Search

A common diversionary tactic used to deflect attention from contested issues is whataboutery which, when used by majoritarian groups to justify their behaviour against marginalised communities, can quickly devolve into extremism. We explore the manifestations of extreme speech in the Indian context, through a case study of violent protests and policing in the city of Bangalore, provoked by a derogatory Facebook post. Analyses of the dominant narratives on Twitter surrounding the incident reveal that, most of them employ whataboutism to deflect attention from the triggering post and serve as breeding grounds for religion-based extreme speech. We conclude by discussing how our study proposes an alternative lens of viewing extremism in the Global South., Comment: Accepted at CSCW'21 Workshop on Addressing Challenges and Opportunities in Online Extremism Research

A tweet from popular entertainer and businesswoman, Rihanna, bringing attention to farmers' protests around Delhi set off heightened activity on Indian social media. An immediate consequence was the weighing in by Indian politicians, entertainers, media and other influencers on the issue. In this paper, we use data from Twitter and an archive of debunked misinformation stories to understand some of the patterns around influencer engagement with a political issue. We found that more followed influencers were less likely to come out in support of the tweet. We also find that the later engagement of major influencers on the side of the government's position shows suggestion's of collusion. Irrespective of their position on the issue, influencers who engaged saw a significant rise in their following after their tweets. While a number of tweets thanked Rihanna for raising awareness on the issue, she was systematically trolled on the grounds of her gender, race, nationality and religion. Finally, we observed how misinformation existing prior to the tweet set up the grounds for alternative narratives that emerged., 13 pages, 12 figures

The suicide of Indian actor Sushant Singh Rajput in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown triggered a media frenzy of prime time coverage that lasted several months and became a political hot button issue. Using data from Twitter, YouTube, and an archive of debunked misinformation stories, we found two important patterns. First, that retweet rates on Twitter clearly suggest that commentators benefited from talking about the case, which got higher engagement than other topics. Second, that politicians, in particular, were instrumental in changing the course of the discourse by referring to the case as 'murder', rather than 'suicide'. In conclusion, we consider the effects of Rajput's outsider status as a small-town implant in the film industry within the broader narrative of systemic injustice, as well as the gendered aspects of mob justice that have taken aim at his former partner in the months since., 14 pages, 16 figures. For any queries regarding the paper, please email Joyojeet Pal (Joyojeet.Pal@microsoft.com)

The work of frontline health workers providing access to pregnancy care services to women in South India is highly distributed and often overlooked in the design of healthcare infrastructures. Unlike clinical and nonclinical personnel who engage in different care practices within and across hospital departments with clearly established work roles, the work of frontline workers is performed across different geographical areas beyond the boundaries of the hospital and with loosely defined roles and resources making the coordination of work more complex. Based on a case study investigating the work of frontline health workers, we report a number of material infrastructural arrangements (the Thayi Card, physical and digital registers, and mobile phones) that played a major role supporting community health practices. We conclude by discussing the opportunities that these artefacts offer for the design of healthcare infrastructures.