I have a suggestion for the word to describe the current situation in the US:
Agitprop.
It's not just blatant, obvious lies. It's lies *designed to agitate people". I mean, the goal is "media engagement" (and secondarily, "political engagement"), but that comes downstream from getting everybody stirred up.
There are 330 million people in the US, and 1.4 billion in India. You don't need lies for agitprop - such numbers will furnish you with enough real incidents to drive whatever narrative you wish, if you're in a position to pick what gets publicity. Cherrypicking. I'm sure you can think of a few recent examples.
That’s some kind of meta-lying, too. By cherrypicking, you are implicitly saying, “these are the issues of our times, why would I else present this important issue”
