Misinformation is widespread among young Indians. A Bihar experiment shows how media literacy helps

India’s massive youth population – the much-touted demographic dividend – is set to come of age into an information environment rife with misinformation. In a 2025 American Political Science Review study Sumitra Badrinathan, Simon Chauchard, Florian Sichart, and I conducted across rural Bihar, more than half of the thousands of teenage students in our control group believed that exorcism can cure snakebites. Over 60% believed cow urine can cure Covid-19. The figures make it clear these were not fringe beliefs. Instead, they reflect how widely health misinformation has spread.

While advances in technology have made information access quicker and easier than ever, the spread of false information through trusted family WhatsApp groups, social media platforms, and word-of-mouth networks has been linked to several undesirable societal outcomes. From unscientific health remedies to fabricated political conspiracies, misinformation about health, politics, and minorities shapes young people’s attitudes about vaccines, elections, and out-groups.

Such attitudes can even influence critical behaviors – such as whether to seek professional medical help – with important implications for individual and community health. Can education offer a solution? Our study suggests that classroom interventions can work, even in the most challenging settings.

In response to the threat posed by misinformation, several governments around the world, including Finland and New Jersey, now mandate media literacy...

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