The World Economic Forum (WEF) 2025 Rings the Alarm: Misinformation Tops India’s Risk List.
A silent but potent threat is stalking India—not with bombs or tanks but with manipulated headlines, AI-generated deepfakes, and WhatsApp forwards. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2025, misinformation and disinformation are the single greatest risks facing India in the next two years, outranking war, climate change, inequality, or pandemics.
India ranks No. 1 globally where disinformation is seen as the top national risk, according to over 11,000 experts surveyed from 121 countries across business, academia, government, and civil society.
In a world struggling with war in Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East, and supercharged climate events, the WEF warns that the most destabilizing force in the immediate future may be the deliberate or accidental spread of falsehoods, and India is its epicenter.
This is no mere academic concern. India just came through a general election with over 900 million eligible voters and is home to the world’s largest population and fastest-growing internet base. Yet, in the age of AI-generated content, the lines between truth and manipulation are dangerously blurred.
The WEF warns:
“The presence of misinformation and disinformation in electoral processes could seriously destabilize the real and perceived legitimacy of newly elected governments, risking political unrest, violence and terrorism, and a longer-term erosion of democratic processes.”
DISINFORMATION: INDIA’S TOP RISK
• In the short-term risk rankings (2025–2027), Misinformation and Disinformation are the No. 1 risk globally, and the most cited risk for India specifically.
• It surpasses even armed conflict, cyberwarfare, inequality, and climate extremes.
• Experts link misinformation with nearly every significant risk in the WEF interconnection map, including state-based conflict, erosion of civic freedoms, and societal polarization.
This is a national emergency in slow motion.
WHAT’S THE DANGER?
• Disinformation is intentional — it’s propaganda masquerading as truth.
• Misinformation is unintentional, but just as harmful when millions believe a lie.
• Combined, they erode trust in institutions, inflame communal tensions, undermine public health, and manipulate elections.
In India’s case, the weaponization of false narratives has already shown its hand: mob lynchings over WhatsApp rumours, doctored videos fanning communal fires, and AI-powered deepfakes entering mainstream political discourse.
FINAL WORD: INDIA CANNOT AFFORD A POST-TRUTH REPUBLIC
If we allow truth to be drowned in a sea of lies, the very idea of Satyameva Jayate is at risk. If democracy becomes vulnerable to deception, then every future election, no matter how free, may not be truly fair.
Let’s not wait for the damage to become irreversible.
This is a call to defend the Republic—not with weapons, but with wisdom.