The False Equivalence of Free Speech and Misinformation

Meta justifies the shift as a step towards fostering free expression, as echoed in Mark Zuckerberg’s Georgetown speech about empowering individuals to voice their opinions. However, unmoderated free speech often becomes a breeding ground for falsehoods and malicious narratives. Professional fact-checking, though imperfect, provided a critical layer of accountability by separating genuine discourse from deliberate misinformation. Community-driven models, on the other hand, often amplify the loudest or most popular opinions, regardless of their genuinity.

Challenges of Crowdsourcing Moderation

Meta’s shift to community-driven moderation under the “Community Notes” model presents several critical challenges. These systems are frequently vulnerable to partisan bias, enabling dominant narratives to suppress minority perspectives, and organized manipulation, where bots and coordinated groups distort facts. This was starkly evident during the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal, where Facebook data was exploited to influence political outcomes, raising serious concerns about digital democracy. Another glaring example is Facebook’s involvement in the Myanmar Rohingya crisis, where unchecked hate speech on the platform contributed to widespread violence, with the UN citing Facebook as having a “determining role.” Similarly, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the platform became a hub for anti-vaccine propaganda, undermining global public health initiatives. During the 2024 Indian general election, Mark Zuckerberg inaccurately stated that the incumbent government lost due to its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. This claim was incorrect as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government was re-elected for a third term. The misinformation sparked outrage, leading Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to publicly refute the statement. In response, Meta India’s Vice President Shivnath Thukral issued an apology for the “inadvertent error” and reaffirmed Meta’s commitment to fostering accurate information.

If Meta introduces the Community Notes system, it risks being hijacked by organized political groups like the BJP IT cell, which has previously demonstrated its ability to exploit similar systems on platforms such as Twitter. Numerous reports have documented coordinated campaigns by the BJP IT cell to spread propaganda, disinformation, and polarizing narratives, often under the guise of organic community engagement. This manipulation not only distorts public discourse but also influences public perception on critical matters. Replicating such tactics on Meta’s platforms could lead to a systematic spread of partisan falsehoods, eroding democratic processes and undermining the platform’s credibility as a space for truthful and balanced discussions.

#BJP IT Cell Exposed: How lies and propaganda are spread.. https://t.co/6iDbgW4xD3 I found this hilarious. You must watch too #AAPAtWork

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) September 16, 2016

In regions governed by strict regulations like the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), this policy could lead to significant regulatory challenges and possible sanctions.

A Reputational Risk for Meta

Meta’s decision also jeopardizes its own credibility and the trust of advertisers. By downgrading professional oversight, the platform risks becoming a hub for disinformation, deterring reputable companies from associating with it. Advertisers may hesitate to place their brands in an environment where false claims could damage their reputation.

The Need for a Hybrid Model

While professional fact-checking alone is not a panacea, it serves as a vital deterrent against the unchecked spread of misinformation. A more effective solution would be a hybrid model that combines expert oversight with community involvement, enhanced by transparent algorithms and robust accountability mechanisms. This approach could ensure that free expression does not come at the expense of truth.

Related:

Report: Meta reportedly monetising on ads calling for the killing of Muslims as well as opposition leader

After EU, US senator raises concerns about misinformation to Google, X, Meta

BUJ deplores attempts to censor online content by Government fact check unit

The post From fact-checking to chaos: How meta’s new moderation model risks eroding trust and democracy appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Busted! Mughal rulers were like any kings and rulers, and there was nothing from history that points to them being sinister, with an anti-Hindu plan, as right-wing trolls attest.

The Mughal Empire was a dynasty that ruled over the Indian subcontinent from the early 16th to the mid-19th century.

First and foremost, though dynasts from a feudal era, the Mughal dynast settled here, brought their culture, assimilated. A vast section of Indians collaborated under their rule and remained wedded to their original faiths. The gross domestic product of Mughal India in 1600 AD was estimated at about 24.3% the world economy, the second largest in the world. By this time the Mughal Empire had expanded to include almost 90 per cent of South Asia, and enforced a uniform customs and tax-administration system. They did not, technically or otherwise “loot” the country even though a vast section of India’s artisans, farmers and working class lived on poor means as under the rule of other rulers who were neither Mughal nor Muslim.

Besides, the Mughal dynasty has left an indelible mark on the region’s history, culture, and architecture. However, when it comes to the present age, several labels are thrown at the Mughals, and they are being called out for being particularly ‘anti-Hindu’. However, historians offer another perspective to view the past that is contrary to this communal perspective.

