mosques are in fact teaching [people] how to go and spread this among non-Muslims. This is very deadly stuff, all of which was uncritically believed and amplified by some broadcast media, who ought to be much more responsible than that. (interview, 2021) The Muslim community was similarly scapegoated in India during the pandemic (Murthy 2020). Fear and uncertainty around the pandemic also led to rumors regarding availability of care. Dr. N. Tamilselvi, an independent fact checker from India, recalled this phenomenon as follows: As soon as this new government took over, [it was] said that they had created 800 beds with oxygen facilities for people in Chennai [at the Chennai Nandambakkam Trade Center]. But, unfortunately, an innocent mother’s number was given and her son’s name was mentioned. And when we tried to call this person [to ask] whether he is responsible for getting admitted here in the hospital, they literally cried. They said, “Ma’am, I’ve been receiving at least 800 calls, I’m tired of explaining this. I don’t even know how my number got into this. We have no connection to this trade center or oxygen facility or beds, please remove our number.” (interview, 2021) Furthermore, certain governments have tried to conceal the extent and spread of the pandemic, which included coercing those who contradicted the official state narrative. Ruslan Myatiev, editor of Turkmen.news, noted that the government of Turkmenistan denies the existence of Covid-19 to this day. He added that Turkmenistan has many economic and social problems, which the government refuses to acknowledge, so denying the reality of the Covid-19 pandemic is typical (interview, 2021). Other examples abound. In the early stages of the pandemic, the government of Kazakhstan refused to admit that there were cases of Covid-19 in the country and suppressed the true extent of the infections. There are numerous cases involving arrests of teachers, activists, doctors, and ambulance drivers during this period (Toiken 2020; Utenova 2020). In Tajikistan, doctors and public health officials are afraid to comment on the magnitude of the infections in the country (Yusufzoda 2021). This issue is certainly not limited to Central Asia. For instance, the government of India has ordered platforms to remove posts critical of the government’s handling of the pandemic, using mis- and disinformation as a rationale for this (Krishnan 2021). Hence, it is clear that the Covid-19 I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH pandemic has provided new opportunities for the ecosystem of information disorder to thrive. NATURAL DISASTERS Instances of mis- and disinformation were observed during the 2015 earthquake in Nepal (Nettikkara 2015). Injina Panthi noticed a similar phenomenon during flooding and wildfires: After the flood—the photo happened in Sindhupalchok district of Nepal—and on social media, they [were] posting old photos and writing captions like, “Things are happening, please wake up and help.” And so a photo that is not from that place and that event is circulated. We had a wildfire—two, three months before— and then also, a photo from a foreign country was circulated on social media, [with claims that it was] from Nepal, and that due to the wildfires, this much disaster and much loss is happening. This kind of photo is mainly [asking people to pray for victims].” (interview, 2021) Relief scams circulating online have also been observed (interview, Panthi, 2021). HATE SPEECH In many countries across Asia, members of ethnic minorities, women, and members of the LGBTQI+ community have faced hate speech (see, for example, Thaniago 2020). As noted in previous sections, hate speech often coincides with other forms of information disorder. During election campaigns, During election campaigns, candidates can be targeted on candidates can be targeted on the basis of their religion or the basis of their religion or ethnicity. Pre-existing ethnic ethnicity. Pre-existing ethnic tensions are also harnessed by tensions are also harnessed by candidates to drum up support candidates and attract voters. Sometimes and attract this is connected to geopolitical tensions, and those perceived to be “foreign” are othered. Women and those belonging to minority religions have also become targets. Likewise, during the Covid-19 pandemic, certain communities, often already marginalized ones, have been scapegoated and labelled “spreaders” of the disease. For example, hate speech online and through traditional media has been an ongoing problem in Myanmar: to drum up support voters. In Myanmar, communities have been disrupted, traumatized and displaced due to the armed conflicts between ethnic minorities armed groups and the military governments as well as Asia – 1 9 8