Book Examines Social Media’s Role in India’s Hate-Speech Epidemic

“Social media, particularly Meta, has turbocharged the options available for bad actors in political campaigns, all while earning handsome profits. It does this primarily in two ways. One, it has severely reduced the cost and scrutiny of running political ads on its platforms. Second, it has allowed for a certain kind of content (hate speech, dog-whistling, negative stereotyping of marginalised communities) to get quick mass distribution that is clearly disallowed as per democratic norms.”

“can threaten democracy by spreading disinformation, manipulating public opinion, undermining democratic institutions, and threatening privacy and security”

“Tell me one thing, wherever Hindus are in a majority and Muslims are in a tiny minority, we, Hindus, do everything to make them [Muslims] feel like kings. Why do you guys threaten and intimidate Hindus, why do you trouble them so much?”