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The world witnessed India’s general election in seven phases from 19th April to 1st June 2024. Flooding mis/disinformation on social media presented a massive challenge for this mega event. This study conducts a thematic analysis of mis/disinformation content debunked by two fact-checking initiatives: Alt News, a private entity, and PIB Fact Check, a government initiative, to obtain a deeper understanding of this problem. The study aims to identify the key themes and narratives of mis/disinformation and compare the focus of the debunked content by these two fact-checking initiatives. The study reviewed debunked articles from 15th March 2024 (election schedule announced) to 4th June 2024 (Result date). The findings identified six major thematic categories of mis/disinformation in each fact checking sites. The researchers also give comparative pictures of themes and focus of debunked content between Alt News and PIB Fact Check.
Bhoi et al. (Fri,) studied this question.