Scenario: you are a senior policy advisor for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. You have learned that viral rumors (spread by Facebook and WhatsApp) about kidnappers have led to mobs killing over 20 people in the last two months. In the last few days, mob killings of innocent people have spiked. The Prime Minister has repeatedly publicly denounced the killings. What should the Prime Minister do? (Write your response in the form of a blog post of approximately 500 words).
Context
India has a long, gory, and unfortunate history of mass violence and mob killings precipitated by rumors, misinformation and lack of absolute state control over the dissemination of information. The birth of the modern Indian nation started with partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 displacing between 10-12 million people with estimates of lives lost in violence during the Partition ranging from several hundred thousand to two million (Talbot and Singh 2009).
Free Speech, Hate Speech & Indian Constitution
Article 19 in India’s Constitution that talks about the ‘Right to Freedom’ guarantees the right to freedom of speech and expressions as one of the 6 freedoms. Unlike the First Amendment in the US Constitution, the Indian Constitution does not bestow absolute freedom of expression upon its citizens. The State can intervene, censor and incriminate citizens for expressions of speech alleged to endanger national security, public order, decency and morality, contempt of court, incitement to an offense, and the sovereignty of Indian State. The Freedom of Press has long been in the crosshair of this inherent tension between the right and control of free speech.
Long History of State Censors & Self-Regulation by the Press
The Indian State has a long history of censoring speech under the guise of protecting “Law and Order” and National Security. Every party in power since Independence have curtailed press freedom with executive actions when threatened by the power of the free flow of information. But thanks to India’s robust and highly decentralized Press, civil society, and a watchful Judiciary, the public still got to hear and see a wide range of published opinions that very vetted through journalistic processes of different standards. Established laws against incitement and in-house checks and balances established by major publishing houses have mostly been effective in preventing the press from becoming rumor mills. But this is all before Social Media entered the scene.
Enter Social Media - The Great Disruptor & Hatred Accelerator
With the explosion of smartphones, wifi access, and easily manipulated photoshop memes, it is as if a great dam broke and all the latent resentment, communal hatred, caste-prejudices were able to bubble forth into a torrent of peer-to-peer hate speech channels. While certain political parties at the state level have used these results to their advantage to whip up majority vote, it is increasingly becoming untenable for Narendra Modi’s ruling party to preserve law and order in the Union when the State loses control over the dissemination of information.
What should the Prime Minister do?
The Prime Minister can do a lot without shutting down Social Media. I believe it is disingenuous for an all-powerful State to claim that the only way it can control violence is by curtailing channels of information. Such a policy would conflict with the Nation’s Constitutional principles. Furthermore, in a democratic country where a significant share of the GDP comes from Information Technology, a large number of highly skilled tech workers and outright censorship of digital mediums can be a self-defeating proposition.
I would recommend an old-fashioned policy strategy that would accomplish the following - Inform, Investigate, Indict. And they could all be done over the digital medium.
Inform
The Prime Minister has a bully pulpit that he is always ready to deploy to advance his political agenda through his tweets. He ultimately controls the Telecommunication Network. Wouldn't it be highly effective if he sends a text message from his official account to ever phone number in the area being affected by violence categorically denouncing the rumors and promising swift action against the agents of violence and disinformation? Such a message from the Prime Minister’s Office can be followed up by updates from the State and Local authorities.
Investigate
Most States and the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) already have an IT-Task force in place that can easily track the source of messages with IP addresses. Employ the Executive apparatus of the State to investigate the source of discord. Follow the due process, get an emergency warrant, go after the bad actors and confiscate their disinformation tools.
Indict
Promptly bring the perpetrators to justice. Let the citizens know that the government ultimately has an upper hand in tracking those who break the law, and it will do so promptly. And yes, he can also do that over a text message.
References:
Talbot, Ian; Singh, Gurharpal (2009), The Partition of India, Cambridge University Press,ISBN 978-0-521-85661-4
Constitution of India-Part III Article 19 Fundamental Rights.