India’s opposition leveraged caste and constitution to shock Modi in election

Shivangi Acharya and Krishn Kaushik
Thu, June 13, 2024 




 Awadhesh Prasad greets his supporters inside his house in Ayodhya


By Shivangi Acharya and Krishn Kaushik

AYODHYA/VARANASI, India (Reuters) - A seminal moment in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's unsuccessful campaign to retain his parliamentary majority occurred days before India's marathon election began in April.

Speaking in the constituency that includes the Hindu temple town of Ayodhya, lawmaker Lallu Singh said that his and Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was seeking a supermajority in parliament's lower chamber to make material changes to the constitution.

Opposition parties latched onto Singh's remark to assert, without evidence, that the BJP would amend modern India's founding document to strip Hindus at the bottom of the caste hierarchy of access to affirmative action policies.

The attack line hit a nerve - splitting the Hindu vote and ending the BJP's decade-long dominance in the country's most populous state.

Opinion polls had pointed to a landslide in Ayodhya's home state of Uttar Pradesh and nationally but when results came through on June 4, the BJP had lost 29 seats in the state - nearly half of all the party's losses nationwide.

"It hit the people like fire," said Awadhesh Prasad of the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP), whose base comprises Muslim and lower-caste voters in Uttar Pradesh. He successfully wrested the constituency anchored by Ayodhya from Singh, who had held it since 2014.

Despite the BJP's best efforts to debunk the emerging narrative, the damage was done.

"The prime minister and other leaders tried to explain to the people, but by then their mood was set," said Dileep Patel, a state BJP official in Varanasi. Singh declined to comment.

Reuters interviewed 29 party leaders and workers from the BJP and rival parties, four analysts and 50 voters for this story. They described how lower caste concerns about affirmative action, along with a shortage of jobs, and complacent BJP activists combined to tip the scales in Uttar Pradesh, which sends the most lawmakers to parliament.

After a decade of electoral near-invincibility that combined economic success with a narrative of Hindu supremacy, Modi's party was reduced to 240 seats nationwide. He was able to form a third government only with the help of allies, some of whom have a reputation for political fickleness.

It was a reminder that BJP cannot take Hindu votes for granted.

THE SUPERMAJORITY CALL

Ayodhya was supposed to be the safest of seats.

In January, Modi inaugurated a grand temple there to the deity Lord Ram in a ceremony that sparked national euphoria. It also fulfilled a decades' long pledge used by the BJP to rise from India's political margins into a major force.

Singh's speech made no mention of taking benefits from lower castes and Modi's aides have frequently downplayed concerns about changes to the constitution, which guarantees school and government job quotas to historically disadvantaged castes and tribal groups, both still among India's poorest.

But it quickly spread on social media, fuelling an opposition campaign.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav wrote on social media that the BJP wanted to end the quota system and keep underprivileged segments of society "as their slaves."

At election rallies, Yadav's ally and the opposition's main figurehead, Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party, began whipping out a pocket-sized copy of the constitution, warning it was under threat.

The message was echoed in media advertisements and by the regional party's workers in Uttar Pradesh, which a SP spokesperson described as 600,000 strong.

India's castes have co-existed uneasily with each other for millennia.

The BJP was long considered a bastion of upper-caste Hindus, but Modi, who belongs to a lower caste, had previously made inroads with marginalised groups, according to analysis by the Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS).

He has sought to unite Hindus by shifting focus from traditional notions of caste, instead putting the spotlight on the poor, youths, farmers and women - which he calls the four biggest castes in modern India. In power, Modi successively backed a man from a lower caste and a woman from a tribal group for India's largely symbolic presidency.

A relatively united Hindu vote in the last two national elections allowed the BJP to sideline India's nearly 200 million Muslims and overcome longstanding concerns around unemployment, inflation and rural distress.

Sandeep Shastri, coordinator of a program on Indian elections at CSDS said the number of people voting primarily on Hindu ideology appeared to have plateaued in 2019.

