E-Paper
Why India needs to counter false narratives
Leading from the front, PM Modi himself fact-checked a news story that his government was considering imposing a tax or a cess on foreign travel.
Addressing Indian ambassadors, heads of Indian missions abroad, and diplomats on April 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged them to counter false narratives against India on the front foot rather than wait for New Delhi’s approval or direction every time a canard is spread against their country.
Leading from the front, PM Modi on May 15 himself fact-checked a news story on X and dismissed claims that his government was considering imposing a tax or a cess on foreign travel. He stated that the report was totally false without an iota of truth in it while on the ongoing trip to UAE, Sweden, Norway, and Italy.
In a world where perception has become bigger than reality, the Modi government understands how social media is used by big powers to orchestrate a narrative against a rival country. This month, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Pakistan of operating “bot farms” on social media to twist the online discourse and talked about information warfare on social media. Information warfare is a vital part of military warfare in the Chinese PLA, but the western powers take the cake when it comes to setting narratives against competitors in the name of democracy, human rights, free speech, and liberal thought. It is not very surprising that Nordic countries, particularly Norway, have been keen to promote dialogue over Kashmir even though they have no locus standi.
The current raging global conflicts—Ukraine-Russia, Israel-Gaza, and US-Iran—are as much about military victory as about winning the narrative on social media. And the winner, not surprisingly, is the militarily weaker side as the public favors the underdog, notwithstanding who started or instigated the bloody fight in the first place.
The Modi government understood the importance of narrative building during Operation Sindoor last year when the public discourse over the brutal anti-Hindu massacre in Pahalgam on April 22 was soon forgotten, but the just Indian retaliation against Pakistani terrorists and terror camps was seen as military aggression. Apart from this, a social media narrative was set by Pakistani supporters as if India had been overwhelmed by Pakistani-Chinese weapons and missiles even though 11 Pakistani air bases were damaged, multiple aircraft destroyed, and a number of air defences were neutralized by Indian precision strikes.
While it is natural that the Indian opposition targets the Modi government using social media or promoting an anti-government narrative on X, the onus lies on the designated government machinery to fact-check the wrong narratives and accusations. That the PM himself has to call out a wrong report does not speak well for the designated machinery, which likes to play pass the buck. Keeping quiet or ignoring false narratives is no longer an option in the AI-ruled world.
