How Deep Did Disinformation Cut in Maharashtra & Jharkhand Polls?

On 19 November, a day before people were set to vote in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) official X (formerly Twitter) handle shared four audio clips claiming ‘poll fraud’. The audio files allegedly showed conversations between leaders Supriya Sule and Nana Patole, among others.But the twist was that all these clips were made using Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and were NOT REAL. This claim proved why fact-checkers and journalists have been concerned about the increasing risks of AI-generated content.It took multiple tools working on identifying AI-generated content and organisations like the Misinformation Combat Alliance’s (MCA) Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU) collaborating to debunk the claim with some amount of certainty and as quickly as possible. Such misuse of technology can impact voter behaviour, especially when shared closer to the polling dates.This was, however, not the only instance of m/disinformation around the recently concluded Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. While the major alliances i.e., the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) tried different methods to sway their voters, the battle on social media platforms was fierce. The online supporters and critics did not fall behind either. While some of them shared unrelated clips to boast about their party’s momentum in the elections and support among the people, some posted edited clips to target the opposition leaders.The Quint’s WebQoof fact-checked around 18 claims related to the recently concluded assembly elections. Out of these, 83.33 percent of the claims were related to Maharashtra, and around 16.66 percent were related to JharkhandLet’s look at the details about the kinds of claims that went viral in the run-up to the elections. We will primarily provide answers to these questions:Which alliance was the most targeted?What was the most prevalent type of content that was used?Fact-Check: This Is Not an Old Photo Former Maharashtra CM Eknath ShindeTeam WebQoof identified the most common themes used by social media users while spreading mis/disinformation during the assembly elections. We classified them into four categories: Communal, Targeting Leaders, Manipulated, and Old or Unrelated Content. (Note: Some of the claims were placed under two or more categories due to their nature.)We found that around 13 stories debunked fake or misleading claims made about prominent leaders of the alliances.For example: This video of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray went viral on the internet, claiming that he was publicly spotted calling the Mughal ruler, Aurangzeb, his brother. The users sharing the claim took a jab at Thackeray for his statements.But was he really referring to the Mughal ruler? The answer is NO. Not only was the video clipped, but it was also shared out of context. The longer version of the viral clip showed the former CM referring to an Indian soldier named Aurangzeb, who was killed by militants in Jammu and Kashmir in 2018, as his brother.The second most viral theme was the use of manipulated content (6) to take a dig at the ruling government or prominent leaders from the alliances. This included posting edited and clipped videos as well as images.Sample this – a video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah went viral on social media platforms, claiming that he disrespected former Jharkhand Chief Ministers Champai Soren and Babulal Marandi during a public event.The clip was shared by Congress party's Social Media Chairperson, Supriya Shrinate, on her official X handle. However, it turned out that the video was edited to clip the portion where Shah was seen referring to the leaders as "Champai Ji" and "Babulal Ji."Old Video of Sanjay Nirupam Criticising Congress Linked to Maharashtra ElectionsWe noticed a similar trend with the usage of old or unrelated visuals by several users to paint a picture of the massive support they are receiving from the people of the particular state ahead of the electionsTake this for example - An unrelated video from Bihar was peddled on the internet to claim that it showed a massive crowd gathered for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) rally in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The viral clip actually showed visuals from the trailer launch of the film Pushpa 2: The Rule, which took place in the capital of Bihar, Patna. The final category was communal claims (4), which were shared on social media to form a narrative against a particular party or to urge people to take action to defeat the ‘Vote Jihad’. Don’t believe us? Here’s a fact: Interestingly, 3 out of these 4 claims were directed towards the leaders from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), namely – Uddhav Thackeray and Sanjay Raut.Look at this post below. It carries two images which show women dressed in burqas and hijabs. The post tries to create a narrative using the help of these images that the Muslim women in the state of Maharashtra are engaging in ‘Vote Jihad’.However, at the same time, Hindus are not being affected. The post further urges people from the Hindu community to vote in large numbers.What’s the problem with the post? Well, both the images used in it are old and unrelated to the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections. This makes it clear that the intention of the post was to create a narrative and show visual evidence for them. Team WebQoof found that the INDIA bloc was targeted the most, with around 9 claims, with the NDA coming in second with around 5 claims. We further made a dataset to understand which alliance in the state of Maharashtra was targeted i.e. the MVA or the Mahayuti.The findings related to Maharashtra painted a similar picture, with the MVA alliance being targeted the most, with around 8 claims. The Mahayuti alliance, which includes the BJP, SS, and NCP, was targeted around 3 times over the course of the elections, as per our stories.This Video Doesn’t Show Congress Candidate’s Rally in Akola, MaharashtraAs per The Quint’s WebQoof’s data set of 17 stories, videos were the most used format to spread mis/disinformation over the course of the assembly elections.64.7 percent of the total claims were in the video format, with images coming second with approximately 29 percent. The total number of images that we debunked related to the elections were about 5.There was only one claim in the audio format.While the previous elections did not see a dedicated use of AI, when it came to users and political parties spreading mis/disinformation, the assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand were an exception.As mentioned earlier, the BJP had shared four audio clips claiming to carry conversations of Supriya Sule, Nana Patole, and an IPS officer, Amitabh Gupta. The conversations revolved around cryptocurrency and money. Releasing these clips, the BJP alleged poll fraud in the state of Maharashtra and levelled allegations against the MVA alliance.As the sub-headline suggests, all four clips were inauthentic and were generated with the help of AI tools.Before the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, Team WebQoof had published a special story talking about how deepfakes or AI-generated content could be used to spread disinformation and form narratives during elections. The release of AI-generated clips by the BJP proves to be a direct contradiction to PM Modi’s apprehensions, who had warned against the use of deepfakes.It further highlights how deepfakes can be used as a tool to target leaders and political opponents.While the impact of this particular misinformation is a topic for the public and the readers to decide, it should serve as a wake-up call to politicians and ministers who need to bring in regulations to address such concerns in the future.Was CPI(M) Leader Sitaram Yechury a Christian? No, Viral Claim Is False(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 , or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)

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How Deep Did Disinformation Cut in Maharashtra & Jharkhand Polls?

These assembly elections served as another reminder about the risks of AI-generated content on social media,

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Topics: Jharkhand Webqoof Fact-Check