This year, BJP won just 54 of the 131 seats reserved for candidates from underprivileged groups, down from 77 in 2019. It won eight of the 17 reserved seats in Uttar Pradesh, compared to 14 the last time.

Dharmendra Yadav, a 30-year-old in Varanasi constituency who comes from a lower caste, said he believed the BJP "would have ended the reservations."

"When the opposition raised the issue of the constitution, it just verified it for us," said Dharmendra, whose surname indicates a caste affiliation with the SP's Akhilesh, who he is not related to.

Dharmendra previously backed the BJP but went for the opposition this year.

"Caste politics still has a major influence in the Hindi belt," state BJP official Patel said, referring to states across central India that have been BJP's stronghold since 2014.

WHERE ARE THE JOBS?

Surveys suggest Modi remains the world's most popular elected leader.

But this year, Modi's personal majority in his seat, centred around the holy city of Varanasi, shrank by more than 300,000. He retained his constituency with the lowest margin of any sitting premier in over three decades.

"The BJP heavily relied on the prime minister's leadership to ... win votes and also maybe to camouflage problems that people are facing," said researcher Shastri.

Among those problems is a lack of jobs created over the past decade.

Young voters like Dharmendra had backed BJP in a landslide in 2014, when Modi promised to create 20 million jobs a year nationwide. The pledge has not been fulfilled.

Dharmendra said he had taken numerous exams for white-collar government jobs, highly prized for their security and benefits. In February, nearly 4.6 million people applied for 60,000 constable vacancies in Uttar Pradesh, only to have the BJP-run state government cancel the exam after the test was leaked online.

Banaras Hindu University political science professor Ashok Upadhyay said the exam leak, which was not the first and was repeated in March, gave young Indians, who have grown up in an increasingly unequal country, a sense that the job selection process was unfair.

Adding to the BJP's electoral missteps, some voters and BJP leaders said the party faltered because they had assumed another landslide victory and were dismissive of issues that were important to voters.

DON'T WANT VOTES?

The redevelopment of Ayodhya into a temple town was preceded by the demolition of thousands of homes and stores. Nearly two dozen locals, including BJP supporters, told Reuters they were dissatisfied with the compensation offered.

A SP voter who identified himself by his first name of Shakti said he was part of a group that had lobbied BJP leaders for support.

"They said they didn't want these 10,000 to 20,000 votes from local businessmen, they would win anyway," he said.

Another Ayodhya trader confirmed Shakti's account and local BJP leader Veerchand Manjhi said he had also found it difficult to get locals' issues addressed by authorities.

District magistrate Nitish Kumar said in response to Reuters questions that the compensation process was fair.

Ratan Sharda, a senior leader of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP's ideological parent, wrote in the June 16 issue of its "Organiser" magazine that the result was a "reality check."

BJP activists and leaders were "happy in their bubble, enjoying the glow reflected from Modiji’s aura, they were not listening to the voices on the streets," he wrote.

BJP RESILIENCE?

The BJP retains many strengths, including a leader with popular backing across the party, control of Uttar Pradesh's state government and the backing of the influential RSS, said Delhi University professor Chandrachur Singh.

Analysts such as CSDS's Sanjay Kumar noted that the BJP did well in states where there wasn't a strong local party like the SP in Uttar Pradesh, which was able to capitalise on regional discontent.

And while Congress tried to nationalise its message that the BJP posed a threat to affirmative action, caste-based messaging held less appeal in urbanising India's many cities. "In urban areas, caste is overridden by class identities," Singh said.

The BJP's Patel said that the party had launched a detailed review of the loss and was confident of winning state elections in Uttar Pradesh that are due by 2027.

"The BJP either wins, or it learns," a BJP worker in Ayodhya told Reuters.

