Kiran Arabaghatta Basavaraj

My research examines: a) the campaign (mis)information on the social media, and b) voter perception towards misinformation, during the 2019 national election in India. Using Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning techniques and other computational methods, I explore the information space for misinformation, and measure its volume and diffusion, identify the characteristics of the content, medium of propagation (Facebook and Twitter), dissemination strategies, and examine whether the correction of misinformation matters, thereby addressing the supply-side and consumption side of the campaign misinformation. Further, through social network analysis I analyze the misinformation sharing eco-system.

Kiran has recently been selected as a Junior Fellow for the 2022 cohort of Electoral Integrity Project’s 2022 Fellowship programme, for his project “Misinformation, Campaigning and Perceptions of Electoral Integrity in India”.