Indian editor arrested for fake news

On March 29^th 2018 Mahesh Vikram Hegde, Editor was arrested in southern Karnataka state on charges of fake report that Muslims had attacked a monk from the Jain faith.

Assessment

Our assessment is that the intent of the author is mala fide and hence will qualify as fake news. Such stories have an underlying message to the public to react in a predesigned manner. A similar incident had happened on August 2012; thousands of panic-stricken people of the northeast living in Bangalore boarded trains following rumours appearing on social media of violence targeting them.