Since independence, the five post-Soviet States of Central Asia have taken divergent trajectories of economic growth as well as civil and political liberties. Respective regimes still try to regulate information flow in a continuation of the Soviet era, with the possible exception of Kyrgyzstan. Nonetheless, the overall regulations on media are certainly much more pluralistic now than they were in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Internet and social media, in particular, have emerged as an important platform for communication. But our knowledge about Central Asia in general and the digital space of the region, in particular, is still limited. This article makes a comprehensive country-wise assessment of the cyberspace of the five Central Asian countries to understand better the role and impact of the information and communication technologies in these post-Soviet states.

Fake news, a term that was never heard a decade back, has established a subculture of misinformation and disinformation, whether intentionally or unintentionally, on social media by its users. The personal bias as well as unverified content sharing through the click of a button has not only led to the epidemic of fake content across the world, but in countries like India, it has also led to lynching and violence in various places. This article tries to find the rate of debunked or fact-checked content during the COVID-19 pandemic in India related to the enforcement of the nationwide lockdown, false claims of cure or immunity boost, political blame gaming, the impact of the pandemic on economy, religious polarization, as well as fake news on related issues concerning other countries apart from India. We try to discern in this article whether fact-checked items of disinformation were more on communal issues than the cure/claims of alternative medicines. We also try to unearth if there were a larger number of international items covered by the fact-checking sites given the status of the COVID-19 crisis in other countries than the lockdown (issues related to nationwide lockdown declared in India). Using content analysis of two fake news debunking websites Boom Live and Alt News, for six months (March–August 2020) during the COVID-19 pandemic, we argue that there were a lesser number of disinformation or fake news on treatment-related fake news compared to those on polarizing issues. We also posit that there were more fake news on the nationwide lockdown imposed in India than on its impact on the economy. In a bid to map the fake news and disinformation debunked by these two select websites, we find that the genealogy of fake news works with our personal biases and fears, thereby making media literacy all the more indispensable given the reach of internet-based news. The urgent need for stringent regulations by an autonomous body of the government to curb the fake news ecosystem is recommended by us along with emphasizing digital media literacy.

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The term soft power has become a catch-all-phrase for public and cultural diplomacy since Joseph Nye introduced it in 1990. India has had several historical and cultural advantages regarding its influence in foreign countries. While India and Indians enjoyed goodwill in most countries, the sudden interests in India among the policymakers, businesses, and politicians were mainly after the 1992 economic liberalization that had opened the Indian markets to foreign investments. Besides the nation-branding exercises globally, New Delhi employed soft power instruments in countries it deemed to have more significant interests, from traditional allies like Bhutan and Afghanistan to the countries in the West in the last three decades. Nevertheless, how successful has India been in exploiting its cultural linkages and using its soft power in its branding? This question becomes pertinent as, in recent years, India has often received negative press coverage in international media, and on several freedom/democratic indices, its rankings have gone down. As India celebrates 75 years of independence as Azadi ka Mahotsav (a grand celebration of independence), this paper assesses the scope of its soft power as a foreign policy instrument, points out its shortcomings, and recommends the possibilities.