The empirical research identifies six major themes: politics, health, crime, entertainment, general topics and religion. Political fake news is the most frequent, accounting for 46% of cases. This theme, along with general issues (33.3%) and religion (16.8%), represent 94% of the fake news stories analyzed, underscoring the significant impact of misinformation, particularly in a political context. The findings highlight a need to go beyond reactive responses to a more systemic approach, providing a foundation to develop targeted strategies to combat misinformation and promote responsible dissemination and consumption of information.

Recommendations

> Awareness & Education

Creating targeted awareness campaigns on Misinformation risks, especially for the age group 18-24, and especially for political misinformation.

> Strengthen Social Media Literacy

Verification of Sources

> Enhanced Detection Technologies

Early detection of Fake News using AI

> Encourage Reporting Mechanisms

Given that only 45.25$ of respondents report fake news, enhance reporting mechanisms across social media.