Karishma Mehrotra
Articles By Karishma Mehrotra
48 pages account for half the political ads of over Rs 50,000 on Facebook
Most of these pages are labelled “community”, “news” or “personal blog”, and they are not directly linked to political parties. A majority of the ads promoted content to favour the BJP.
Poll offer in Uttar Pradesh: Buy your own digital campaign
Individual candidates are hiring firms for digital campaigns.
‘Aaj Ki Taza Khabar’: New breed of YouTube vloggers come in all political colours
They do not always call themselves journalists or analysts. But in poll season, mostly armed with phones, a small group is drawing eyeballs with videos with political content on YouTube.
Facebook pushes against EC request to take down post criticising PM Modi
Facebook has pushed back against one of five takedown requests from EC regarding a post critiquing Prime Minister Modi’s response to Wing Commander Abhinandan’s capture.
Sam Pitroda calls political ‘micro-targeting’ on social media an ‘art’
Congress party has recently hired the data-powered advertising firm SilverPush, which has never done political marketing work before.
What WhatsApp users believed, disbelieved and shared — based on a survey in poll-bound states
Over the last one year, technology-centred NGO Digital Empowerment Foundation interviewed roughly 3,000 people from Tier II and Tier III cities in 11 states about their WhatsApp usage and awareness.
‘Coordinated inauthentic behaviour’: Why Facebook removed pages in India
The company described the category of a third India takedown as “civic spam” and not “CIB”. With no common linkages between the individual pages, these pages were not “coordinated”.
New WhatsApp group feature will have little impact on political messaging, parties say
Social media heads in the parties say the changes are too little and too late to create an impact before the elections.
Citing behaviour, Facebook removes 700 accounts, pages linked to BJP and Congress
Facebook said it detected “coordinated inauthentic behaviour in the region ahead of the upcoming elections in India” and removed these pages in four separate takedowns because of their desire to deceive users about their identity, not because of their content.
Congress takes digital campaign plunge, ropes in four IT firms to spread its word
Last week, the Congress gave out the contract for the party's social media outreach to Hitesh Chawla, 36, of data-powered advertising company SilverPush; and Naresh Arora, 38, of the Surat-based digital campaign firm DesignBoxed.
55% English-speaking Indians fear airing political views online, fewer non-partisans trust news, says study
English-speaking Indians are concerned with deciphering what is real and what is fake on the Internet at similar rates - roughly 57 per cent - to respondents in the US and Turkey, according to the survey.
Code in place, social media firms to act against paid ads violating EC norms
In a meeting on Wednesday, EC and IAMAI officials negotiated the language of a draft that was assembled by the companies. The EC had called upon the companies to create the draft after a meeting on Tuesday.
Draft code of ethics to prevent misuse in polls: EC to social media platforms
The EC also suggested that the platforms should frame a code for the “immediate context” that can also become a “lasting document in the long run.”
Lok Sabha polls 2019 | EC to meet social media firms today: What’s on discussion table?
Two weeks ago, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) agreed to “priority channels for the ECI within their grievance redressal mechanisms” and other election-related educational programs on these platforms.
EC calls meeting with Web platforms to discuss ads, action over content
The meeting comes against the backdrop of confusion that arose with the EC’s first takedown notice to Facebook regarding a Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violation last week.
Forward posts: The journey political posts make before they reach millions
As India heads into an election where social media is setting the agenda like never before, political parties are banking on a burgeoning army of party volunteers to spread the word. The Sunday Express on the journey that political posts, shares and tweets make before they reach millions of phones
New Zealand shooting: Attacker used tech to amplify attack beyond borders
On Friday, as reports emerged he had killed at least 49 people after attacks at two mosques in Christchurch, social media platforms attempted to curtail the spread of his violence that went viral.
India least worried about false content on Internet: Report
India had the fewest — 31 per cent — using any social media. The only other country where a majority of adults were not using social media was Kenya at 41 per cent usage.
Facebook faces House panel, replies on lobbying efforts and fake accounts
The response of the executives attending the meeting on “Safeguarding Citizens’ Rights on Social/Online News Media Platforms” did not satisfy some members of the Standing Committee, it is learnt.
IAF pilot Abhinandan’s capture by Pakistan: Blackout on TV, all shades on social media
This is a change from India’s “first televised war” in 1999, when the imagery of conflict in Kargil was beamed into living rooms for the first time.