(Reporting by Shivangi Acharya in Ayodhya and Krishn Kaushik in Varanasi; Additional reporting by Rupam Jain, Krishna N. Das and Saurabh Sharma; Editing by Katerina Ang)


Clip shared with false claim 'Pakistan flag hoisted' after opposition won in Indian mega-state

AFP India
Thu, June 13, 2024

A video of a religious flag atop a truck has been shared in posts that falsely claimed residents of Bareilly city in India's Uttar Pradesh state waved the flag of Muslim-majority Pakistan to celebrate the failure of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to secure a majority in the state after the country's general election. The flag in the video differs from Pakistan's national flag, and the video circulated online weeks before the results of India's marathon national polls were announced.

"Bareilly became Pakistan!!" read part of a Hindi-language post shared on social media platform X on June 5, 2024.

"As soon as Samajwadi Party won 37 seats in Uttar Pradesh, people from the peace loving community in Bareilly waved the flag of Pakistan," the post continued, using a phrase that Hindu hardliners sarcastically employ to refer to Muslims.

A video attached to the post shows people sitting atop a truck waving a green flag that bears the star and crescent moon symbol of Islam.

Superimposed on the video is an image of Pakistan's national flag, and a person speaking over the footage says: "The Pakistan flag is waving in Bareilly, policemen are also standing there."

Screenshot of the false X post, captured on June 6, 2024

The post surfaced after the results of India's marathon general election were announced, showing that the opposition Samajwadi Party had won more seats than Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP in Uttar Pradesh -- India's most populous state and a bellwether for national elections

It was the first time in 15 years that the BJP had failed to win the most seats in the state, the heartland of India's majority faith that had formed the bedrock of the BJP's parliamentary strength.

Modi will remain in office but with a substantially reduced mandate and needing to rely on coalition allies to govern.

The video was also shared with similar claims elsewhere on X and on Facebook.

But it does not show people in Bareilly waving Pakistan's national flag.
Not Pakistan's flag

The flag shown in the video is different to Pakistan's national flag; it does not have a vertical white stripe close to the hoist and the star and crescent symbol faces in the opposite direction.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the flag in the video (left) and a picture of Pakistan's national flag from AFP's archives (right):

Screenshot comparison of the flag in the video (left) and a picture of Pakistan's national flag from AFP's archives (right)

Moreover, a reverse image search of keyframes followed by keyword searches led to the same footage posted by an Instagram user on May 19 (archived link).

The Instagram post was shared more than two weeks before the results of India's weeks-long general election were announced on June 4.

A representative for Bareilly's police force told AFP the video "has no connection with the results" of the poll.

The officer said the video is from a religious procession that took place in 2023.

"The flag seen in the video is not the flag of Pakistan but is related to the religion of Islam."

AFP has debunked more misinformation around India's elections here.

The Curious Case of the Freedom Flotilla

By Craig Murray

May 2, 2024

Source: Craig Murray Blog



The departure of the spectacular “Freedom Flotilla” to Gaza carrying 5,500 tonnes of aid has been postponed (again), because the flag state of the major vessels, Guinea Bissau, has withdrawn their registration.

The key question is why the organisers were proceeding with such an unreliable flag state in the first place?

In the 2010 Freedom Flotilla, the vessel Mavi Marmara was boarded by Israeli troops and ten aid workers were executed in cold blood. Just days before sailing, the Mavi Marmara had changed its flag from Turkey to the Comoros Islands.

On a vessel at sea outside the twelve mile territorial limit of a state (as the Mavi Marmara was when boarded), the law that applies is that of the flag state. Had the vessel still been Turkish flagged, the murderers would have been within Turkish jurisdiction and subject to investigation by Turkey and prosecution in Turkish courts.

I flew to Izmir to investigate the case and I concluded that it was Turkish security services who had obliged the change of flag to the Comoros Islands, thus facilitating the Israeli murderous attack.

Plainly the Mavi Marmara incident should indicate to organisers of aid to Gaza the vital necessity of having a vessel registered to a flag state which would be able to react strongly to an attack by Israel on its ship, and indeed whose flag might deter Israel from such an attack.

So it makes no sense to me that the organisers intended to proceed under the flag of Guinea Bissau.

