Misinformation as Electoral Infrastructure: Digital Platforms and Vernacular Politics in Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2023

Abstract

False information propagated in elections has turned out to be a characteristic problem in the democratic leadership in digitally connected societies of Asia. If the state assembly elections are concerned, their political significance arises decisively, but their study is relatively less prevalent among scholars, whereas Indian national elections are long-standing concerns. The current paper analyses the ecology of misinformation in the 2023 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Elections in terms of platform-related flows, vernacular political discourse, and its effects on electoral attitudes and democratic trust. Based on a mixed-methods research design, the study will utilize a content analysis of election-related misinformation, a voter survey of urban and rural Rajasthan, and interviews with journalists, fact-checkers, election officials, and political communicators.

According to the results, WhatsApp and YouTube were used as potent sources of election misinformation in 2023, and modern visual and emotive messages (especially videos) were more effective than text-based lies. Stories of misinformation were very local in nature and appealed to caste identities, welfare programs, communal feelings and credibility of the candidate. According to the results of the survey, misinformation exposure has not had a major direct influence on the voting choice but has been strongly correlated with the loss of confidence in the electoral institutions and growth of political cynicism. There is also qualitative evidence that misinformation was a driving force of mobilization and identity affirmation as opposed to being a persuasive force. This study enhances the field of Asian media studies by preempting a sub-national electoral setting by showing that global digital platforms engage with local political cultures in creating misinformation processes. Findings revealed that some policy-relevant lessons to the governance of elections, platforms accountable, and media literacy interventions context-specific, and the lessons can be applied in other electoral democracies in South and Southeast Asia.