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
Category: Social Media
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
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
On Misinformation and Hate Speech (notes from a talk)
In August 2019, police in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh decided to open an investigation into a local journalist- Pawan Jaiswal all because he had exposed a government school for feeding its children salt and a chapati as a mid-day meal. This meal was well below the government’s minimum nutrition standards. But the state didn’t care about the… Continue reading On Misinformation and Hate Speech (notes from a talk)
The Parliamentary Panel Will Reinforce Bias on Twitter, Not Fix It
Round one of the bout between the parliamentary panel on information technology, led by BJP MP Anurag Thakur, and representatives of Twitter ended as expected – with an extension. The committee asked Twitter’s global CEO, Jack Dorsey to appear before it on February 25 to answer to charges of a ‘liberal’ bias that drowns out… Continue reading The Parliamentary Panel Will Reinforce Bias on Twitter, Not Fix It
To Delete or Not to #DeleteFacebook, That is the Question
For the last few days, I’ve been grappling with an unexpected existential crisis over whether or not to delete my Facebook. While the harvesting of data of 50 million Facebook users in America for political gain, without consent, is unconscionable, the issues the Cambridge Analytica scandal has raised — of privacy, consent and data security… Continue reading To Delete or Not to #DeleteFacebook, That is the Question
More Counter Speech needed to combat Hate on Facebook in India
Efforts at Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) online have become an important focus for social networks. CVE targets extremist ideologies, tackling them through alternate narratives that focus on peace-building. It is an invaluable tool to supplement counterterrorism strategies worldwide. To identify effective counter-speech on Facebook, ORF conducted a study analysing posts and comments on prominent public… Continue reading More Counter Speech needed to combat Hate on Facebook in India
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