Politics is always first on the order of business of the Indian press, the calendar in a complex, federal polity being packed with electoral contests at some level or the other. Five keenly contested elections to state legislative assemblies in the latter half of 2018 were a prelude to the seven-stage poll by which India will elect its 17th Lok Sabha, or lower house of parliament, by May 23, 2019. But the polling process in the world’s largest democracy took place against a backdrop of serious allegations of bias in the Indian media and the growing problem of fake news. Until recently, the main challenge that election oversight bodies faced was identified as ‘paid news’, or candidates obtaining favourable media coverage in exchange for cash. But fake news and online abuse, propelled by social media, have been game-changers.