A coalition of fact checking sites that is positioning itself as the go-to grouping to address fake news on social media has collectively focused on misinformation that reflects poorly on the ruling party, its allies, and the Union Government, according to a review of the sites’ fact checks by The Hindu.
The Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA), a network of 14 digital publishers, provided a proposal last week to the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) to form a self-regulatory body that would provide fact checking services to social media platforms, reportedly with assistance from firms like Meta and Google. This would be in line with an anti-fake news provision in the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 that has prompted fears of censorship in the news media industry and civil society.
The MCA’s membership includes publications such as Boom Live, Factly, The Logical Indian, Vishwas News and The Quint. Some of the members do not appear to be publishing fact checks on their websites; membership in the MCA is open to any organisation that applies, according to the group’s website.
Review reveals priorities
The focus areas of those publications that do publish fact checks regularly reveals their potential priorities as part of a fact-checking network sanctioned by the government. The Hindu reviewed 142 articles published by these fact-checking sites from April 7 to April 13. Of these, the single largest category of 28 articles was fake news that painted the Union Government, the BJP, or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in a negative light.
The second largest category of fake news that these sites checked was international misinformation, such as visuals of Vladimir Putin in Buddhist garb generated by artificial intelligence, or a similarly computer-rendered visual of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in jail. Overall, there were 25 pieces of misinformation that were unrelated to India.
Communal misinformation
The third largest category included 20 articles on communal misinformation, such as an old video presenting alleged caste atrocities being presented as a recent development, or a fabricated letter from the RSS supposedly goading Hindu youth to “entrap” minority women.
The network has busted more fake news on health and sports collectively, with 18 articles on these topics, than misinformation targeting Opposition parties and politicians at the Central level, which was the subject of 17 articles. (This was also in large part due to The Healthy Indian Project, a site which is dedicated to medical and nutritional misinformation.)
Self-regulation proposal
There were 15 articles debunking religious misinformation over this period, such as Hindu processions carried out in one place being misattributed to another region, or videos purporting to show miraculous phenomena. There were half a dozen articles each on the judiciary and armed forces combined, and on celebrities. Seven articles debunked misinformation on businesses, such as viral forwards claiming that the Tata Group built the new Parliament complex for ₹1, and a false image claiming that Cadbury chocolate contains beef.
The MCA’s proposal is to regulate misinformation that is unrelated to the Union government, which is reportedly due to the Centre’s unwillingness to hand this mandate to an international network like the International Fact Checking Network (IFCN). Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar had told reporters on April 6 that misinformation related to the Union government would be dealt with by the Press Information Bureau’s fact check team, though the government has not formally notified the PIB in the Gazette.
Alt News missing
The MCA’s members do not include all major fact checking sites in India. One notable absentee from its membership is Alt News, which routinely documents hate speech by politicians and vets fake news with a communal angle. The firm has been subjected to a Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act investigation, and one of its co-founders, Mohammed Zubair, was arrested last year over a 2018 tweet where he referred to a comedic gag in a 1983 film.
“I don’t trust them,” said Alt News’ other co-founder Pratik Sinha, referring to the MCA and pointing to what he saw as the establishment-friendly nature of some of its member publishers. MCA membership is open to any qualifying organisation that fills out its form. Asked if the MCA or the government would welcome Alt News’ membership, Mr. Sinha said, “They didn’t approach us. That tells you all you need to know.”