On 8 April I received a Whatsapp message from organisers asking me to publicise the flotilla. This was my reply.


Hi Irfan and thank you. May I ask what are the flag states of the four vessels?
This is extremely important.
The Mavi Marmara organisers made the literally fatal mistake of allowing the ship to reflag to the Comoros Islands before sailing. Outside the 12 mile territorial sea the vessels are under the law of and entitled to the protection of the flag state

After a holding reply I received


Sorry for the late reply. It is still to be confirmed sir

I reiterated


OK, I am very keen that people understand that it is crucially important.
I have always believed pro Israeli security services influenced the change of flag of the Mavi Marmara.
Any Israeli forces boarding the ships beyond the 12 mile territorial limit are subject to the law of the flag state of the vessel. I should be grateful if you confirm to me the organisers fully understand this.

The reply was simply


Thank you sir

I am therefore entirely perplexed that the organisers went with Guinea Bissau as the flag state rather than a state likely to stand up to Israel and the US. Of course it failed.

Is the problem incompetence, or is it again security service influence?

I should make plain that I absolutely support the aims and the strategy of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. I have several friends on board, and I believe my good colleague Ann Wright is among the organisers. I am however intensely frustrated.

The Little Flotilla that Almost Could

by Craig Wood / May 1st, 2024

The flotilla cargo ship in Istanbul (Photo credit: Medea Benjamin)

Two gutsy activists from the Twin Cities flew to Istanbul, Turkey April 17 to join over three-hundred others from about 40 countries on an eleven-hundred mile voyage across the Mediterranean Sea to raise awareness and bring lifesaving aid to Gaza.

Vietnam Vet and member of Veterans For Peace (VFP) Barry Riesch was nervous about signing on with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), but felt he should try to do something for the vast majority of Gazans lacking medical care and being deliberately starved. Apart from the mission’s goal of delivering over five-thousand tons of urgently needed food, water and medical supplies (including five ambulances, and an abundance of baby formula), Reisch said he wanted to do this for his grandkids in hopes “they won’t have to grow up in a world that would ignore such a tragedy.”

Riesch has good reasons to be nervous. Since the Free Gaza Movement began in 2006, only a handful of small ships have been allowed to bring humanitarian aid to Gazans. Retired U.S. Army Colonel and former diplomat Ann Wright is a member of the 2024 FFC Steering Committee. She was a participant (resistor) on five previous flotillas that never reached Gaza. In 2010 she watched Israeli troops rappelling from helicopters onto the deck of the Mavi Marmara from a nearby boat. Ten resistors were killed and 50 more wounded after some of them allegedly tried to fight back in international waters against the Israeli invaders who were using pressurized water hoses on them. In a video, Wright gave other accounts of Israeli troops harassing and beating resistors before confiscating their belongs and taking them against their will to Israeli jails until they could be deported.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu contends that Israel has been unfairly targeted by resistors trying to break his country’s illegal navel blockade and bring humanitarian aid into Gaza. During a 2015 speech in Tel Aviv he told the Jewisih Agency Assembly “They send flotillas to Gaza, they don’t send flotillas to Syria. It’s amazing, this travesty of justice, this violation of the truth, the rape of truth.”

Former FBI agent and whistleblower Coleen Rowley is a member of VFP and Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) couldn’t disagree with Netanyahu more. She hopes that he and his cronies will be called to answer for their criminal behavior sooner than later. Rowley has been speaking at academic and other professional venues with an emphasis on ethical decision-making for twenty years. Before flying to Istanbul she talked over the phone with me about the “berserk Israelis” who have “shredded the law” — not only breaking the rules of the high seas for murder and kidnapping, but with their ongoing violations of international humanitarian law and war crimes on land. In a recent television interview she said “ I told people I can’t help seeing the faces of my own grandchildren (I have five grandchildren now) in the faces of these poor Gazan children who are being orphaned, starved and murdered.”

