Upcoming book to lay bare propaganda of misinformation and hoaxes

Misinformation has been weaponised in recent times with the objective of sowing the seeds of division, prejudice and hate among citizens, says Pratik Sinha, who has edited a riveting volume of essays that aims to present the real picture.

"The intention (behind misinformation) is quite clearly political gain," said Sinha, the co-founder of Alt News.

Titled "India Misinformed: The True Story", the book will be available in stores in March.

"The propaganda of misinformation and hoaxes disseminated through print, graphics, and social media have altered the social landscape of this nation. Not only has it led to multiple cases of lynching, mob violence, defamation, and riots, but fake news also poses a serious threat to Indian democracy and its electoral policies," publisher HarperCollins India said in a statement.

This book is written by the team of Alt News, a fact-checking website that debunks fake information, and has been edited by Sinha, Sumaiya Shaikh and Arjun Sidharth.

It attempts to identify the purveyors of fabricated news, expose the propaganda machinery and familiarise its prospective readers with techniques to detect these menacing sources.

The book has been pre-endorsed by writer-activist Arundhati Roy.

"Here facts strike back in the era of fake news. This book doesn't just expose lies, it exposes the pattern of lies. In surveillance-speak it gives us the meta-data of the propaganda regime so that we may know what is being done to us and by whom. Everyone ought to read it," Roy wrote in her endorsement.

The book, according to Krishan Chopra, Publisher at HarperCollins, is a brilliant guide on how to weigh all sides of the facts and make better judgment.

--IANS

ss/mag/ab