Deconstructing Anti-Minority Rumors to Counter Prejudice: An Experiment in India

Rumors sowing hate and prejudice against the Muslim minority in India are rampant, leading both to intolerance and acts of vigilante violence. Such rumors often contain misinformation. Yet the nature of anti-minority rumors — intricate narratives mixing specific and general claims — does not easily allow fact-checking. While recent experimental work finds that correcting situational misinformation reduces its impact (Badrinathan, Chauchard, and Siddqui, 2023), we expect this approach to have a more limited impact on these more complex anti-minority rumors. This is both because much of their content is unverifiable, as they rely on pieces of information that cannot be fact-checked (for example, private intentions or sweeping claims about an entire group), and because fact-checking specific actions may not necessarily be effective at dislodging broader narratives. Taking stock of these limitations, we ask: what informational interventions can reduce belief in anti-minority rumors and limit their downstream effect on prejudice and anti-democratic norms? To answer this question, we run a large field experiment to test the effect of three different interventions: (1) critical, emphasizing the role of elites in creating and spreading disinformation, (2) technical, highlighting why a specific piece of information may be false, and (3) emotional, seeking to evoke empathy for the minority attacked. 3000 Indian respondents receive for several weeks materials related to either of these interventions directly on their phone, and take surveys measuring attitudinal and behavioral outcomes related to animus towards Muslims and to their preferences for democratic norms. by the rumors.