Riesch and Rowley attended intensive nonviolence training shortly after arriving in Istanbul. “The most frightening part of the training was a simulation replete with deafening booms of gunfire and exploding percussion grenades and masked soldiers screaming at us, hitting us with simulated rifles, dragging us across the floor, and arresting us” author/activist Medea Benjamin wrote in a Counterpunch article. During an April 19 Zoom meeting in Istanbul, resistors discussed their fears about the trip. One recalled a mock situation where three doctors from New Zealand laid on the floor during a seminar and instructed resistors on what to do if their heads are stepped on in the dark. Lawyers provided legal advice about separating “false authority” from “legitimate authority” along with tips for walking away from precarious situations. Despite their fears, resistors believe what they are doing not only has to be done, it is morally and legally justifiable, citing a recent ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it is “plausible” Israel has committed acts of genocide: The court further maintains, that it is now incumbent upon citizens and governments of the world to do what they can to stop the genocide.

The location of the launch was kept secret due to Israel’s history of sabotaging boats in port and the departure dates were pushed back repeatedly because of outside pressures — mostly from the Israeli and U.S. governments. Last week the Israelis made an announcement about intercepting the flotilla that prompted Huwaida Arraf, U.S. human rights attorney and FFC Steering Committee member to say “Governments must refuse to collaborate in maintaining Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza by obstructing the flotilla in any way. We call on the governments of the 40 countries represented on the Freedom Flotilla to uphold their obligations under international law and demand that Israel guarantee the flotilla safe passage to Gaza.” Soon after, UN experts reaffirmed Arraf’s demand  “As the Freedom Flotilla approaches Palestinian territorial waters off Gaza, Israel must adhere to international law, including recent orders from the International Court of Justice to insure unimpeded access for humanitarian aid.”

But on April 26, the doubts crept home. During a morning call, Riesch talked about his dwindling hopes that the flotilla would make it to Gaza “Now there’s a problem with ship flags” — this is the fourth delay.” According to Reuters, Guinea-Bissau made a decision to remove its flag from flotilla boats. Istanbul activists answered with this:  “The Guinea-Bissau International Ships Registry (GBISR), in a blatantly political move, informed the Freedom Flotilla Coalition that it had withdrawn the Guinea Bissau flag from two of the Freedom Flotilla’s ships, one of which is our cargo ship.”

Riesch mentioned that frustrated resistors were already drifting away and during last night’s FFC meeting, he found out numerous other boats loaded with activists were preparing to join the flotilla in a show of solidarity, even though Israelis planned to stop them with a blockade. So, it was decided the flotilla would meet up with the blockade and wait a few days before turning around. The earliest departure time he said would be Sunday April 28 — if they could clear customs. Later that evening he sent a text saying the trip was canceled.

During a follow-up Q&A TikTok post, Wright told Benjamin that Israel always uses delay tactics before flotilla launches and the State Department invariably issues travel warnings and cautions Americans about challenging the Israeli government — especially now since the U.S. has been so openly complicit with the ongoing ethnic cleansing in Gaza. While support for the flotilla remains high from Turkish nationals, Wright strongly believes the U.S. is using economic pressures including military aid, ito derail the project in Turkey.

If nothing else, those who traveled to Istanbul succeeded in bringing much-needed attention to the plight of captive and undernourished Palestinians waiting in refugee camps for the next bombing campaign. About 45% of the people living in Gaza are children under the age of 15. So far, well over one hundred fifteen thousand Palestinians have been killed or wounded — most were women and children. It may take decades to rebuild the parts of Gaza already destroyed but for now, resistors are packing their bags — some hope to return this summer.

First row — Coleen Rowley far left and Barry Riesch third from left

Ann Wright second from left, and Medea Benjamin second from back in Istanbul FacebookTwitter

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Craig Wood is a Minneapolis writer and member of Veterans For Peace. He can be reached at craig2mpls@yahoo.com. Read other articles by Craig.

