NEW DELHI: Bollywood stars seldom weigh in on politics, so videos showing two celebrities criticizing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — and endorsing his main opposition, the Congress party — were bound to go viral.
But the clips of A-list actors Aamir Khan and Ranveer Singh were fake, AI-generated videos that were yet another example of the false or misleading claims swirling online with the goal of influencing India’s election. Both actors filed complaints with police but such actions do little to stanch the flow of such misinformation.
Claims circulating online in India recently have misstated details about casting a ballot, claimed without evidence that the election will be rigged, and called for violence against India’s Muslims.
Researchers who track misinformation and hate speech in India say tech companies’ poor enforcement of their own policies has created perfect conditions for harmful content that could distort public opinion, spur violence and leave millions of voters wondering what to believe.
“A non-discerning user or regular user has no idea whether it’s someone, an individual sharing his or her thoughts on the other end, or is it a bot?” Rekha Singh, a 49-year-old voter, told The Associated Press. Singh said she worries that social media algorithms distort voters’ view of reality. “So you are biased without even realizing it,” she said.
In a year crowded with big elections, the sprawling vote in India stands out. The world’s most populous country boasts dozens of languages, the greatest number of WhatsApp users as well as the largest number of YouTube subscribers. Nearly 1 billion voters are eligible to cast a ballot in the election, which runs into June.
Tech companies like Google and Meta, the owner of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, say they are working to combat deceptive or hateful content while helping voters find reliable sources. But researchers who have long tracked disinformation in India say their promises ring hollow after years of failed enforcement and “cookie-cutter” approaches that fail to account for India’s linguistic, religious, geographic and cultural diversity.
Given India’s size and its importance for social media companies, you might expect more of a focus, say disinformation researchers who focus on India.
“The platforms are earning money off of this. They are benefiting from it, and the whole country is paying the price,” said Ritumbra Manuvie a law professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Manuvie is a leader of The London Story, an Indian diaspora group which last month organized a protest outside Meta’s London offices.
Research by the group and another organization, India Civil Watch International, found that Meta allowed political advertisements and posts that contained anti-Muslim hate speech, Hindu nationalist narratives, misogynistic posts about female candidates as well as ads encouraging violence against political opponents.
The ads were seen more than 65 million times over 90 days earlier this year. Together they cost more than $1 million.
Meta defends its work on global elections and disputed the findings of the research on India, noting that it has expanded its work with independent fact-checking organizations ahead of the election, and has employees around the world ready to act in case its platforms are misused to spread misinformation. Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, said of India’s election: “It’s a huge, huge test for us.”
“We have months and months and months of preparation in India,” he told The Associated Press during a recent interview. “We have teams working around the clock. We have fact checkers in multiple languages operating in India. We have a 24-hour escalation system.”
YouTube is another problematic site for disinformation in India, experts say. To test how well that video-sharing platform was doing in enforcing its own rules, researchers at the nonprofits Global Witness and Access Now created 48 fake ads in English, Hindi and Telugu with false voting information or calls for violence. One claimed India raised its voting age to 21, though it remains 18, while another said women could vote by text message, though they cannot. A third called for the use of force at polling places.
When Global Witness submitted the ads to YouTube for approval, the response was disappointing, said Henry Peck, an investigator at Global Witness.
“YouTube didn’t act on any of them,” Peck said, and instead approved the ads for publication.
Google, YouTube’s owner, criticized the research and noted that it has multiple procedures in place to catch ads that violate its rules. Global Witness removed the ads before they could be spotted and blocked, the company said.
“Our policies explicitly prohibit ads making demonstrably false claims that could undermine participation or trust in an election, which we enforce in several Indian languages,” Google said in a statement. The company also noted its partnerships with fact-checking groups.
AI is this year’s newest threat, as advances in programs make it easier than ever to create lifelike images, video or audio. AI deepfakes are popping up in elections across the world, from Moldova to Bangladesh.
