In the complex digital landscape of modern India, a silent yet potent war is waged daily, not with conventional weapons but through carefully crafted narratives, manipulated images, and armies of bots. This is part of sophisticated disinformation campaigns designed to inflame tensions and undermine democratic institutions, reported by Brijesh Singh of Sunday Guardian Live web portal .

These campaigns are not random acts of misinformation but highly orchestrated operations that follow a strategic eight-phase framework: RECON, DESIGN, BUILD, SEED, COPY, AMPLIFY, CONTROL, EFFECT.

China employs anti-India disinformation campaigns across multiple fronts, often using bot networks, fake accounts, and state media amplification. Key examples include undermining India's G-20 presidency, portraying India as the aggressor in the Galwan Valley clash, criticizing India's Covid-19 response, and discrediting India's economic growth to deter investors. These campaigns leverage amplified messaging across social platforms while suppressing counter-narratives, achieving varying degrees of success in shaping perception or eroding trust internationally.

Pakistan also conducts disinformation campaigns against India, utilizing tactics like fake accounts, bots, cloned media outlets, and trending hashtags. For instance, they portray India as authoritarian by spreading videos of alleged farmer brutality and discredit Indian clarifications. In Kashmir, fake atrocity photos and trends like #KashmirBleeds sustain anti-India sentiment globally. These campaigns aim to exploit domestic issues, influence global perceptions, and undermine strategic credibility.

The Disinformation Kill Chain

The disinformation kill chain operates through the following phases: A brief introduction of the phases:

RECON: Identifying vulnerabilities within Indian society by mapping fault lines across religious, regional, and socioeconomic divides.
DESIGN: Crafting narratives that blend partial truths with falsehoods to provoke outrage.
BUILD: Creating infrastructure for deception, including networks of fake accounts and bot armies.
SEED: Quietly launching campaigns in closed digital ecosystems like WhatsApp groups.
COPY: Repurposing content across multiple formats to ensure maximum reach.
AMPLIFY: Leveraging automated systems and unwitting human participants to boost visibility.
CONTROL: Discrediting critics and creating illusions of consensus.
EFFECT: Harvesting real-world consequences, such as street violence or policy reversals.

Combating Disinformation

To combat these threats, India has initiated several measures. The Digital India Media Literacy Initiative teaches critical thinking skills to millions of students annually. Technological solutions, such as AI-driven tools for detecting synthetic media and digital watermarking, are also being developed. Legislative measures, including the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, aim to regulate social media platforms and digital news outlets. However, the success of these efforts depends on robust implementation and public trust.

Disinformation campaigns are sophisticated operations designed to spread false information, often with the goal of influencing public opinion, policy, or destabilizing institutions. These campaigns typically involve several phases, each tailored to maximise their impact:

Phases of Disinformation Campaigns

DESIGN Phase: This phase involves crafting narratives that blend partial truths with falsehoods to create emotionally resonant stories. For example, during the farmers' protests in India, legitimate concerns about agricultural reforms were exaggerated into claims that the government planned to abolish minimum support prices entirely, despite government denials.

BUILD Phase: This phase focuses on creating the infrastructure of deception. It includes setting up networks of fake accounts, cloned news websites, and coordinated bot armies. These assets often remain dormant until activated, making them difficult to detect pre-emptively. The sophistication of these networks has increased significantly, with some accounts developing authentic personas before pivoting to spread disinformation.

SEED Phase: Disinformation campaigns are quietly launched in closed digital ecosystems like WhatsApp groups or Telegram channels. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, fabricated statistics about India's response first appeared in local community groups before spreading to mainstream platforms.

COPY Phase: This phase involves repurposing content across multiple formats, such as transforming false claims into memes, videos, and infographics designed for specific platforms. This cross-platform approach ensures maximum reach and complicates fact-checking efforts.

AMPLIFY Phase: Both automated systems and unwitting human participants are used to boost visibility. During the farmers' protests, international celebrities inadvertently amplified unverified claims, while coordinated bot networks pushed hashtags to trend globally. These operations blur the line between organic and manufactured outrage.

CONTROL Phase: This phase works to discredit critics and create illusions of consensus. Fact-checkers face coordinated harassment, while fake "grass roots" movements create the appearance of widespread agreement with false narratives.

EFFECT Phase: The final phase harvests real-world consequences, ranging from street violence to policy reversals driven by manufactured public pressure. A study found that districts with higher exposure to targeted disinformation experienced significantly more protest activity and communal incidents.

Challenges And Responses

Disinformation campaigns pose significant challenges, particularly in diverse linguistic landscapes like India's, where content moderation in regional languages often lags behind English. Rural and elderly populations are especially vulnerable to targeted campaigns. To combat these threats, India has implemented initiatives like the Digital India Media Literacy Initiative, which teaches critical thinking skills to millions of students annually. Technological solutions, such as AI-driven tools for detecting synthetic media and digital watermarking to authenticate content, also show promise. Legislative measures, including the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and the proposed Digital India Act, aim to regulate social media platforms and address misinformation. However, robust implementation and public trust are crucial for their success.

Sunday Guardian Report