For instance, in an interview with Teesta Setalvad from November 2015 , acclaimed historian D. N. Jha argues that while Mughal rulers, like rulers across the world in that day and age, destroyed temples, it was not with a religious intent that we witness today. The reasons for the destruction may have been political and related to the empire. Churches and sometimes, even mosques were subject to such destruction. Jha cites that the raiding of the acclaimed Somnath Temple was not purely religious but for the mass wealth that the temple had stacked. Thus, historical records seem to be different from what is claimed by politicians and critics who seek to paint Mughals with a communal paintbrush. On the contrary, while there is evidence of demolition of temples, there is also evidence of official encouragement by the state to indigenous Indian traditions and scholarship.

A review by Harbans Mukhia for The Wire of the book, ‘Mughal Samrat Akbar Aur Sanskrit’ (2012) written by Pratik Kumar Mishra, points out how the book states that history cannot be seen as ‘Hindu versus Muslim.’ The book by Misra also posits that Akbar, amongst other kinds, used to give a number of grants to many Pandits for Sanskrit scholarship. Mughal kings such as Shahjahan were noted to celebrate art beyond faith, for instance, Jagannatha Paṇḍita (1590-1670) was a famous Sanskrit poet, musician and literary critic from Telangana, according to Y. S. Walimbe. He was present at the courts of the emperors Shahjahan and Jahangir. Several Mughal kings and their relatives, such as Dara Shikoh, eldest son of Shahjahan, and Aurangzeb’s uncle Shaista Khan were known to have learned Sanskrit. Shikoh had also reportedly worked with Sanskrit scholars to translate the Upanishads.

So, should we consume propaganda without question, and believe that all the rulers of the Mughal Empire were mad barbarians whose official policy was to destroy the Hindus? The fact that kings patronised Sanskrit scholarships, arts, and literature and invited famous Hindu scholars of these arts to preserve, and not destroy, such art in their courts does not seem to support this theory.

Akbar meeting some Jesuit priests. By Chester Beatty. Source: Sutra Journal.

Claim #2: Mughal kings destroyed a significant fire temple called Ateshgah in Azerbaijan.

Busted! Mughals did not rule the land of Azerbaijan, Mongols did. While they share the same dynasty, the Mongols and Mughals were different, as the latter also shared a Turkic ethnicity and were offshoots of the Mongol empire. Secondly, the remains of the temple are speculated to have been destroyed by industrialists searching for gas and oil in the 19th century, and not the Mughals!

This video from Kreately Media argues that Mughals destroyed a centuries old statue of Ganesh at the fire temple in Azerbaijan, but interestingly the Mughals as we know them never ruled Azerbaijan. Kreately Media is an online media portal, describes itself on its website as ‘Pro-Hindutva organisation’ and a platform that “allows you to speak up in support of dharma.”

The Ateshgah Temple of Azerbaijan contains a lot of layers of history, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. While it is primarily, however, a Zoroastrian temple, it contains Greek, Persian and Zoroastrian ruins, as well as evidence of links with India with Punjabi and Sanskrit inscriptions. It houses an eternal flame which Parsis revere around the world. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Indian travellers and pilgrims also made their way to the site and added their deities to worship at the site, according to The Hindu. It was even visited by the late external affairs minister from BJP, Sushma Swaraj in 2018.

Source: Baku City Tours.

Thus, as social media claims such as these make an attempt to go global and attribute crimes of barbarity to Mughal kings in nations outside of India, they yet again fail to check in with history. Let us take a trip down in the past to check the facts.

The Mongols were known for their diverse tolerance and pluralism, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. At one point of time, they had people of all faiths, including Jewish, Muslims, and Christians in their armies. Gulegu Khan himself was not known to have adhered to religion, but historical archives suggest that he may have had an interest in Buddhism. However, it was not the Mughals who ruled Azerbaijan, but the Mongols.  According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Mughals and Mongols are not the same group even though the Mughals were descendants of the Mongols. The former got their name by mispronouncing the word Mongol and are actually ethnic Turks according to a paper by Nicholas F. Gier published by the University of Idaho. The Mongol empire 300 years after the death of Chingiz Khan (1162-1227), was split into four, one of which was the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent.

Therefore, the region was initially under Persian rule under the kingdom of Sasanians in the 3rd century CE, according to Britannica. Thereonwards, it was ruled by Arabs from the 7th to 11th century, and after which it was succeeded by Turkish nomads, who were later defeated by the Mongols, led by Hulegu Khan. Thus, following the Mongols, and not Mughals, who ruled for 300 years, the region was conquered by the Persian Safavid dynasty. The dynasty ruled till the 18th century, by the time it was for the Russian empire to take over as it was beginning to consolidate and encroach into Azerbaijan.