Senthil Nayagam, founder of an AI startup called Muonium AI, believes there is growing demand for deepfakes, especially of politicians. In the run up to the election, he had several inquiries on making political videos using AI. “There’s a market for this, no doubt,” he said.
Some of the fakes Nayagam produces feature dead politicians and are not meant to be taken seriously, but other deepfakes circulating online could potentially fool voters. It’s a danger Modi himself has highlighted.
“We need to educate people about artificial intelligence and deepfakes, how it works, what it can do,” Modi said.
India’s Information and Technology Ministry has directed social media companies to remove disinformation, especially deepfakes. But experts say a lack of clear regulation or law focused on AI and deepfakes makes it harder to squash, leaving it to voters to determine what is true and what is fiction.
For first-time voter Ankita Jasra, 18, these uncertainties can make it hard to know what to believe.
“If I don’t know what is being said is true, I don’t think I can trust in the people that are governing my country,” she said.
As India votes, misinformation surges on social media: ‘The whole country is paying the price’
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As India votes, misinformation surges on social media: ‘The whole country is paying the price’
- Tech companies like Google and Meta say they are working to combat deceptive or hateful content while helping voters find reliable sources
- Researchers say their promises ring hollow after years of failed enforcement, “cookie-cutter” approaches that fail to account for India’s diversity
Emergency declared as smog in New Delhi hits highest level this year
- New Delhi was the world’s most polluted city on Monday, according to IQAir
- PM 2.5 concentration was 138.4 times higher than WHO’s recommended levels
NEW DELHI: New Delhi was in a medical emergency on Monday as toxic smog engulfing the Indian capital reached the highest level this year, prompting authorities to close schools and urge people to stay indoors.
Pollution in Delhi and the surrounding metropolitan area — home to around 55 million people — reached the “severe plus” category as some areas reached an Air Quality Index score of 484, this year’s highest, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.
On the AQI scale from 0 to 500, good air quality is represented by levels below 50, while levels above 300 are dangerous.
Delhi was ranked as the most polluted city in the world on Monday by Swiss group IQAir, with a concentration of PM 2.5, 138.4 times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended levels.
“All of North India has been plunged into a medical emergency,” Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Marlena Singh said in a press conference, adding that many cities were “reeling under severe levels of pollution.”
She said farm fires, where stubble left after harvesting rice is burnt to clear fields, were causing the extreme levels of pollution.
“Why is the (central government) not taking action against these states and implementing concrete steps? People are unable to breathe. I am getting calls from people complaining about breathing and respiratory issues,” she said.
“All of North India is paying the price for this, especially children and elderly who are struggling to breathe.”
Authorities in Delhi have directed all schools to move classes online and tightened restrictions on construction activities and vehicle movements.
Mahesh Palawat, vice president of meteorology and climate change at forecast company Skymet Weather, said people in the capital region are faced with serious health risks.
“If they are non-smokers, then they will also inhale at least 30 to 40 cigarettes per day (at these pollution levels). So, you can imagine how bad it is for our health,” he told Arab News.
“PM 2.5 is a very minute particle (that can be inhaled). It is so minute that it can go into our blood vessels also, so it is very harmful and leads to various diseases, particularly for older people and infants who have breathing problems.”
Palawat is expecting the air quality to remain at this level for at least a few more days.
“It will remain in the very poor to serious category in coming days also,” he said.
Sri Lanka’s left-leaning president swears in new Cabinet after election victory
- Harini Amarasuriya, first woman to head Sri Lankan government, reappointed as PM
- National People’s Power alliance won two-thirds majority in the 225-member parliament
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s new left-leaning president swore in on Monday a 22-member Cabinet after his party coalition secured a landslide victory in a snap parliamentary vote last week.
The alliance of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the National People’s Power, secured 159 seats in the 225-member assembly, giving the new leader a mandate to fulfill his campaign promises of sweeping reforms, including to fight poverty and corruption.
The crisis-hit island nation is still struggling to emerge from the worst economic crisis in its history, after declaring bankruptcy and defaulting on its external debt in 2022.
