GILLES VERNIERS & MAYA MIRCHANDANI New Delhi: With 50 women candidates, or 17% of the 291 seats from where it is contesting a heated assembly election in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) has once again taken the lead amongst states that offer the largest space for women’s representation in politics. In the outgoing assembly,… Continue reading How Mamata’s Trinamool Broke The Glass Ceiling For Women In Politics
Twitter-Modi Govt Spat Could Catalyse Global Debate About Jurisdiction, Regulation
The clash between the Indian government and Twitter has once again exposed contradictions and double standards on both sides.The Centre has threatened to take legal action against Twitter, accusing it of bias in its resistance to taking down pro-farmers’ protest accounts that New Delhi claims could have caused a law and order problem. Information technology… Continue reading Twitter-Modi Govt Spat Could Catalyse Global Debate About Jurisdiction, Regulation
India’s Fight against a Pandemic leads to an ‘Infodemic’ Targeting Minorities and the Poor
The tackling of the Coronavirus pandemic in India — book-ended by the announcement of a stringent lockdown in March 2020, and now an ambitious nationwide vaccination plan in January 2021 — has laid bare social, economic, religious, and cultural fault-lines across the country. Fears and restrictions compounded pre-existing challenges in a country where an estimated… Continue reading India’s Fight against a Pandemic leads to an ‘Infodemic’ Targeting Minorities and the Poor
Can Communal Violence Fuel an ISIS Threat in India? An Analysis of ‘Voice of Hind’
In early 2020 the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) published an India-centric propaganda material called Voice of Hind. This special report examines the first issue of the publication, which openly recruits Indian Muslims by manipulating the fears and grievances they harbour owing to certain political developments in the country. The analysis uses theories… Continue reading Can Communal Violence Fuel an ISIS Threat in India? An Analysis of ‘Voice of Hind’
Geographically Contextualising Right-Wing Extremism for Tech Platforms: A Perspective From India
By Kabir Taneja and Maya Mirchandani A rise in right-wing extremism in the United States has forced the FBI to call out a domestic terrorism threat. Chris Wray, the director of America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation said racially motivated violent extremism, mostly from white supremacists made up the bulk of the agency’s current domestic terrorism investigations. While this brings out… Continue reading Geographically Contextualising Right-Wing Extremism for Tech Platforms: A Perspective From India
Political Mudslinging Over Facebook Bias Will Only Let the Social Media Giant Off the Hook
The Wall Street Journal’s expose of Facebook India’s internal communications indicating its apparently special relationship with the ruling party should have resulted in a serious, bipartisan policy discussion in parliament on the need to find ways to regulate weaponised information and hate speech on social media. This discussion would have been particularly important, given technology’s power to… Continue reading Political Mudslinging Over Facebook Bias Will Only Let the Social Media Giant Off the Hook
Fighting Hate Speech, Balancing Freedoms: A Regulatory Challenge
This research essay on ways to combat/ regulate hate speech and maintain the right to Free speech appeared in Volume 9 of the Journal of Indian Law and Society, that was released on May 20, 2020 by the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata. Abstract: The right to free expression is the heart of a… Continue reading Fighting Hate Speech, Balancing Freedoms: A Regulatory Challenge
On Chabahar, India Must Recover Lost Ground With Iran Quickly
Ripples in the India-Iran bilateral relationship have risen to the surface once again, forcing the question of whether India's policy and commitment towards the development of the Chabahar Port project is unraveling. Three days after Iran's announcement that it was starting work - finally, alone - on a crucial rail link between Zahedan and Chabahar… Continue reading On Chabahar, India Must Recover Lost Ground With Iran Quickly
Populism, propaganda and politics: Narendra Modi’s electoral playbook
In Hérodote Volume 177-178, Issue 2-3, April 2020, Abstract: The media plays a vital role in a democracy. It informs the public and acts as a watchdog against any abuse of power. During election campaigns, the media provides information on electoral performance, political manifestoes and candidates. However, the prolific spread of social media poses a serious challenge to mainstream media in… Continue reading Populism, propaganda and politics: Narendra Modi’s electoral playbook
What Nepal’s New Aggression Reveals For India And Its Neighbours
For the second time since its transition to a democratic republic, India's relations with Nepal have deteriorated sharply. The latest controversy over the inauguration by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh of an 80-kilometre stretch of road that connects the Lipulekh Pass in the north eastern corner of Uttarakhand to Kailash Mansarovar in order to make the… Continue reading What Nepal’s New Aggression Reveals For India And Its Neighbours
maya mirchandani 