Disinformation In Your Feed

THE TAKE 

In A World Of Misinformation, Can Business Still Think Clearly?

Someone forwarded a Twitter link on Friday, which I clicked through. It led to an unknown user with a large follower count confidently claiming that former Pakistan Prime Minister and cricketer Imran Khan had passed away.

The question appended to the forward was: “Is this true?”

I replied with a question of my own: Why—or how—would some random person on social media, sitting in an unknown corner of the country, know what was happening to Imran Khan and speak with such certainty?

There was no response. And rightly so, because there isn’t a satisfactory answer. Not from the person who forwarded the message, and surely not from the original poster if I had challenged him.

But the issue is larger.

A New Era Of Misinformation

We have entered a new dimension of misinformation and psychological operations, which are now integral to modern conflict, be it the war between Israel and Hamas or Russia and Ukraine. And we are now witnessing this here, too.

This means that almost nothing of apparent importance can be taken at face value. And since mainstream media—especially television—often reproduces these social media claims with alarming speed, that cannot be trusted either.

The line between social media and traditional news media has all but vanished, with filtering processes reduced to minimal or non-existent.

This is, of course, bad news for all of us in the media—but this isn’t just about the media.

The person who forwarded the post runs a reasonably sized business.

I wanted to ask him something.

As an entrepreneur or business leader, would you make decisions that impact your organisation’s future based on random posts and scatter-brained claims that increasingly flood social media?

Obviously not.

You wouldn’t go out and invest in a new plant or explore a new line of business because someone you’ve never met—or will likely never meet—made a baseless claim on social media.

And if you are the kind of person who relies on gut instinct, then it’s your own gut you’d trust, not someone else’s. I’m fairly certain of that.

And yet, we’re now in a situation where we seem willing to trust—and almost believe—random statements on non-trivial issues.

The argument I’ve often heard is: “This doesn’t affect me, so I don’t bother much. But if it were to impact me, say, if the government were to announce a new policy that affects my business, I’d definitely research it and authenticate it.”

Turns out, it doesn’t work like that.

As more falsehoods permeate the information ecosystem and the spheres of influence we operate in, we face a deeper threat: the erosion of our collective ability to think clearly and rationally about what is true and what is not.

Falsehoods Spread Fast, Facts Struggle to Keep Up

When hit with an avalanche of falsehoods, it becomes harder to distinguish fact from fiction. We get tired of even trying, and often default to the easiest interpretations.

We increasingly start believing anything that flies on social media. Take, for example, a viral campaign highlighting a defect in a competitor’s product or service—more likely engineered than real.

There’s a larger context to all of this.

The conflict with Pakistan, with China floating somewhere above, a country we now share deeply entangled relations with, is going to be a long one.

While some threats may recede over time as reason prevails, there is no guarantee that something kinetic won’t flare up again.

Even if the firing of missiles pauses for now, cyberattacks and psychological operations are likely to continue—or even escalate.

Decisions Must Rest On Evidence, Not Noise

In a situation like this, decision-making must lean more than ever on hard data and evidence. It’s not that a random social media post will cause companies to change direction, but the time wasted analysing the outcome of something that was false to begin with is unfortunate, if not criminal.

A long war can certainly inflict pain on the economy. But India’s economy is resilient, deep, and will continue to grow.

Our minds, however, must also stay strong and focused.

We must be far more discerning about what we consume—and who we choose to believe.

INDIA PAKISTAN CONFLICT

Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan following recent military actions, several sectors, including aviation, shipping, and logistics, are experiencing significant disruptions. Authorities have implemented heightened security measures, and operations at airports, ports, and logistics hubs are closely monitored.

Flights: At least 100 flights to and from the Delhi airport were cancelled on Sunday, according to an Economic Times report. Around 52 domestic departures, 44 arrivals, and one international flight departure were cancelled.

Apart from this, on May 10, Indian travel platform Ixigo suspended all hotel and flight bookings to Turkey, Azerbaijan, and China, citing recent diplomatic tensions. Following suit, other major travel platforms, including EaseMyTrip and Cox & Kings, have also halted booking services for the same three countries.

