Online or On The Line? The Role of Social Media in Communalism in India
I am Alannah Felix, an Indian student from the state of Kerala majoring in International Politics and minoring in French at Georgetown University in Qatar. I have always been fascinated by the power of words and images in influencing thought and action, and in this CMAP capstone, I aim to merge that interest with my academic objectives to seek a better understanding of the nexus of media and politics.
With around 880 million internet users, India is one of the world’s largest digital markets, where platforms like WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook play a crucial role in shaping public opinion. However, while these platforms enable connectivity, they have also become breeding grounds for political polarization, especially in the light of the rise of Hindu nationalism and supremacism in the last decade. Algorithm-driven echo chambers reinforce ideological biases, while misinformation—often in regional languages, not to mention English—spreads unchecked, influencing elections, communal tensions, and social movements.
Despite the benefits of studying this phenomenon across multiple platforms, I will only be examining memes, posts and comments sourced from Instagram, since it is a popular platform used across ages and political affiliations, and fits the scope of this project. I will be analyzing these sources thematically, highlighting aspects that make it socio-politically sensitive and therefore central to my argument and findings stating that social media is being weaponized by various actors to aggravate existing societal divides and thereby drive political identity and participation across India.
Mentor: Dr. Magdalena Rostron
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