Furthermore, an article in The Hindu suggests that the remains of the old temple in Azerbaijan were most likely to have been destroyed by industrial development in the 19th century, when excavators were searching for oil and gas. Thereby, we can understand from this that right-wing trolls mistakenly attribute destruction of religious sites to Muslims, or whoever they consider their present enemy.

Aurangzeb the marauder of temples?

However, accusations of temple destruction remain common among the right-wing. Amongst these campaigns of declaring Mughals as exclusive-temple breakers is a figure who features widely, Aurangzeb. It is commonly asserted that he ordered the destruction of numerous temples. The incident –much touted—of his destruction of the Kashi Viswanath temple in Varanasi cannot be doubted; the only counter is that in his expansionist military campaigns he also destroyed the Mosque at Golconda Fort!

Other historical narratives also present us accounts that challenge this image of Aurangzeb of an irrational ruler. Undoubtedly a stark and sectarian believer in Islam (he levied the controversial and selective jizzia tax on a section of the people), Aurangzeb however was also engaged in acts of donating to temples. The Telegraph’s essay cites one interesting example is the Dao Ji Maharaj temple near Mathura, where Aurangzeb allocated the revenue of five villages as a donation. Additionally, he extended his support to various temples in Kashi and Mathura as well. Hence while distinct from his forbears in some ways, Aurangzeb upheld the longstanding tradition of charitable contributions to temples, a practice that had been established by preceding Mughal monarchs. A report by Scroll on Audrey Truschke’s book on Aurangzeb titled ‘Aurangzeb: The Man and the Myth’, also reveals that Hindu temples flourished under his rule, and were even granted the Mughal state’s protection and Aurangzeb would ensure that this protection would be in place. The essay notes that the emperor’s goodwill towards a particular temple could be taken back, however, if the temple sought to act against the state.

Speaking to Teesta Setalvad for the India Cultural Forum in December 2015, historian Irfan Habib talks about how history has been mythologised. He cites the example of how Hindu Mahasabha started the claim that ‘we’, Indians, have been under ‘foreign rule for the past 2000 years. Muslim rulers were foreigners, and they sent wealth abroad.’ The second aspect is that they have further distorted the history of the national movement. Although they (RSS) were formed 22 years before independence, they did nothing against the English…they have no heroes, they took no part in the national movement, their leaders never went to jail except like they went by mistake. To claim ancient India or Hindu civilisational achievements, like claiming that civilisation is above every other civilisation. This took early, like creating, all kinds of scientific achievements.”

Similarly, the hateful misinformation about Muslim rulers may not just be a modern Hindutva conspiracy. Historian Ruchika Sharma in a piece on Scroll.in traces fictional accounts defaming the Allaudin Khilji, of the Delhi Sultanate, that go as far back to the 16th century, and can be traced to the Rajputs. For instance, the story of Padmavati, Sharma writes, was one such example through which the Rajput kings tried to paint Khilji as a barbarian. The Rajput kings were often spurned by the lack of patronage and finances accorded to them by the Kings, which when they would resort to such tactics and thus such depictions of kings came out due to rivalry, competing kingdoms, and even disgruntled rulers.

Anti-Mughal bias a result of anti-Muslim prejudice?

“They looted Bharat and sent our gold to Islamic countries to spread their religion,” is among the five first posts that come up if you search for Mughals on the social media site, X. Folk tales and selective narratives about Mughals and other rulers perforate the local everyday traditions.

What are these?

For example, in Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi district of Uttar Pradesh lies a temple known to people as Chhoti Kashi or Little Kashi which is called Baba Sunaasir Nath Mandir and is dedicated to Shiva. Believers recount that this is an ancient temple in which the Shivaling was installed by the deity Indira himself. The priest of this temple in Hardoi, according to News 18 Hindi, explained that during the Mughal era, Aurangzeb attempted to destroy it and he ordered his army to destroy all the temples in the country. During this period, the Mughal army also attacked the Sunaasir Nath Mandir in Hardoi. However, they couldn’t uproot the Shiva Lingam. When they tried, various creatures like insects, moths, scorpions, snakes, and wasps emerged from the Shiva Lingam, causing havoc in the Mughal army. Eventually, they had to retreat. However, while these folk tales exist, there seems to be an even more insidious side to the narratives on Mughals in India. For instance, Hindutva narratives continue to pit history as communal and argue that India’s past was one of bloody religious communalism. Pertinently, after the BJP has come to power, chapters on Mughals have been removed from history books of the NCERT (National Council for Research and Training) textbooks for class 12th students. The NCERT books are taught to students in more than 24,000 schools across the country.

