Most Fake News Was On Politics, Religion, Finds ISB Chief

Prof. Manish Gangwar, executive director of Institute of Data Sciences (IIDS), ISB, on Thursday organised a workshop titled ‘Cyber First Responders: Fighting Misinformation & Fake News in the Digital Age’, at its Hyderabad campus.

According to the data, 43.6 per cent of the fake news consisted of political news, followed by 33.6 per cent of general news and 16.8 per cent of the fake news being related to religion. Among these, 35.60 per cent of the fake news was found to be circulated in the form of text and video, and platform X (twitter) was found to be the biggest source of fake news (61 per cent).

Speaking at the event, Major Vineet Kumar (retd), founder and global president, CyberPeace, underlined that fake news, AI-generated misinformation and deepfakes werren’t just tech problems — they were trust problems. “With ISB, we’re equipping journalists, content creators and influencers with fast, practical detection and verification to spot synthetic media and stop harm before it spreads. The goal: faster truth, fewer harms, and a stronger information ecosystem for India,” he said.

To counter AI-generated misinformation and deepfakes, Google introduced a watermarking tool, SynthID, that not just identifies AI-generated content, but also traces its origin. A Google representative pointed out during the workshop: “The fight against deepfakes and AI-generated misinformation won’t be won by blocking content, but by tracing its digital fingerprint.”

So every time one receives a “breaking” WhatsApp forward or a shocking political video, he or she could upload the media based on the category shown in the website, and use digital watermarking and metadata fingerprinting. Fact checkers can not only know whether the video is a fake AI-generated one, but also know if an old video is being recirculated at a different time and in a different context.

Google representatives said they were working on open-source provenance tools and Fact Check Explorer, a search engine for verified fact-checks. That apart, Google said it offers Reverse image search, Google Lens, and Circle to search; helping users verify photos, trace origins and cross-check context.

Experts also encouraged the usage of tools like MobiArmour, a mobile app that protects users from financial fraud, social media crimes, abusive app/games, and mobile hacks.

“Generative AI is cutting both ways. It’s increasing productivity, but it’s also giving people the power to clone a bank’s website in half an hour. Imagine receiving a message from a fraudster claiming to be an SBI employee, asking one to register at a provided link to unlock a scheme. Instead of directly clicking on the link, a user can upload it on Mobiarmour to know if it is even safe, ” said Prof. Manish during the workshop.

Where fake news spreads the most:

Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Twitter continue to drive sensationalised content through engagement-driven algorithms.

Why people share fake news:
61.06% – to raise awareness
59.82% – out of safety concerns
44.57% – to influence others
37.19% – to build social connections
Only 18.97% verify news before sharing
“Only a fraction of users validate information before forwarding it,” an ISB professor said.

Who shares it most:

66.95% – educated till high school
60.10% – graduates or professionals

News consumption format:
Videos – 68.21%
Text – 41.13%
Memes – 20.74%
Word of mouth– 19.28%

Themes
Politics – 46%
General topics – 33.6%
Religion – 16.8%
Together, they form 94% of all fake news identified.

Origins:
Social media – 77.4%
Mainstream media – 23%

“Fake news thrives in visual formats, especially text with videos and photos, where emotional impact outweighs accuracy,” the ISB study notes.