'On February 26, Ashish Joshi, a department of telecom (DoT) official, was suspended. The suspension came one day after Joshi filed a complaint against Kapil Mishra, a controversial MLA, reporting a Facebook video posted by the latter. In the video, Mishra calls for attacks on several prominent actors, activists and politicians including Barkha Dutt, Prashanth Bhushan, Kamal Hassan and Naseeruddin Shah. He claims these individuals are “enemies of the nation” and that they support Pakistan. Additionally, he suggests that they should be dragged out of their homes onto the streets...'
'On the morning of February 13, the handle of BJP Union Minister of State for Finance and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan began criticising the work of the government and his party on Twitter — that "working for the middle class is low on the agenda of Modi govt." Many wondered if the minister’s account had been hacked, but of course, it hadn't. His team was just the latest victim of tweeting exactly what they’re told to from a document, without actually reviewing its content... How does someone get a union minister to tweet something against the government?
'Divya Spandana, Congress’ chief of communications has been booked for sedition for tweeting a photoshopped picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi showing him painting “chor” (thief) on his own wax statue’s forehead. She shared it using the hashtag “ChorPMChupHai”...'
'The main cause of depression in the world today is too much eating, not enough physical activity.” Jaggi Vasudev, a spritual guru also known as Sadhguru, frequently gives twitter sermons on depression. He confuses depression, a clinical condition with a proven biological basis (also known as major depressive disorder) with negative emotions such as sadness (experienced by healthy humans). From his twitter account, Alt News found several misleading tweets related to depression, accounting for several widely circulated myths on depression.
'Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the distinction of being one of the top political leaders to have a massive following on Twitter. But, a recent study conducted by Twiplomacy revealed that a staggering 60 per cent of the BJP stalwart's Twitter followers were found to be fake. Twiplomacy, a digital platform which assists international organisations and governments to improve their digital strategy, claimed that 24,799,527 of Modi's 40,993,053 followers are fake ones while 16,191,426 are authentic ones...'
'A journalist on Monday tweeted, without naming them directly, that "they" need to be "killed" before "they kill us". Although interpretations of the tweet may differ from person to person, many saw it as a tweet advocating violence against members of a particular community -- Muslims -- and called it genocidal in its intent. Many also reported the tweet as well as the account as abusive or advocating violence. However, Twitter doesn't find anything wrong with the tweet and replied to many saying that the tweet advocating murder of people doesn't violate its rules...'
'“Bowed down to media, secular and liberal bullies? We work for you tirelessly, selflessly. This is the reward,” tweeted @RitaG74, who is “blessed to be followed by Modi”. This was an attack on Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad for saying, “I strongly condemn and deplore the messages on social media expressing happiness on the dastardly murder of Gauri Lankesh.” The troll was upset that she was being scolded for celebrating a brutal murder...
'After 70 infants lost their lives within a couple of days at the BRD Medical College in Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath’s constituency, the right-wing twitteratti is in overdrive to prove the yogi’s innocence and reveal the “#TruthOfGorakhpur”. In an attempt to change the narrative, hundreds of Twitter handles actively started defending the CM, who is under attack for lack of action against those responsible for the tragedy, by tweeting an identical ‘set of facts’ around 8pm on Sunday...'
'On November 23, Aamir Khan made a statement on how his wife is scared of the growing disquiet in the country. His statement attracted opinions from across the country; politicians, fellow actors and people active on social media. But it has not only affected people’s opinion about him, it has also affected the brand he endorses. Snapdeal seems to be drawing a lot of flak only because Aamir is its brand ambassador. People took to Twitter starting another campaign called #AppWapsi asking others to not buy anything from Snapdeal and uninstall the app.
'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.
