- The voter and post-reality politics
After spreading misunderstanding and hatred in the West against the Muslims in general and migrants in particular, and replacing liberal administrations with nationalist and Islamophobic governments, the social media has started playing havoc in South Asia now.
The exploitation of technological platforms for political gains was already becoming a cause of worry in India. To create a perception that India’s so-called raid on a Balakot madrassa had had a devastating impact, pictures lifted from the Reuters coverage of the 2005 earthquake were put up and shared by thousands of viewers as a proof of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s muscular policy. Reuters had to issue a clarification that these pictures taken during the big temblor were not related to the Balakot attack. The BJP has shown extraordinary proficiency in manipulating social media. Fake news shared on WhatsApp portraying Muslims allegedly involved in theft or slaughter of cows have exacerbated communal hatred and led to the lynching of several innocent people.
Elections in India are fast turning into a competition between the teams of trolls employed by rival parties to spread false news thus undermining the very concept of freedom of speech. As a high percentage of India’s citizens are getting election-related information straight from social media, this has raised concerns about fake stories and images that could influence the elections. While disinformation campaigns are not new to Indian elections, a seismic shift has occurred over the last few years. During the last elections in 2014, only 21 per cent of Indians owned a smartphone. Ahead of the polls in 2019, that number is estimated to have nearly doubled.
There are quite a few similarities between India and Pakistan including an unprecedented increase in the reach of the social media. On this side of the border too, a political culture is taking shape where debate is framed largely by appeals to emotions disconnected from the details of policy, and by the repeated assertion of talking points to which factual rebuttals are ignored. There is a need on the part of rival parties to realise the dangers emanating from the propagation of false news. Also, for the issue to be debated at parliamentary forums and in print and electronic media.