Digital Deception: Disinformation’s Impact in the Israel-Hamas War

By Yusuf Can on October 20, 2023


Disinformation and even complete fabrications have spread rapidly after Hamas’ attack on Israel. The actions of social media giants like X have enabled disinformation to spread quickly. Regulations may help, but every false claim could potentially provoke a wider conflict.


IMAGE CREDIT


Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 and the ongoing Hamas-Israel war in Gaza have again denoted the overwhelming impact of disinformation and misinformation in the digital age. With over 5,000 lives lost, the dissemination of false information, often through social media platforms, has not only added to the chaos but has also exacerbated the emotions of millions across the planet.

While social media platforms offer immediate access to information, they also serve as fertile ground for spreading falsehoods, making it challenging for the public to distinguish fact from fiction. The role of platform owners, content moderation, and regulatory measures is now under scrutiny as we grapple with the implications of disinformation during a devastating conflict.


In the aftermath of the Hamas' attack, the digital landscape became the epicenter of a disinformation pandemic

False information in conflict

In the aftermath of the Hamas' attack, the digital landscape became the epicenter of a disinformation pandemic. While there are numerous instances, some garnered more attention than others. A recent case involved the distribution of videos supposedly portraying an Israeli air assault. However, it became evident upon closer scrutiny that these videos had been extracted from video games, notably Arma 3. The interesting twist is how swiftly this facade was unveiled. It wasn't just the game's developers who stepped forward but also a community of online users intimately familiar with the game. Nevertheless, the fabricated imagery continued to thrive.

Those with more insidious motivations went well and beyond and created a fake White House announcement. An image resembling a screenshot of a supposed White House document suggested that Israel was being provided with $8 billion in aid, implying that this would hinder aid for Ukraine. Although the White House denied issuing any such statement, the fabricated image continued to spread.

Mainstream media outlets also experienced their fair share of fake footage. A manufactured video claimed to show a BBC report declaring that weapons provided by NATO to Ukraine had been sold to Hamas. The circulation of the content continued to spread despite the BBC denying the existence of such a report. Last but not least, the US Embassy in Lebanon had to put out a statement denying that the embassy was being evacuated after false reports garnered attention online.

Even the US President is not immune to disinformation. The White House had to retract President Joe Biden's statement stating he saw images of children beheaded by Hamas during a meeting with Jewish leaders at the White House. However, the White House clarified that these images were based on reports from Israeli government officials and media, and they had not been independently verified. These unverified claims gained traction online, further intensifying the high emotional tensions.

In the recent al-Ahli hospital explosion in Gaza, a misleading video circulated online, falsely claiming that it showed a failed Hamas rocket hitting the hospital. This video, initially from 2022, had no direct connection to the recent hospital incident. This episode also highlights the danger of disinformation during crises, especially those involving civilian casualties and war crimes, as it can inflame emotions and lead to hasty judgments, fueling online debates and deepening divides.

Fueling the disinformation Fire on “X”

The role of Elon Musk and his platform X (formerly Twitter) in the increase of disinformation during the Israel-Hamas war merits particular attention. Musk has faced criticism for the platform's handling of disinformation since he purchased the company. Musk's declared commitment to freedom of expression and his platform's transformation into X have raised concerns about spreading conspiracy theories and antisemitism.

In fact, Musk and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met and discussed the issue of antisemitism on X only recently. Experts attribute the proliferation of disinformation on X during the conflict to Musk's changes over the past year, including the decision to disband the company’s Trust and Safety Council responsible for content moderation. The platform's focus has shifted from verifying facts to maximizing view counts, possibly incentivizing users to share information without considering its trustworthiness.

In addition, the algorithm on X has been modified to prioritize posts with the maximum engagement, encouraging insidious users to share disinformation since dramatic and shocking content often performs exceptionally well, therefore distorting reality. Engagement with conflict-related images and videos creates a strong incentive for individuals pushing specific narratives to share old footage from unrelated events. Posts from X users with premium subscriptions (marked by a blue checkmark) were boosted to the top of users' news feeds. While the blue checkmark was initially intended to foster a better user experience, it inadvertently led to the elevation of unverified and misleading content. Such content often garnered hundreds of thousands of views and engagements, spreading fabrications at an unparalleled pace.


