From lies to likes: How false narratives thrive on social media

Last week, a video of an autorickshaw driver in Maharashtra’s Nagpur getting assaulted after he allegedly threatened to rape two school students went viral. ‘Jo Kolkata Mein Hua Waisa Hi Tumhare Saath Karunga: Auto Driver Threatens 2 School-Going Girls, Gets Beaten Up In Nagpur’ – the video was captioned. The ‘news’ spread like wildfire. The visuals were shared on Instagram and X, and even traditional media reported the incident.