Bhima River

• They are seeking the arrest of the Wrestling Federation of India’s president, Brij Bhushan Singh, who is facing allegations that he sexually harassed athletes.
• However, far-right Hindu nationalists loyal to the government and its Hindutva ideology have attempted to bully and discredit the protesters.

Digital propaganda

• A big part of that effort involves using digital propaganda like memes, disinformation campaigns and digitally altered content.
• Similarly to the 2020-2021 farmers’ movement, the wrestlers’ protest is facing rampant demonization on social media.
• The wrestlers have even been accused of being linked to the Khalistanis, a banned Sikh separatist movement in India.

Online counter-speech

• It usually involves polite and non-aggressive responses, sharing fact-checked information and exposing the logical inconsistencies of messages shared online.
• Social movements face online propaganda campaigns, use of political bots, monitoring through spyware like Pegasus and even internet shutdowns.
• But most protest movements do not have this marginal advantage in online spaces.

Challenging propaganda

• To support counter-speech that can challenge the propaganda of governments, experts and academics need to rethink how efforts like digital media literacy programs and fact-checking can effectively respond.
• A proposed amendment to the country’s internet rules would give the government more power to police online content.
• In order to combat propaganda and disinformation, it is crucial to support democratically owned businesses like platform co-operatives, independent journalism and develop public service media and internet platforms that value truth and transparency and treat people like citizens, not consumers.