COVID-19 | Misinformation and communal hatred in Indian social media ecosystem around Coronavirus
Channel: Alt News
Date: 2020-04-17

In the time of coronavirus, most of the world is in a state of lockdown and people are stuck at home with their mobile phones. They are worried for their safety and hope to keep themselves and people around them out of harm's way. Living in an atmosphere of constant fear leads them to consume information from every source possible. Often unable to distinguish between genuine and inauthentic information, many end up sharing misinformation under the impression that they're informing others. In India, this spread of misinformation has taken a dangerous turn with most updates about the pandemic containing communal undertones. Since the Nizamuddin Markaz was identified as a COVID-19 hotspot, misinformation is being used to target the Muslim community and sow seeds of doubt and hatred in large sections of the society. 

Pratik Sinha shares some of the instances of misinformation and the truth behind images/videos/text shared with an anti-Muslim narrative. He also talks about the pattern in which the propaganda has been pushed and its consequences.