- Jan 26, 2024
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For the uninitiated, a troll farm is a group of internet trolls that are either paid by certain groups or formed on their own accord to interfere with political opinions and decision-making. Several European parliament members, IT experts, and officials have flagged India's troll farm race on social media. They have cautioned that social media users in India are unguarded against manipulating digital information by troll armies, creating political and ideological propaganda.
Besides India, the governments of several countries, including China, Brazil, Russia, and the USA, have been accused of building troll farms. Most of these bots operate on meta platforms Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, using barrages of hashtags and propaganda.
In line with the agenda, the European Union (EU) held a session titled 'Taking Stock of India's Information Manipulation Ecosystem'. Think-tank Stichting The London Story hosted the session, and several members of the European Parliament, the European Commission, and experts at the UK's Home Office attended the event.
European Parliament Member Markéta Gregorová moderated the session, which was streamed online. The EU is seeking to build closer collaborations with India.
One of the panelists, Saikat Chatterjee, the chief data analyst of the London Story, stated that experts are investigating the capacity of India's information manipulation ecosystem (that spreads disinformation and hate speech) and its potential impact on democracies around the world.
The session also pointed out that digitization in India comes at the cost of information manipulation for first-time internet users, who are more prone to falling prey to scams and lies.
"We must consider the implications this has and how the largest democracy in the world should navigate digitalization," Gregorová said.
Other panelists included Meta whistleblower Sophie Zhang, Archis Chowdhury (a senior correspondent at BOOM) and doctoral researcher (at King's College London) Vignesh Karthik, and public policy expert Vihang Jumle.
"India is undergoing a troll farm arms race," Zhang warned, stating that neither the government nor the social media platforms, including former employer Meta and Elon Musk's Twitter, are taking the right steps to address the issue. The comment comes at a time when the Indian government is looking to update the IT Rules to curb misinformation. The move entails that the government would regulate social media platforms, who in turn will have to curb the spread of misinformation. However, with several allegations that the government has a troll army (dubbed IT cells), it becomes difficult for social media platforms to separate the grain from the chaff.