Misinformation Targets Rohingya in IndiaCEFR A2
11 Dec 2025
Adapted from Zulker Naeen, Global Voices • CC BY 3.0
Photo by Bornil Amin, Unsplash
Rohingya refugees fled violence and left Myanmar from 2017. Many people in India see growing anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim stories about them. Misinformation often starts in Myanmar and Bangladesh and then crosses borders.
Between 2017 and 2025 fact-checkers in India repeatedly showed these stories were false. For example, a 2018 viral video and a fake news story used wrong images. In 2019 messages warned about Rohingya kidnapping children, but the photo was from a different arrest. In 2020 a beating video was wrongly linked to Rohingya.
False claims and reused images have led to attacks, detentions and discrimination against Rohingya.
Difficult words
- refugee — A person who leaves home to escape dangerrefugees
- misinformation — False or wrong information spread to others
- fact-checker — Person or group who checks if news is truefact-checkers
- viral — Widely shared and seen by many people online
- detention — When people are held by police or authoritiesdetentions
- discrimination — Unfair treatment of people because of identity
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Why do you think misinformation crosses borders?
- Have you seen a viral video that turned out to be false? What happened?
- How can people check if an image or video is real before sharing it?
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