When clicks trump credibility

We live in a time where we are no longer just consumers of information but free creators of information as well. In 2015, Reliance Jio sparked a digital revolution in India by making internet access cheap and ubiquitous. Today, over 55% of Indians are online, and by 2029, that number may reach 1.2 billion—an unprecedented leap in connectivity. In rural India alone, there are already 442 million internet users. Yet, this expansion has produced not only easy access to information but an alarming explosion of misinformation.

Historically, we relied on academia and the media to distinguish truth from fiction. Academia operated through peer review and rigorous debate. Media, governed by competition and ethics, uncovered scandals and held power accountable. But in the social media age, those filters have eroded. The freedom to post, write and create content has created a superficial competitive bubble. Online digital platforms have allowed self-proclaimed intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and social workers to bypass traditional credentials and gain influence. Their power lies not in expertise but in virality.

Dimly, the line between truth and narrative continues to blur. A blog openly instructs pseudo self-made entrepreneurs to befriend journalists and fabricate inspiring stories, because “views are all that matter.” Media agencies, often driven by traffic over truth, oblige. One exposé highlighted how stories of fake millionaires outperformed real investigative journalism, simply because the algorithm favours what is clickable over what is credible, consequently misleading youth by curated myths of overnight success, leading not to ambition but disillusionment.

These pseudo-voices often oversimplify, sensationalise, or distort facts. In India’s deeply stratified society, riven by religion, caste, backwardness and digital illiteracy, the consequences are dangerous. Communal tensions have flared with alarming frequency, fuelled by misinformation. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, communal riot cases doubled in 2020 compared to the previous year.

Globally, social media algorithms have shown their power to amplify harm. Amnesty International found Facebook’s algorithm directly contributed to anti-Rohingya violence in Myanmar by promoting inflammatory content. In India, Facebook has been accused of enabling similar unrest, including during the Delhi riots of 2020. The problem lies in the fact that most people now depend on social media for news, rather than traditional media outlets. News pages on social media have been successful in creating propaganda and turning one community against the other in the wake of any unrest in the country.

Historian Yuval Noah Harari has aptly noted that power today hinges not on control of land or labour, but on control of the narrative—on the ability to shape what people believe. That makes unchecked misinformation a massive problem. Fact-checking is now more urgent than ever. Yet, platforms like Meta have dismantled independent third-party verification in favour of crowd-based tools like Community Notes. Critics argue this opens the door to partisan bias and mass manipulation. India’s 2021 IT Rules attempt to set ethical standards for digital content, but enforcement remains patchy.

The solution lies in restoring trust. Tech firms must prioritise transparency in algorithm design. Media houses must recommit to editorial rigour. Rigorous work needs to be done to educate users digitally. And as citizens, we must seek truth, not catchy titles.