Indian media: How bias and fake news originate from the country’s politics

Abstract

With 1000 TV channels, 100,000 registered publications, a few hundred languages and dialects and with the growing millions of internet users, India becomes a difficult country for the authorities to ‘regulate’ the media, however hard it might try. However, in a democratic country where media is supposed to be free, the ruling party adopts other means to reign in the media. Business tycoons, close to the ruling party, buy over many of the media houses; digital teams are hired by the political parties to create fake news and trolls. The politics of the country has become essentially polarized. The new media digital technologies add to this polarization. Unlike in the west, media’s own attempts to keep itself free from fake information are limited. Consequently, the credibility of Indian media is at stake.