Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party came under fire for posts stoking sectarian tensions with India's minority Muslim community of more than 200 million. / Photo: AFP
"Conspiracy theories... were vigorously promoted to deepen the communal divide," said Naik, whose organisation researches hate speech and disinformation. These included numerous videos, matching incendiary campaign speeches by Modi, falsely claiming his opponents were planning to redistribute India's wealth in favour of Muslims.
False information was detected across the political spectrum but the leader of the opposition Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, was one of the leading targets.One digitally altered video analysed by AFP used Gandhi's real boast that the opposition alliance would triumph, but flipped it to say Modi would win a third term when the result is declared on Tuesday.Among the more egregious examples were those falsely linking him to India's rival neighbours, Pakistan and China.
While political parties across the board have well-oiled digital outreach and social media teams, critics said the BJP's sophisticated online campaign was driving posts.However, opposition parties also spread disinformation targeting the BJP and glorifying Congress.
Turkey Middle East Africa Europe China Us Germany News Breaking News Context Explainer Opinion Economy Business Trends Humans Globalisation Russia Rt Trt Trt World Journalism Human Interest
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: nbcchicago - 🏆 545. / 51 Read more »
Source: NBCLA - 🏆 319. / 59 Read more »
Source: NBCNewsHealth - 🏆 707. / 51 Read more »
Source: NBCNewsHealth - 🏆 707. / 51 Read more »
Source: AP - 🏆 728. / 51 Read more »
Source: sdut - 🏆 5. / 95 Read more »