While X has garnered significant attention, other platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and Telegram have also struggled with false information regarding the Israel-Hamas war

While X has garnered significant attention, other platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and Telegram have also struggled with false information regarding the Israel-Hamas war. Similar to previous crises, content from the conflict initially appeared on encrypted messaging platforms like Telegram. While Telegram can serve as a primary source for footage, the lack of vetting and fact-checking on such media means that information can and is often taken out of context when shared on platforms like X. This prevalent problem underlines the challenges of addressing disinformation, as it often gains prominence due to its ability to elicit strong reactions and go viral. Each of these platforms has the power to shape public perception beyond the digital realm, potentially influencing geopolitical outcomes.

The EU Crackdown on Social Media Giants

The European Union is cracking down on tech giants to curb the rampant spread of disinformation across social media platforms. Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, the conglomerate that owns Facebook and Instagram, has been served an injunction: comply with European law within 24 hours or face the consequences. X didn't escape the EU's crosshairs either. Thierry Breton, the EU's industry chief, has urged Meta and X to demonstrate "timely, diligent, and objective action" to combat the spread of disinformation. He had given them just one day to provide a detailed account of the "proportionate and effective" measures they had taken.

Breton has demanded that Meta uphold its end of the bargain. The company has responded by setting up a special operations center to monitor and counter the evolving situation. Still, the EU insists that the response must be comprehensive and swift. This isn't just a warning shot; it's part of a broader effort to enforce the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), designed to protect users on these massive tech platforms. This law has already come into force, with firms being granted time to ensure their systems comply. But as of late August 2023, the strictest rules are now in play for platforms with over 45 million EU users, including X.

Musk's X or Zuckerberg's Meta are not the only companies facing the EU's scrutiny. Breton has written warning letters to the CEOs of other companies, such as TikTok. However, no formal probes have been initiated yet except for announcing the investigation of X. The EU's stance underscores the global battle against disinformation, especially during critical conflicts like the Israel-Hamas war. Musk's response, demanding evidence of violations, echoes a growing debate about the balance between freedom of expression and the responsibility of tech companies to protect the public from false information and hate speech.


It is a well-known fact that false information has the potential to influence public opinion, create confusion and fear, and even shape government policies

Navigating the Disinformation Dilemma

It is a well-known fact that false information has the potential to influence public opinion, create confusion and fear, and even shape government policies. This confusion can hinder informed decision-making. Manipulative content often stokes strong emotions like anger, fear, or sympathy. These emotions can be redirected to serve a specific agenda, often by insidious actors. Yet even more daunting is that false information involving multiple nations can strain international relations.

As the EU pushes for transparency and accountability from tech giants, this serves as a stark reminder that the era of self-regulation in the tech world might be, and more importantly, should be coming to an end. The EU's enforcement of the DSA isn't just a regulatory maneuver, it's a battle to safeguard democracy and public discourse during times of crisis. In the era of instant information sharing, platforms must act swiftly and decisively to counter disinformation. As these examples show, there have never been more drastic consequences than with the Israel-Hamas war, where every post, claim, or video, even complete fabrications, could potentially widen the present conflict and inflict actual suffering.

The views expressed in these articles are those of the author and do not reflect an official position of the Wilson Center.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


YUSUF CAN
Program Coordinator

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MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM

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How pernicious misinformation is shaping the Israel-Hamas war

That “hospital explosion” wasn’t really a hospital explosion.