Ships: No changes on Sunday.

Airports: Thirty two airports shut for civilian flights until May 15, following a decision announced early Saturday amid ongoing India-Pakistan tensions triggered by India’s May 7 strikes on terror camps and Pakistan's retaliatory shelling.

Ports: As of May 9, Pakistan imports through Indian ports are permitted, while Pakistan exports are banned.

Maersk reports delays at western Indian ports due to operational challenges.

Kandla and Mundra ports in Gujarat resumed operations on Friday after an overnight shutdown due to rising tensions with Pakistan. Officials confirmed India Shipping News on Friday that Kandla Port is operating under Level 2 security.

India’s Directorate General of Shipping has elevated maritime security to MARSEC Level 2 for all Indian ports, terminals, and vessels, enforcing stricter safety measures and monitoring.

Cargo: Multiple airport closures and heightened security disrupt e-commerce deliveries, especially in Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and nearby regions. Logistics firms struggle to maintain timely deliveries amid restricted mobility and operational hurdles.

CORE NUMBER

Rs 1.60 lakh crore

This is the combined market capitalisation wiped out from eight of India’s ten most-valued companies last week, as per PTI. The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark index also dropped 1.3%, triggering a broad decline. Reliance Industries was hit the hardest, losing Rs 59,799 crore in value, followed by ICICI Bank (Rs 30,185 crore) and HDFC Bank (Rs 27,062 crore). State Bank of India, Bajaj Finance, ITC, Bharti Airtel, and TCS also saw a reduction in their market capitalisation (m-cap). Only Infosys and Hindustan Unilever gained m-cap, with modest additions of Rs 415 crore and Rs 2,537 crore, respectively

—🖥️ Cyberattacks Plague India! Since the Pahalgam attack on April 22, India has been fighting 30-40 cyberattacks every day, according to an Economic Times report. First, the attacks targeted the country’s financial sector, and later targeted its critical power sector infrastructure. The attackers used the Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) strategy, meaning they created digital services with fake traffic to disrupt operations, and later started attempting to deface government websites and infiltrate datasets. On Saturday, the government met NASSCOM and Data Security Council representatives to flag potential threats.

—🛢️🇮🇳 Govt Seeks Dibs On Oil. A new draft amendment to the Oilfields Act proposes giving the government pre-emptive rights over all domestically produced oil and natural gas during national emergencies. The move comes amidst the conflict with Pakistan, rising geopolitical tensions and energy security concerns, with the state seeking to ensure uninterrupted access to critical resources. A PTI report noted that the Centre will retain sole authority to define what constitutes a “national emergency”—potentially including war, civil unrest, or natural disasters—and will compensate oil producers at fair market value.

—💸 Foreign Flow Watch. Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) invested Rs 14,167 crore in Indian equities this month through May 9, according to depository data—bringing total outflows for 2025 so far down to Rs 98,184 crore. This follows a Rs 4,223 crore inflow in April, the first in three months after steady exits in January, February, and March. FPIs had bought equities for 16 consecutive trading sessions till May 8, totalling Rs 48,533 crore, before selling on May 9 amid escalated India-Pakistan tensions. Debt flows during the period remained largely subdued.

—🇫🇷🇬🇧 France, UK Get Tough On Immigration. The French Interior Minister issued a circular with stricter demands for those who qualify for French passports. In particular, the document says that now, authorities can reject passport applications for people who entered France illegally, and that applicants must speak French in addition to demonstrating knowledge of French history and ideals. The UK is becoming stricter on immigrants, too. The Keir Starmer-led Labour Party government announced stricter requirements for skilled worker visas and set visa limits on ‘lower-skilled’ immigrants.

👥 THE TEAM

✍️ Zinal Dedhia, Salman SH, Kudrat Wadhwa | ✂️ Rohini Chatterji | 🎧 Joshua Thomas