COVER STORY – INDIA: RISING FASCISM
Indian Facebook Has Muslim Blood on its Hands Corporate responsibility, the social media behemoth and ethical conduct
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BY SAFA AHMED
ith the number of lives that Facebook has claimed over the years, the social media conglom erate’s headquarters could easily be turned into a mausoleum. Some might call that an exaggeration. As the age-old adage claims, it’s sticks and stones — not words — that people need to defend themselves against because words, whether spoken or texted through WhatsApp (another Facebook company), can’t cause any real harm. But as whistleblower Frances Haugen has proven with her 2021 testimony on Capitol Hill, words don’t just have the power to hurt feelings, but also have the power to incite fear and hatred, lure everyday citizens down rabbit holes of extremist propaganda and turn groups of like-minded people into violent mobs who kill innocent people and upload videos of themselves doing it. Haugen has been very clear that in today’s climate, Facebook has blood on its hands. In markets all over the world, the company has consistently chosen profits over user safety (CBS, Oct. 3, 2021). “The result has been more division, more harm, more lies, more threats and more combat,” she said. “In some cases, this dangerous online talk has led to actual violence that harms and even kills people.” In her testimony to Congress, Haugen stated that Indian Facebook is a minefield of “dehumanizing posts comparing Muslims to ‘pigs’ and ‘dogs’ and misinformation claiming the Quran calls for men to rape their female family members.” Other fake — yet viral — posts claim that Muslims were responsible for the spread of Covid-19, that Muslim men have an agenda to seduce and convert Hindu women and that Muslims
are generally anti-nationals who hate all Hindus. A common slogan bouncing around Facebook and WhatsApp is “Hindus are in danger” — words that have been used to rile up violent mobs. For India’s 200 million Muslims, this isn’t the sort of thing you can walk away from by turning off your computer. India, a nation strongly infected by Hindutva, the popu lar and violent brand of nationalism that appeals to Hindu Indians, has been existing in a climate of extremism. In simple terms, Hindutva preaches Hindu supremacy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is its modern poster child. Under his government, which assumed power in 2014, Hindutva has skyrocketed in popularity among the country’s 80% Hindu population. Haugen took note of this in her testimony. In particular, she called out the Rashtriya
EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATIONS SHOW THAT INDIAN FACEBOOK IS FULL OF VIRAL HATE CONTENT. LIVE POSTS WITH MILLIONS OF VIEWS, VIDEOS OF MOB BEATINGS AND IMAGES OF DEAD BODIES ARE CIRCULATED REGULARLY AND ENTHUSIASTICALLY.
18 ISLAMIC HORIZONS JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS; estab. 1925), Hindutva’s umbrella organization. For those who aren’t familiar with the RSS, its founders modeled their supremacism on Hitler’s Nazism. In modern times, the RSS promotes “fear mongering” and “anti-Muslim narratives” on Facebook, targeting “pro-Hindu populations with V&I (violent and incendiary) intent” with its propaganda. A leaked document shows that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), now India’s ruling party, encourages a single user to have multiple accounts to help spread its propaganda. The Bajrang Dal, a BJP-linked Hindu extremist group, frequently posts anti-Muslim hate speech on the platform. If this all sounds familiar, that’s because Hindu nationalist groups and their sup porters are following in the footsteps of Buddhist-majority Myanmar, whose mil itary began rallying Buddhist extremists against the country’s Muslim Rohingya minority in 2016. According to an article appearing in The Diplomat on Aug. 25, 2020, Facebook higher-ups only recently admit ted that the platform was instrumental in leading to the violent slaughter of 10,000 Rohingya women, children and men. The content of these hateful posts echoes each other in almost eerie parallels. Islam is a threat to Buddhism (Myanmar) and Hinduism (India). Muslim men want to rape Buddhist women (Myanmar) and Hindu
