Abstract:
Recently, digital platforms have increasingly become associated with the spread of fake news
and disinformation. In doing so, not only are these platforms complicit in the exacerbation and
participation in conflict, but are also channelled to create conflict. This research examines the
use of digital platforms by fake newsmongers and their role in exacerbating/creating conflict
by exploring the case of India Chronicles, an India-based digital platform. Recently, an
Investigation carried out by EU disinfoLab, exposed Indian Chronicles, an operation launched
by Srivastava group with the aim of discrediting Pakistan internationally through the spread of
disinformation by creating fake media outlets. Despite a substantive literature available on the
use of digital platforms to peddle state-based narratives, there is a dearth of research on how
these platforms are used to spread fake news and disinformation and more so in the case of
India and Pakistan. Being exploratory in nature, this research examines the relationship
between digital platforms, fake news and social conflict and will further how fake news and
disinformation are used as tools in inter-state conflicts Focusing on the construction and the
circulation of narratives by state-patroned digital platforms, the research will use tools such as
interview to argue that India has effectively used digital platforms by spreading fake news and
disinformation about Pakistan, in order to dominate the war of narratives between them.