Along with this, NCERT also removed portions of textbooks which talked about the 2002 Gujarat massacre and also portions on Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination and communalism in 2023, as per reports. This development can only point to the beginning of a one-sided view of history that also seeks to portray certain figures in a good light and others in a negative light – which makes a book more a propaganda than a piece of knowledge.

Similarly, the internet is awash with such trends about Mughals. According to a report from The Quint, the website Getdaystrends, which analyses Twitter trends in 2022, disclosed that approximately 1.97 lakh tweets in India featured the hashtag #HindusUnderAttackInIndia. This surge in the dissemination of misinformation surrounding the Mughals, with a pronounced Islamophobic tilt, that is particularly fuelled by right-wing narratives in India and abroad.

Many such selective myths exist about the Mughal Empire. Why are they relevant to us? Because not only do they distort and puncture history, they also, if left unchecked, perpetuate unfiltered hate and prejudice against modern-day Muslims in India. This distortion of historical facts also serves to undermine the rich and complex legacy of Indian history, including the Mughals, and contributes to the spread of harmful stereotypes and prejudice that curb critical thinking and critical readings of history. Thus as rulers who sought to create an empire and held onto it for years, the figure of the Mughals does not fit in the simplistic and politically motivated binaries constructed & circulated today.

Related:

Pantar log ka Hatebuster: Polygamy in India

Hate Hatao: CJP’s Campaign Against Division and Discrimination

Were some Hindu Temples originally Buddhist Structures?

 Hate Buster: A Glimpse into How Missionary Faiths Arrived in India

The post Uncovering Historical Truths: Were the Mughals anti-Hindu? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

For instance, in the time between January 2 and December 31, 2023, BOOM Live published around 190 fact-checks in English, Hindi, and Bangla. They analysed this data and it revealed that about 15.4% of these fact-checks which amounted to a total of 183 instances were claims that specifically targeted the Muslim community. 

BOOM Live’s analysis of 211 fact-checks targeting religious groups reveals that Muslims bore the brunt of these fact-checks, with nearly 87% of them being directed at the religious minority, while Hindus faced 11% and Christians faced about 0.9%. The nature of the dis/misinformation was taken out differently for Hindus and Muslims for, even though both groups were subjected to misleading and false content, the proportion of these claims showcased a stark contrast. For instance, 67.4% of misleading claims targeted Muslims, while only 5.2% were directed at Hindus, with Christians facing 0.48% of such content.

BOOM’s analysis shows that a significant 72.2% of those posts aimed at Muslims carried a communal undertone, and seemingly sought to ignite animosity between religious groups. In contrast, the fact-checks targeting Hindus reflected a mere 5.26% with similar communal implications. One common trope amongst these campaigns was that of a concentrated effort to raise alarm about a population conspiracy. Citizens for Justice and Peace has previously busted this claim as part of this Hate Buster segment, and various outlets too have revealed that this solely exists as a means of polarising sentiments and creating hate against minorities. 

A staggering percentage, about 84.2%, of these claims were seen to be disseminating these alarming claims of ‘population explosion.’ The internet is replete with these claims that cry about an alleged demographic conspiracy slated by Muslims to ‘take over’ the Hindu population and reduce it to a minority. This claim has not been backed by any facts and, in fact, has been effectively debunked by research institutes as well. For instance, the Pew Research Centre has projected a growth in India’s Muslim community to 311 million by 2050 but this would be in relation to the Hindu population, which also grow by millions. Thus, even if this progression of population continues according to current growth rates, Muslims are expected to remain a minority in a country of 1.7 billion people. 

Yet, these fact-checks have not deterred the proliferation of disinformation on social media platforms, such as Facebook and WhatsApp. False narratives predicting India’s immediate transition to a Muslim-majority country have fast gained traction which in turn are fuelled by conspiracy theories that claim Muslims are plotting to secure numerical supremacy. These narratives thereby have been long propagated by Hindutva adherents serve to not only distort demographic projections but also perpetuate social fissures.

Politics 

Furthermore, BOOM Live’s fact-checks have further unearthed that while the Muslim community emerged as a consistent central point in these campaigns, political figures and political currents do not remain aside. It discovered that political figures, including the Prime Minister Narendra Modi also are subjected to these campaigned, however, it seems in a different manner. For instance, BOOM outlines that of the 1,190 fact-checks conducted, only 63 were directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi but unlike the negative portrayal endured by the Muslim community, Modi was subjected to a number of false claims that portrayed him in a positive light. 

