1. A Threat That Goes Far Beyond “Fake News” Across the world today, disinformation has stopped being a technical problem or a buzzword for academics. It has become one of the most serious tests that democracies face, and it is testing them in ways that are often difficult to see and even harder to reverse. It weakens institutions by making people doubt their fairness and competence. It strains social cohesion by turning neighbours against each other and deepening the very divides that already exist. And it distorts public debate, not simply by spreading lies, but by flooding the space where…

The New Battlefield of Truth: How AI is Rewriting India’s Protest Narratives October has arrived with a sobering reminder that the digital landscape we navigate is no longer what it once seemed. Across India, the tools of generative artificial intelligence—once celebrated as marvels of creative potential—have quietly transformed into instruments of confusion, manipulation, and political warfare. For those of us who dedicate our days to verifying what is real and what is fabricated, the challenge has never been more daunting. The lines between political commentary, satire, and outright misinformation have blurred to the point where even experienced fact-checkers find themselves…