India Ranks Highest In The Proliferation Of Misinformation, Disinformation: Report
According to Statista, a comprehensive data collector and visualiser, India ranked first in spreading of misinformation and disinformation among the people. The company notes that there has been an unprecedented rise in the dissemination of false information in the world. Experts in a survey for the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Risk Report claimed that false information will be the biggest threat that people will be facing.
Statista published a chart showing the degree of the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation in the next two years in countries around the world. It said that it collected expert insights from academia, business, government, the international community and civil society to conclude the extent of the threat
Misinformation refers to the information spread with genuine intention but the dissemination of this information could be misleading, false and harmful. Conspiracy theories can be an appropriate example of misinformation. Disinformation on the other hand is the deliberate attempt to mislead the consumers of the information in which the author purposefully deceives the people. However, the report by Statista stated that India ranked the highest in the consumption of both disinformation and misinformation.
More than the risks of infectious diseases, illicit economic activity, inequality (wealth, income) and labour shortages, these two threats (misinformation and disinformation) are the biggest risks for a country, the experts claimed.
In India, there have been incidents of news anchors being booked for spreading misinformation and fake news through the news outlets in the past years, including in 2023. Though India has effective laws criminalising both misinformation and disinformation under both the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act, of 2000, the internet has been flooded with fake news each days. In addition to India, other major countries facing the threat of the two menace include the United States, Britain Mexico etc.
According to a survey by Routers Institute and the University of Oxford, the majority of Indians who consume online news fear the online news they are reading is fake or real.