Dissanayake reappointed Harini Amarasuriya as prime minister and lawmaker Vijitha Herath to helm the foreign affairs, foreign employment and tourism ministries, while the president himself retained the posts of defense and finance minister.
“This power we gained is accountable. To whom? On one hand, it is accountable to the public, and on the other hand, to the movement,” Dissanayake told the new Cabinet after the swearing-in ceremony, referring to his alliance’s aim to create a people-centered national movement.
“We had a lot of good aims. We worked to gain power for that. We struggled a lot … The huge the victory we achieved, the heavier our responsibility,” he said. “Let’s work together to achieve the results our people deserve.”
When Dissanayake won the presidential vote in September, the NPP coalition only had three seats in parliament, prompting him to dissolve it and call for a snap election that took place on Thursday, a year ahead of schedule.
His new, fully-formed Cabinet will govern Sri Lanka after austerity measures imposed by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe — part of a bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund — led to price hikes in food and fuel and caused hardship to millions of Sri Lankans.
During his campaign, Dissanayake said he planned to renegotiate the targets set in the IMF deal to alleviate the burden placed on ordinary people. A team from the fund is in Colombo this week to review the reform program.
More than half of former lawmakers chose not to run for re-election. No contenders were seen from the powerful Rajapaksa family, including former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother Gotabaya, also a former president, who was ousted in 2022 and largely blamed for the crisis.
Thursday’s election saw the United People’s Power of Sajith Premadasa retain its role from the previous parliament as the largest opposition party, winning 40 seats.
Sri Lanka People’s Front, the party loyal to the Rajapaksa family, secured only three seats in the new parliament.
UN climate chief to nations at COP29: ‘cut the theatrics’
- As the UN climate talks limp into a second week in Azerbaijan, the world is no closer to a finance deal for poorer countries that will determine the success or failure of COP29
Baku: The UN’s climate chief on Monday told countries at the deadlocked COP29 summit to “cut the theatrics,” as pressure mounts on G20 leaders to deliver a breakthrough.
As the UN climate talks limp into a second week in Azerbaijan, the world is no closer to a finance deal for poorer countries that will determine the success or failure of COP29.
UN climate boss Simon Stiell said that “bluffing, brinkmanship and premeditated playbooks burn up precious time and run down the goodwill needed.”
“Let’s cut the theatrics and get down to business,” he told delegates assembled in a cavernous football stadium in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku.
COP29 president Mukhtar Babayev, a former oil executive turned ecology minister, urged countries to “refocus and pick up the pace.”
Government ministers at the negotiating table have until Friday to break the impasse over how to raise $1 trillion a year for developing countries to cope with global warming.
With the clock ticking, pressure is mounting on G20 leaders to throw their weight behind the stalled process in Baku when they meet in Brazil for their annual summit on Monday and Tuesday.
“A successful outcome at COP29 is still within reach, but it will require leadership and compromise, namely from the G20 countries,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, where he is attending the G20 summit of the world’s biggest economies.
Difference between life and death
“The spotlight is naturally on the G20. They account for 80 percent of global emissions,” Guterres said, calling on the group to “lead by example.”
In a sign that a solution could emerge from Rio, the head of the Brazilian delegation to COP29, Andre Aranha Correa do Lago, left Baku to prepare for the G20.
Besides the finance impasse, a fight is also brewing at COP29 over whether countries should recommit to last year’s landmark pledge to move the world away from fossil fuels.
The main task at COP29 is negotiating a new deal to provide developing countries enough money to cut emissions and build resilience against worsening climate shocks.
Rei Josiah Echano, disaster chief in the typhoon-hit Philippines province of Northern Samar, called for talks to be “radically fast-tracked” to help those in dire need.
Developing countries excluding China will need $1 trillion a year in outside assistance by the end of the decade, according to independent economists commissioned by the United Nations.
Stiell said it was “easy to become slightly anaesthetised” by the numbers.
