Arguably, Religion is one of the most ardent subjects for mankind. Different people/groups have different religious beliefs for which they are often highly emotional. There are many entities that use this sensitive topic to trigger others in order to channel them into a set narrative. One of the ways to accomplish this is by using misinformation/disinformation that promotes hate among people of different religious faith.
There is a widespread network of such entities spread on social media platforms. They use religion as one of their major tools to spread hate. In the past also, DFRAC had highlighted many such entities that amplify hate by spreading deceptive information on the internet. Some of them include Khaled Beydoun, Yogi Devnath, and The Polis Project. This exclusive report analyses one such entity:
South Asia Solidarity
According to the Bio of the account, they claim, building solidarity in Britain for people’s struggles for justice and democracy and against exploitation, imperialism, and war in South Asia. But they function on a set narrative of amplifying hate against India. This account has a website named https://southasiasolidarity.org/.
Timeline
The below timeline shows the timeline of the tweets done by the account of South Asia Solidarity. Where the first tweet on India is done on 27th July 2015. The red line in the graph indicates the tweets done on the keyword India whereas the grey line indicates all tweets done by the account. It is clearly seen the frequency of tweets done on India is quite high as compare to the frequency of other tweets. The account has been twitting about India throughout its timeline.
There are eight countries in south Asia. But this account majorly targets India. The pie chart below shows the tweets done per year by the account of South Asia Solidarity. It is found that maximum number of tweets done on India is in the year 2021 with more than 20% of the tweets, followed by nearly 19.5% of tweets done in the year 2020. There are around more than 14% of tweets done in the year 2022 so far.
- Misleading Claim on the Government over the issue of minorities
In one of the tweets it wrote, “As attacks on minorities reach terrifying heights the #Modi regime says it’s not it’s job to track them.” And, shared the article of the independent. But there was not such official statement issued by any minister that, “it’s not it’s job to track them.”
This account has amplified many hashtags targeting India like #IndianMuslimGenocideAlert, #India, #Facism. There are multiple tweets on in which the account is alleging Muslim genocide in India without any credible proof. This account talks big about the atrocities upon Muslims in India. But, is silent on the plight of minorities in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. There is no tweet about the misery of Ahmmadiya Muslims in Pakistan.
https://mobile.twitter.com/SAsiaSolidarity/stat us/1513844781440552962
https://mobile.twitter.com/SAsiaSolidarity/stat us/1139924519165059078
- Amplifying the narrative of Muslim genocide in India
In India, violence against #Muslim women is being used as a tool to humiliate a community and a foreboding of the genocide that Muslims might face. #HijabIsFundamentalRight #HijabBan #Genocide #InternationalWomensDay2022 #HateSpeech #MuslimsLivesMatter
- Biasness in the tweets about Muslim Women
Multiple Tweets over Hijab Controversy in India. The account has shared numerous tweets about this matter and accused the Indian Government of atrocities upon Muslim Women.
Only one tweet regarding the Brutal custodial death of Mahsa Amini in Iran who was arrested for not following Hijab norms.
Targeting only Hindutva and Hindu extremists for the communal violence in Leicester.
- Claimed about India becoming Apartheid state
In one of the tweets, the account wrote, “Ndileka’s powerful article on Islamophobia in India: Laws from South Africa’s apartheid past are popping up across India, from banning marriages, to stripping Indians of citizenship, to rampant mob violence-“
“India risks becoming the very #Apartheidstate leaders like Mandela and Gandhi would have abhorred”- it further added.
- Looking for the opportunity to target India for any incident around the World.
This account never misses any opportunity to target India. For example, while talking about the attack on Salman Rushdie, this account has not condemned the extremist and fanatical ideology of the attackers. Instead, in the tweet it targeted India.
- Giving Communal colors to any incident.
Tweeting over a Telivison series it wrote, “After the onslaught of anti-Hijab, anti-minority reportage in Kannada regional media a new Kannada series titled #RaziyaRam fetishes and objectifies Muslim women pushing the #RSS’s favourite trope of a saviour Hindu man ‘rescuing’ Muslim woman.”
Hashtags Used
Below graph tells about the hashtags that were used by the account of South Asia Solidarity. #Modi was used maximum number of times by the account, followed by #ModiNotWelcome, followed by #Kashmir #Hindutva, #Fascism, etc.
WordCloud
The below wordcloud shows the words that were used maximum number of times on the tweets of India. Some of the words are: “Muslim Rights”, “Protest”, “Genocide”, “Solidarity”, “Violence”, etc.
Followers
The account of South Asia Solidarity is followed by more than 6,000 followers. Among these followers there are more than 110 verified followers. Some of the account that follows the account includes, @IAMCouncil, @suchitrav, @cpimlliberation, @hrw, @RichaChadha, @marvisirmed, etc. Moreover, the account is also followed by @FriedrichPieter, @Hindus4HR, @HindutvaWatchIn, etc.
Quoted Tweets
The account of South Asia Solidarity has done many quote tweets. The below graph tells us about accounts of which majority of the quote tweets are done. Most of the tweets quoted by the account of @SAsiaSolidarity are of @kavita_krishnan with 66 tweets quoted, followed by @Dipankar_cpiml with 48 tweets quoted, followed by @cpimlliberation with 38 tweets quoted. It is to notice that top 3 accounts of which tweets are quoted are of the supports of CPIL (Communist Party of India Liberation).
Post with Maximum of Likes
- https://twitter.com/SAsiaSolidarity/status/1426774598062903298
- Hashtags Used (#ResignModi, #Genocide)
- Accounts Mentioned (@ScotInd4Justice, @IndInsaf, @SASIinNYC)
- https://twitter.com/SAsiaSolidarity/status/1571824328152342529
- Hashtags Used (#Leicester, #Fascists)
- Accounts Mentioned (@IAMCouncil, @ScotInd4Justice, @IndInsaf, @SASIinNYC)
- https://twitter.com/SAsiaSolidarity/status/1221172868098199554
- Hashtags Used (#fascism, #CAA_NRCProtests)
- https://twitter.com/SAsiaSolidarity/status/1175720662960357376
- Hashtags Used (#AdiosModi)
The Facebook page of South Asia Solidarity Group was created on 20th June 2016 with the page name ‘South Asian Solidarity. The page transparency tells us that 6 people who manage this page are from United Kingdom.
Facebook Followings
Among the page that follow South Asian Solidarity, one of the pages includes Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC)
Conclusion
This account clearly operates on a set narrative of spreading disinformation to mold the viewer toward its narrative. Picking sensitive subjects like justice, religion, and exploitation, it majorly targets India. These days, social media have become an essential part of everyone’s life. Generally, people tend to believe whatever they read or see on these platforms. In such a situation, it is necessary to keep a check on these accounts that spread misinformation and their network.
