Social Media Governance

Government guidelines for influencers and content creators are a gentle nudge with no bite. Health has become synonymous with wellness and anything goes. Many are also promoting active scepticism toward allopathy and modern medicine in the name of kitchen remedies, ancient knowledge, and cultural pride. For fact-checkers, this is the natural extension of the ‘WhatsApp University’ — an ecosystem that feeds on impressionable consumers and a culture of wilful ignorance. https://theprint.in/ground-reports/indian-health-influencers-whatsapp-university-fact-checkers/2709818/ 

Regulations are sparse, and the DMs of health influencers are overflowing. So much so that even certified doctors and nutritionists are creating content as a necessary credibility-booster. But how do we pack complex health information in 15-second reels? According to nutritionists, there’s a growing club of Indians across the spectrum who’d rather receive treatment through content — professionals are passé.

As the tide of misinformation grows stronger, there’s also a simultaneous pushback. A small group of professionals, like Krish Ashok of Masala Lab, hepatologist Dr Cyriac Abby Philips or the Liver Doc, and Sudipta Sengupta who runs The Healthy Indian Project (THIP), are fact-checking myths and popular trends, and calling out influencers. But more often than not, they’re not as potent as the peddlers of health flogging everything from magnesium to protein.

ANTARA BARUAH

01/08/2025

As graphic trolling and abuse forced the foreign secretary of India, Vikram Misri, to make his X account private, questions have once again emerged on the role being played by aggressive and abusive right-wing accounts and media in shaping public discourse within India. We must also look at the international impact of that discourse. 

https://thewire.in/society/india-online-trolling-rightwing-doxxing-vikram-misri 

While the government has remained silent on this abuse, administrative services associations, a section of politicians, and media persons have offered their solidarity to the foreign secretary. These condemnations however remain centred around the foreign secretary’s illustrious career and on how undeserving he is of this abuse. And while that may be true, this once again minimises the broader problem: an online and media culture where abuse, graphic sexualised threats, the unauthorised release of personal information and cyber stalking have been routinely used to silence critics of the government within India for the last decade.

by Sarayu Pani

13/05/2025

Earlier this week, when French police held Telegram chief executive officer Pavel Durov—alleging the app’s lack of content moderation enabled its misuse for narcotics trafficking, money laundering, and the sharing of child pornography—they set the stage for a critical battle in the long-simmering feud between technology companies and global law enforcement. https://theprint.in/opinion/security-code/telegram-ceo-arrest-set-the-stage-for-a-law-vs-tech-battle-will-shape-norms-across-the-world/2240208/ 

Across the world, though, organised crime cartels are continuing to use free, easily available tech tools, and the patience of some governments is starting to run out. Telegram’s encryption isn’t highly regarded, but its loose content moderation policies and openness to large chat groups have led Russian dissidents, American neo-Nazis, French anarchists, and Islamic State jihadists to turn to it to send out their messages.

Facebook, WhatsApp, and other platforms, by contrast, have begun aggressively shutting down accounts and restricting the ease of broadcasting messages in response to mounting concerns over disinformation. Telegram, though, chose to buck the pressure.

Living in a new online age, the world needs to seriously debate the ethics and norms that ought to guide it. The debate is too serious to be left to government and law enforcement alone.

by Praveen Swami

27/08/2024

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