Social Media Governance

The war is being exploited by hardliners to cast the Muslim community in a negative light and sow communal discord. Surprisingly, many of these WhatsApp forwards, which have gone viral in the small towns and villages, have been formulated by individuals who have no direct association with the ruling party at the Union government.

https://thewire.in/tech/whatsapp-israel-gaza-anti-muslim 

This reporter analysed more than 60 viral narratives spreading misinformation about the intentions of minorities, particularly aiming to stoke fear of Muslims among the Hindu community. This is glaringly evident in these messages, which have mostly gone viral in the Hindi belt, where the saffron party has a vocal support base.

by Bharat Nayak and Saurabh Sharma

16/01/2024

The new data protection Bill, IT Rules, internet shutdowns and poor cybersecurity record seen together are ominous. The citizen, not government and Big Tech, should be at the centre of a healthy digital ecosystem. https://thewire.in/rights/g20-india-is-now-the-vishwaguru-of-digital-authoritarianism 

But India is also the world’s internet shutdown capital. Last year, 45% of all internet shutdowns were in India. For the past five consecutive years, India has topped the global list of states that cut off the internet for their citizens. Manipur this time saw 100 days straight minus the internet, curbing information and also the rights of those seeking redress or help. Education and utilities suffer greatly too. In India, the casualness with which this is done must ring alarm bells about how the internet can be controlled.

That was only a sign or a symptom of the serious issues citizens of India face online. Far from a “gold standard”, India is writing a manual for digital authoritarians globally. How to dodge the worst of both worlds, an authoritarian government intent on surveillance as well as Big Tech as it draws each ‘data principal’ into its net, is among the biggest challenges Indians face today.

by Seema Chishti

17/08/2023

Apar Gupta details the way in which technology can be used to deepen police abuses and erosion of democratic freedoms.

https://thewire.in/tech/digital-india-police-democracy-freedom 

Here, the lawlessness that occurred in North East Delhi between February 23 and 26, 2020, serves as a case study of the role of digital policing and criminal justice. As per a Right to Information (RTI) request answered by the Delhi Police, it resulted in 53 deaths and 581 injuries, with 754 FIRs and 1,369 arrests. The high teledensity in Delhi, with an estimated 2.8 connections per person, meant that many residents were likely using social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp at the time of the incident. It is important to understand their role in the cycle of hate speech and provocation that led to the events of February. A fact-finding report by the Constitutional Conduct Group concluded that “the use of social media platforms are often part and parcel of episodes of violence, whether through spreading false rumours, circulating offensive inciting tropes, or facilitating the conduct of violent acts.”

I posit that social media serves as the central hub, a backbone, for a ubiquitous digital media ecology that shapes the experiences of many individuals in Delhi. To fully comprehend the cycle of hate speech and provocation that culminated in the events of February, it is crucial to grasp the broader digital media ecosystem that is rapid, ever-present, and influencing our thoughts. This ecosystem is driven by constant connectivity, algorithms that hack away at our cognitive biases. It creates factions and tribalistic tendencies to serve a reality that is closer to our imagination. Here powerful tools of both speech and censorship that are legal and technical, constantly curate the information that we consume. It cocoons our understanding. Such is its hypnotism and a forced need for social participation that even those who clearly see its harms cannot help themselves. They may refer to it as a “hell site” but each day they will choose to be its resident. 

Is it possible to stop and think before we like, share and subscribe?

The third is probably the most voluminous and significant form of online censorship. It is directly implemented by social media and messaging platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. When they permit, prefer and prohibit content based on a labyrinth of backend choices in their business and platform policies they determine what we get to perceive, think and react.

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by Apar Gupta

Websites infamous for spreading fake news have been earning thousands of dollars from Google Ads.

https://scroll.in/article/1036862/how-google-ads-is-funding-misinformation-around-the-world 

Google is funneling revenue to some of the web’s most prolific purveyors of false information in Europe, Latin America and Africa, a ProPublica investigation has found.

The company has publicly committed to fighting disinformation around the world, but a ProPublica analysis, the first ever conducted at this scale, documented how Google’s sprawling automated digital ad operation placed ads from major brands on global websites that spread false claims on such topics as vaccines, Covid-19, climate change, and elections.

by Craig Silverman, ProPublica, Ruth Talbot, ProPublica & Anna Klühspies, ProPublica

14/11/2022