Peril of misinformation
Dr Santosh Kumar Mohapatra

The people will face with multiple elections scheduled around the globe this year. However,
the elections in India are critical because India is a largest democracy in the world and ruled by a party that tries to win elections by spreading misinformation, hatred and polarising society in the name of religion. India’s democracy is considered as flawed one.

The levels of polarization and media distrust in India are such that there are crores of people who are influenced by emotional and religious appeal and quickly willing to believe certain wrong things .

Misinformation describes information which is spread out of genuine belief, but can be just as harmful – like is sometimes the case with conspiracy theories.
According to experts surveyed for the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Risk Report, India was ranked highest for the risk of misinformation and disinformation.
Political parties believe in are very entrenched in the social media culture and have strong teams working on their outreach.

Of course, teams with experience running social media campaigns consult with politicians worldwide, so the elections in India often indicate how things will evolve elsewhere.”

When misinformation is a threat to our democracy and process of a free and fair election, we have crores of intellectuals in rank and file. Hence battle is easier if we dedicate to the cause of curbing misinformation and spreading correct information.
Dr Santosh Kumar Mohapatra