'V.P. Rajeena, a journalist based in Kozhikode, has become the target of organised online abuse, after she shared her personal experiences of studying in a madrasa in her younger days. Facebook closed down her profile on Wednesday after mass reporting by her detractors. On Sunday, Rajeena put up a post in the social network on alleged instances of immoral conduct of madrasa instructors, which she claimed to have witnessed. The post touched a raw nerve and set off a torrent of abuses and open threats on her Facebook page and in her message box.
'The Indian government sought the maximum number of content restrictions from the various platforms of social networking behemoth Facebook in the first six months of this year than any other country globally. The world's biggest social networking platform said it granted requests from authorities in India for some 15,155 pieces of content to be blocked on its platform, its WhatsApp and Messenger apps and its photo-sharing app, Instagram. This was revealed by Facebook in its latest report on government data requests for the period between January and June this year...
'Armchair activism isn't a bad word any more. In fact, there's nothing beyond its scope if people decide to sit on a chair and raise their virtual voice. The recent instances of hate against Pakistan and the Shiv Sena-imposed extra-egal ban on artistes, writers and sportspersons from across the border has triggered a spontaneous online campaign that has spurred support beyond boundaries and could hold a lesson for politicians.
'When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg holds his Townhall Q&A in New Delhi on October 28, there is one question I would like him to answer: Will he, please, scrap Facebook’s ‘real names’ policy? As it happens, I can personally vouch for its discriminatory nature, not to mention its breathtaking stupidity. Three weeks ago, Facebook locked me out of my account. Apparently, someone had reported my name as fake. Unless I submitted documentation which proved that I was me, and that my name was my real name, I could not access my account, ever.
'A woman film-maker from Bengaluru has been threatened with rape and acid attack by fundamentalists on her Facebook page for endorsing beef consumption and questioning Hindu practices. Chetana Thirthahalli, a scriptwriter and associate director of Kannada movies, has lodged a complaint with the Bengaluru Police to seek action against those who issued threats to her on social media...'
'Amid the murder of Karnataka rationalist Professor M. M. Kalburgi last month, the earlier death of anti-superstition crusader Narendra Dabholkar in Maharashtra in 2013 and sundry death threats meted out to journalists, an alarming trend can be discerned: those who attack Hindutva groups and their ideas can end up as targets of their hate campaigns and death threats. The even earlier death, in 2012, of journalist Linganna Satyampet in Karnataka is still shrouded in mystery.
"In the first of its kind in India, youth in Kochi launched a campaign called ‘Kiss of Love’ to challenge the moral policing of the Hindu Right. While that protest was attacked by right wing thugs and suppressed by the police, this form of protest has since spread to different parts of the country like Hyderabad, Bombay and Calcutta. Today, the ‘Kiss of Love’ protest was held at nowhere short of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) head office in New Delhi.
"Several police complaints were lodged against V.R. Bhat, a prominent member of the right wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), on Monday for posting a derogatory remark against a woman activist on Facebook. The post by Mr Bhat read that the activists like her should be raped by rapists. Such activists should be held by their hair and sexually assaulted to correct their approach towards Hinduism. It was his apparent reply to Ms Prabha N.
"Faced with the growing menace of riots following derogatory remarks made against well-known people on social networking sites, the Maharashtra police would now be booking even those who endorse the contents by clicking on 'like' button and forward the objectionable content to others. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil said those endorsing the objectionable content would be booked as a co-accused along with those who have authored it under the provisions of the cyber laws..."
"The posting of allegedly objectionable images of Dalit leader Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar on Facebook on Saturday night, sparked stray incidents of arson in Pune, Aurangabad and Solapur on Sunday, the police said. The cyber cell of the Pune police has registered a case against ‘unknown people’..."