Interestingly, international events were not spared either as one of the most fact-checked topics of the year was the Israel-Palestine conflict. BOOM reported that it had over 100 fact-checks dedicated to unpacking fake news related to the issue. Furthermore, in terms of domestic politics, there was a considerable number of fact-checks devoted to smear campaigns against political parties which saw that the BJP was the primary target, with 44% of smear campaigns directed at them, followed by the Indian National Congress at 30% and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) at 12%.

Media

BOOM Live further fact-checked 77 instances of false or misreported news by mainstream media, news websites, and wire agencies throughout 2023. The results were surprised as it was revealed that mainstream media outlets such as News18, Times Now, and Zee News have been identified as key contributors to media-related dis/misinformation.

Moreover, the analysis revealed that Asian News International (ANI) led the pack among these agencies. BOOM Live’s reports that there were about eight instances of false news reported by them. Interestingly, the analysis also shows the lack of fact-checking exercises by some of these media houses as they have also been reported to be falling for fake news propagated by right-wing accounts on platforms like Twitter. Accounts such as Megh Updates, BALA, Rishi Bagree, The Right Wing Guy, Kreately, Dr. Nimo Yadav, and The Tatva played a role in disseminating dis/misinformation, with media outlets being duped by at least nine tweets from Megh Updates alone, according to the analysis by BOOM. 

Similarly, India’s largest minority, Muslims have also been recorded to be the target of hate speeches in 2023. According to Al-Jazeera, throughout the initial half of 2023, Muslims faced a surge in hate speech gatherings. The article details there were about 255 incidents of hate speech at gatherings which documented. These instances reportedly saw the Muslim community as being the target of hate speech as well as dis/misinformation.

Related

Distorting facts about Muslim population growth at the Digital Hindu Conclave

False claims about ‘Muslim population explosion’ busted

Indian Population Growth Less Dependent On Religion, More On Development

India 131st out of 180 countries on child survival rankings: WHO-UNICEF-Lancet report

The post Muslims in India bear the brunt of dis/misinformation: report appeared first on SabrangIndia.

According to a senior official quoted in the report by the Indian Express, the said step could be a phased process with legacy outlets being allowed to obtain registration in the first phase.

“The ministry is in the final stages of drafting the Bill. For fact checkers, there is a consideration that they should be registered with the government. There is also a plan to not register ‘non-legacy’ fact checking bodies,” the official had said.

The report also provided that the Bill is likely to categorize different sorts of internet intermediaries, including fact-checking portals, as the Centre intends to prescribe distinct laws to different types of intermediaries. And under these laws and rules to be prescribed, the provision of seeking registration from the government might be included as it has been understood.

It is important to highlight that the impending Digital India Bill is a crucial component of the government’s “comprehensive legal framework” for the internet sector, which will be replacing the decades old the Information Technology Act, 2000. It also comprises a draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022, a proposed Indian Telecommunications Bill, 2022, and a policy for non-personal data governance and handling. Notably, the draft of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, which was released by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on November 18, 2022 to invite public comments, contained a provision which proposed to amend the Right to Information Act, 2005. Clause 30(2) of the draft proposed an amendment to Section 8(j) of the RTI Act, which will have the effect of totally exempting personal information from disclosure.

The Indian Express had previously stated that under the new Bill, the IT Ministry might include deliberate misrepresentation, doxxing, impersonation, identity theft, catfishing, and cyberbullying of children under definition of offenses. The Bill will also cover user problems associated with developing technologies, such as generative AI platforms like ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. The Bill could also upend some of the core ideas that currently govern online platforms, such as revising safe harbour regulations.

Over the last few months, the Centre has made many attempts and has been striving to tighten its grip around fact-checking internet content. A proposed amendment to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, made it mandatory for all intermediaries, including social media platforms, to ensure that any news article identified as “fake or false” by the Press Information Bureau’s Fact Check Unit is not allowed on their platform.

Content warned by the government authority would have to be removed by online intermediaries such as social media platforms as a condition for ensuring safe harbour, the legal immunity they have over third-party content. The measure has sparked widespread criticism, including a legal case, with calls to rescind it.

A deeper analysis of how the said surveillance regime violates both Privacy & Right to Life can be read here.

Related:

Digital Personal Data Protection Bill seeks to amend RTI Act to bar disclosure of personal information

Scrap rules proposed to monitor digital media: Journalists’ organisations

IFF analyses new social media Ethics Code and digital media rules

Digital Transactions Recede, Threaten ‘Digital India’

The post Registration of digital fact-checking sites with govt may be a part of the future Digital India Bill appeared first on SabrangIndia.