Context:

• With elections due in four States and one Union Territory in about 10 weeks, India’s electoral landscape is once again witnessing the fusion of politics, media, and technology.
• From WhatsApp-driven mobilisation (2019) to digital-forward campaigns (2024), Indian elections are evolving rapidly.
• While 2029 is predicted to be the “AI election”, the 2026 elections reflect a hybrid ecosystem—a mix of traditional media, social media, influencers, and artificial intelligence.
• This raises serious concerns about fake news, influencer politics, and deepfakes, with implications for electoral integrity and democratic accountability.

Changing Media–Politics Interface in India:

• Campaigns now extend beyond rallies to reels, podcasts, jingles, AI-generated calls, and algorithm-driven content.
• Votes are cast offline, but perceptions are shaped online, making digital platforms the primary battleground.

Fake News - A Structural Feature of Elections:

• What is fake news?
  • While there is no legal definition of fake news in India, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner defines it as “fictional news stories made up to support certain agendas”.
  • It is often described as “yellow journalism on steroids”, amplified by algorithms.
• Why it matters in elections?
  • Fake news directly impacts voter perception, polarisation, and trust in institutions.
  • With over 90 crore internet users in India in 2025, influencing perception and shaping narratives has become possible with just a few clicks.
  • For example, a study by the Indian School of Business and CyberPeace revealed that 46% of all fake news was political in nature.
• Who is affected: 3 out of 5 Indians access news online. A Pew Research Centre study of 2025 found that 65% of those surveyed viewed made-up news and information as a huge concern, among the highest globally.
• When does it peak: During elections - NCRB recorded a 70% rise in fake news cases in 2019, an election year.
• Where does it spread?
  • Social media and messaging platforms - WhatsApp, X, Facebook, Instagram.
  • AI-generated visuals, doctored videos, synthetic clips blur fact and fiction. Algorithms provide virality without accountability.

Media Consumption Patterns - Digital Dominance:

• India has close to 900 private television channels, and nearly half of them are news channels. Television still has a deep reach — 23 crore homes own a TV set.
• However, shift to digital is decisive -
  • 7 in 10 Indians prefer online news (Reuters Institute).
  • News sources - YouTube (55%), WhatsApp (46%), Instagram (37%), and Facebook (36%).
• Even with these media consumption patterns, newspapers, both in regional languages and English, still remain comparatively high on the credibility quotient.

Influencers - The New Political Intermediaries:

• Influencers wield significant agenda-setting power, backed by professional research and production teams.
• Gen Z trends: Only 13% follow celebrities, 86% prefer influencers.
• Political outreach:
  • Senior politicians and parties actively engage influencers. Union Government empanelled influencer agencies via MyGov (2023).
  • There are concerns over political bias, as at least one empanelled agency’s leadership openly supports the ruling dispensation.

Deepfakes - AI as a Political Weapon:

• Nature of the threat: Digitally altered or AI-generated videos and audio impersonating leaders and celebrities. For example,
  • Deceased political leaders “addressing” meetings.
  • Film actors criticising or endorsing political parties.
• Scale of the problem:
  • In the 60 days before the last Lok Sabha elections 5 crore AI-generated calls were made to voters using synthetic voices.
  • Meta approved 14 AI-generated ads inciting violence against Muslims and an opposition leader.
• Institutional failure:
  • The Election Commission of India (ECI), as a constitutional authority under Article 324, should regulate electoral communication.
  • However, weak implementation capacity (e.g., recent SIR process) raises doubts about its preparedness to handle AI-driven misinformation.

Challenges and Way Ahead:

• Absence of a legal definition of fake news: Legal clarity - define fake news and deepfakes within electoral and IT laws.
• Algorithmic amplification without transparency: Platform accountability - Algorithmic transparency, faster takedown mechanisms during election periods.
• Lack of robust regulation of political influencers: ECI-led regulatory framework mandatory disclosure of AI-generated political content, clear guidelines for influencers and political advertising.
• Rapid proliferation of deepfakes and synthetic media: Strengthen inter-agency coordination (ECI, MeitY, platforms, civil society).
• Institutional inertia and regulatory gaps: Within ECI and digital governance frameworks. Independent oversight bodies for election-time digital content moderation.
• Threats: To free and fair elections, voter autonomy, and democratic trust. Digital literacy and media awareness campaigns for voters.

Conclusion:

• Indian elections are entering a phase where technology is no longer just an enabler but a disruptor of democracy.
• Fake news, influencers, and deepfakes have become structural features of electoral politics, challenging the foundations of free, fair, and informed choice.
• As India moves towards an AI-driven electoral future, institutional preparedness, regulatory foresight, and citizen awareness will determine whether technology strengthens democracy or subverts it.
• For the world’s largest democracy, the credibility of elections is inseparable from the credibility of information.