“But let’s never allow ourselves to forget: these figures are the difference between safety and life-wrecking disasters for billions of people,” he said.
“It certainly keeps me up at night.”
Hosts criticised
Climate-vulnerable nations want developed nations to commit at COP29 to substantially raising their existing pledge of $100 billion a year.
But donors say they cannot raise the money alone and the private sector must also be involved.
The United States and European Union also want wealthy emerging economies not obligated to pay climate finance — most notably China — to share the burden.
The EU is the biggest contributor to international climate finance but faces political and budget pressure, and could be left exposed should the United States refuse to pay up under Donald Trump.
The conference opened in the shadow of Trump’s re-election in the United States, and efforts to shore up support for the global climate fight took another knock when Argentina’s delegation withdrew from the summit.
A meeting between Chinese and European officials was seen as a glimmer of hope in an otherwise gloomy first week.
Militants kill five Nigerian troops in raid on base
- Fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province storm military base
- Militant groups have been waging a 15-year-old insurrection for an Islamic Caliphate
KANO, Nigeria: Attackers from a Daesh-affiliated militant group killed five Nigerian soldiers and wounded 10 more in a raid on a military base near the Niger border, two officers said Monday.
Fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) stormed the base in Kareto village, Borno state in a dawn attack Saturday and triggered a gunbattle, the military officers said.
Northern Nigeria has been plagued by a bloody Islamist insurgency since 2009, and security cooperation on the border has broken down since the July 2023 military coup in Niger.
“We lost five soldiers in the battle with 10 other injured,” one senior military officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
“Four of our men are still missing and search and rescue is under way to locate them,” he added.
The gunmen captured four trucks fitted with anti-aircraft guns and burnt five other vehicles, including a mine-resistant military truck, according to a second officer who gave the same toll.
In a statement issued Sunday, ISWAP claimed to have “killed and wounded” more than 20 troops in a suicide car bomb attack during the raid, according to SITE Intelligence, which monitors online militant activity.
The group claimed to have torched the base and burnt 14 vehicles.
Kareto, 153 kilometers (95 miles) north of the Borno state capital Maiduguri, houses the Nigerian army’s 149 Battalion, which is deployed to fight ISWAP and its rival fellow militant group Boko Haram.
The base has been repeatedly targeted by both groups.
Militant groups have been waging a 15-year-old insurrection for an Islamic Caliphate that has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around two million more.
Ukraine brings back long rolling power cuts after major Russian strike
- Russia unleashed its largest missile attack on Ukraine in almost three months
- Temporary power cuts across the country were announced on Sunday
KYIV: Ukrainians in the Black Sea port city of Odesa on Monday morning had been without power for 24 hours and further cuts were planned across the country after a massive Russian missile strike over the weekend damaged energy infrastructure.
Russia unleashed its largest missile attack on Ukraine in almost three months on Sunday, killing seven people and further hobbling an already damaged energy system.
“The situation is most difficult in Odesa and Odesa district. Unfortunately, it is not yet technically possible to supply power to the critical infrastructure in the Kyivskyi and Primorskyi districts of the city,” power distributor DTEK wrote on the Telegram messenger.
As of Monday morning some 400,000 homes had power restored while 321,000 consumers remained without service, DTEK said.
Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said the water supply and heating was being gradually restored across the city with 445 shelters offering necessary services to residents.
Russia has attacked the Odesa region for months, hitting port and energy infrastructure.
Attacks in the autumn of 2022 left the region without electricity for several days and also triggered curbs on energy use in the winter of 2023.
Temporary power cuts across the country were announced on Sunday between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. by national grid operator Ukrenergo which said workers were repairing the damage as quickly as possible.
Engineers restored power to almost 150,000 consumers following yesterday’s attack, the energy ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
Authorities said most regions would face blackouts on Monday of up to eight hours, including the capital Kyiv.
Power cuts of six hours were expected in the central Ukrainian region of Cherkasy and cuts of four to six hours in Sumy in northern Ukraine.
No cuts were planned in five western regions.
