Target ISIS Propaganda, Not Free Speech: #FreeYourMind

Why tackling ISIS propaganda should be on top of the government’s to-do list, writes Shruti Pandalai

When an ‘Obama roasts Washington’ video goes viral showing POTUS taking a dig at US media and Washington politics at the White House Correspondents Dinner, with a popular stand up comic to boot, in New Delhi, you sigh, thinking -- ‘imagine getting away with that in India’. If you have been in India in the last six months you would think Indians are humourless, overly sensitive and really offended at whim.

But sample this from Obama’s speech: “Anyway, being president is never easy. I still have to fix a broken immigration system, issue veto threats, negotiate with Iran. All while finding time to pray five times a day. Which is strenuous.” 

Or another:

“ABC(network) is here with the stars from their big new comedy “Black-ish.” It’s a great show, but I have to give ABC a fair warning, being black-ish only makes you popular for so long. Trust me. There is a shelf life to that thing.”

Obama, while taking a shot at himself was able to joke on issues of religion and race, both burning  and sensitive subjects in the US. He picked on issues that amplify the cleavages in contemporary American society and the sarcasm resonated across the classes. America despite its many failings, is perhaps doing a thing or two right in terms of free speech.

While controversies such as the AIB Roast, India’s Daughter bog the nation down, they do reveal that free speech in India is in peril. But that’s not to say that Indian civil society lacks conscience. What is perplexing is that non-issues go viral on social media, inciting outrage. And yet, worryingly, issues affecting the large youth bulge and those having national security implications are pushed to the margins.

The writing is on the wall. Youth in India are exposed to ISIS propaganda on social media everyday and are ripe for the picking. But it’s still a far-away issue in the mind of many an Indian. Those caught peddling the ISIS cause in India include your neighborhood techies equipped with a foreign education, desperate for a new identity and a new destiny. This is not breaking news for a day, it has long term implications.

It should offend Indian sensibilities that snazzy ISIS propaganda on social media with unmatched production values, makes war and beheadings look like sub-plots of the next cool video game that could potentially seduce young minds. It should outrage us that scores of followers from many parts of India are drawn to the romanticism of revolution, glory and martyrdom albeit through violence. Intelligence agencies cannot tackle this alone, as citizens active on online communities we need to be aware.

Let’s get offended, but for the right reasons.

*Shruti Pandalai is a former television journalist specialising in foreign policy, new media and national security issues and is currently working as a research scholar with IDSA, Delhi. Views expressed in the article are her own and do not represent those of the institute.