This is a journal article that seeks to trace the history of fake news/rumours and violence in India. It aims to shed light on the psychological process of fake news leading to violence among societies in India by comparing violent events driven by false information in two eras being post-independence to 2010 and from 2010 – 2020 where digital media assumed ubiquity.

Using a combination of literature on fake news, rumour studies, news reports and Facebook and WhatsApp posts, this paper aims to establish the common and the divergent reasons that allows misinformation to cause violence. We argue that i) violence rooted in misinformation is inevitable given historic precedents and is not a new phenomenon, ii) Social media companies, while bearing some responsibility, are only agents and the malaise is rooted in human tendencies. These arguments are located within the Indian context helping to flesh out the debate further for academics and policymakers.