October was a busy month at Alt News, with a flurry of misinformation and disinformation permeating the social media ecosystem. The Supreme Court verdict allowing women entry into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala resulted in a tense stand-off between Lord Ayappa devotees, claimed to have been propped up by Hindutva forces, and the state government. Concomitantly, social media witnessed a systematic attempt to tilt public opinion through the use of misinformation. “Kerala CM Mr. @vijayanpinarayi, just remember you are an elected CM. You have the responsibility to take everyone into account and act accordingly. In Sabarimala issue, you are ignoring the majority feelings, brutally attacking our mothers using your power @cpimspeak @CMOKerala.” This message is by K. Surendran, General Secretary of Kerala BJP, who targeted Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan over the manner in which the state police handled the protests over the Sabarimala issue. Along with the message, Surendran tweeted a photograph of a woman lying injured on the ground. Kerala CM Mr. @vijayanpinarayi, just remember you are an elected CM. You have the responsibility to take everyone into account and act accordingly. In Sabarimala issue, you are ignoring the majority feelings, brutally attacking our mothers using your power @cpimspeak @CMOKerala pic.twitter.com/Srho66krj2 — K Surendran (@surendranbjp) October 17, 2018 Alt News had reported that Surendran’s claim was false. The woman seen injured in the photograph had not been assaulted by police personnel but was hit by a stone. This became clear once the video footage of the incident was accessed and analysed. On October 7, thousands of people rallied in protest against the Supreme Court verdict on the Sabarimala temple entry issue. On social media, this event was politicised with the claim that Kerala police had resorted to the use of force at these protests in a brazen display of heavy-handedness. A set of photographs was shared by several users on Twitter who claimed the Kerala police attacked “Hindus peacefully chanting Swamiye Ayyapa in protest of the SC #SabarimalaVerdict” and did not even spare women and children. Shame on you who went to USA for cancer treatment @vijayanpinarayi how did you treat women and senior citizens protesting reg #SabrimalaVerdict? Are you a human being????? @narendramodi Throw him out.. Keralite women and men join hands and do the impossible! pic.twitter.com/4RegyId9Ye — meena das narayan (@MeenaDasNarayan) October 9, 2018 The photographs shared on social media did not pertain to the recent Sabarimala protests. They were clicked earlier in July 2018 when the Kerala police had cracked down on a ‘KSU Secretariat march’ that was led by the National Students Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress party. These photos had been tweeted from the official account of NSUI on July 4. Another photograph used on social media too was unrelated, dating back to 2015. “Meet this active CPM cadre Vallabh Das from Trivandrum. He’s not even recruited in Kerala Police, still this goon was in Police uniform trying to attack innocent #Ayyappa devotees at #Shabarimalai protest during the past five days..😡 @rsprasad” A photograph of a person in a police uniform was circulated on social media, with the claim that the person is a CPI(M) party member masquerading as a cop, who had assaulted devotees of lord Ayappa who had gathered during the Sabarimala protests. The person seen in the photograph claimed to be a CPM worker dressed as a policeman, was indeed a policeman and not a political worker. This was confirmed by the Kerala police via a Facebook post clarifying that the person in question is a policeman with the KAP fifth battalion stationed at Sabarimala. Kerala police had also appealed to social media users to beware of fake propaganda. Disinformation has been weaponised most effectively to spread prejudice, fear and hate. October was merely a continuation of a trend observed over the past several months. More than 60 people lost their lives in a tragic accident where an Amritsar-bound train mowed down Dusshera revellers watching the burning of Ravan effigy from railway tracks. Soon after, viral claims on social media began to suggest that the name of the driver was Imtiaz Ali. This claim was viral on both Facebook and Twitter. The tragedy was sought to be communalised by hatemongers on social media. According to a written statement of the driver to the Railway Administration, the name of the driver was Arvind Kumar and not Imtiaz Ali. A Twitter user claiming to be a member of the VHP and followed on Twitter by the Office of Piyush Goyal, tweeted a photograph along with the message, “Acid attack on Bull in Tumakuru, Karnataka by peace lovers.