French news network France 24 reports that disinformation has plagued social media coverage of Indian parliament member Rahul Gandhi as he makes a 3,500-kilometer trek through India to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party. 

Doctored videos and digitally-altered photographs have circulated online, which members of India’s Congress say are attempts to mock and discredit the opposition candidate.

Fact-checking organizations have worked to debunk the false claims, but Joyojeet Pal, associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Information told France 24 he is skeptical it will help much. 

"With the level of polarization we see in India right now, people will believe or at least pretend to believe what better suits their predispositions than what is fact," said Pal.

RELATED

Read “Disinformation stalks Rahul Gandhi on trans-India trek” on France 24. 

Learn more about associate professor Joyojeet Pal’s research interests and publications by visiting his faculty profile.