Screenshot via PBS

The Editorial Board.
October 27, 2023 | 

Editor’s note: Thank you for reading to the Editorial Board, your place for politics in plain English for normal people and the common good. This humble newsletter is how I make a living. It’s how I pay for my daughter’s piano lessons and nature programs and all those things. Some have asked how they can support the EB without committing to a subscription. Here’s the tip jar! In any case, many thanks for reading the EB! –JS


I wanted to interview Nicholas Grossman regarding the role of misinformation in the Israel-Hamas war. I hoped to ask the professor of international relations at the University of Illinois, and senior editor of Arc Digital, about misinformation that arose from American reporting on an explosion at a hospital in Gaza.

You know what? I ended up repeating a bit of misinformation!

I asked him to lay out the facts about a “hospital explosion” that “killed hundreds,” and he said nuh-uh (not his words). In fact, Professor Grossman said, “there never were hundreds killed by an explosion at that hospital. Media reported that the hospital was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike killing 500, but that was based on something a Hamas-controlled agency said and was never supported by evidence.”

“This instance wasn’t normal. While there’s often partial and false info coming out of wars, it is not normal for major media outlets, such as the Times, to publish false information. But this time, many did.”


Professor Grossman went on to say “what apparently did happen is something hit a nearby parking lot and caused a smaller explosion, most likely a rocket fired from Gaza towards Israel that fell short (ie, not an Israeli projectile). People were camping in the parking lot, and the explosion killed some of them, but far less than the originally reported number. The estimates I’ve seen range from 10 to 50.”

My point isn’t to draw attention to my error, but to highlight the pernicious influence of misinformation on everyone, even those, like me, who are at least aware of that pernicious influence, and who are taking the time to ask knowledgeable people about it in times of war.

Now imagine the pernicious influence of misinformation on people who have no such awareness, or more importantly, on governments that are invested in misinformation being taken as fact. Scaled big enough, that misinformation could affect choices leaders make. As you will see in the rest of my interview, the misinformation that arose from American reporting on the “hospital explosion” could end up shaping the war.


JS: The Gaza hospital explosion story produced a lot of misinformation very quickly. Some say that was an inflection point in a potential widening of the conflict. But isn’t misinformation kinda normal?

NG: Misinformation is pretty normal, especially in war. Combatants try to spin news in their favor, and sometimes lie. They have trouble seeing through the chaos — known as the “fog of war” — to know exactly what’s happening, and it’s even harder for outside observers.

But this instance wasn’t normal. While there’s often partial and false info coming out of wars, it is not normal for major media outlets, such as the Times, to publish false information. But this time, many did. Politicians in various countries treated it as fact. Protestors surrounded US embassies. The King of Jordan canceled a planned meeting with President Biden. The news media error was big enough that the Times put out a long editor’s note explaining and apologizing.


JS: What challenge does Biden face given this misinformation? Just by stating the facts as known, he risks his “honest broker” position, no?

NG: If anyone still believes the false story, even though it’s been corrected, they would likely see that the president saying that it’s false as bias towards Israel. Some who acknowledge that it’s false still say that, because while Israel didn’t bomb that hospital or kill those people, they’re bombing many targets in Gaza and killing many people.

But those crowds are probably impossible to satisfy, and Biden isn’t about to say that false stories are true in an attempt to satisfy them.

Where it creates a serious challenge is in reactions from major players. If Hezbollah, Syria, Iran and others sympathetic to Hamas’ side believe that the hospital attack happened — or even if the leaders know it’s false but a lot of their people still believe it — they could become more likely to intervene and widen the war. If Arab leaders believe it, or feel a need to placate a public that believes it, they will be less likely to support diplomacy or work with the US to manage the crisis.


JS: Hussein Ibish has said the key to ending this is to stop dehumanizing both sides, in this case Israelis and Palestinians, and start “rehumanizing” them. I trust Hussein means well, but revenge has a powerful pull on the psyche. What can leaders of good faith do?

NG: There’s a lot of well-meaning commentary that offers hope and a vision for the future, but doesn’t give anyone anything actionable to do now. “Rehumanizing both sides” sounds wonderful, but I don’t know how to do it in the short-term, and it doesn’t answer questions like “how can Israel avoid a repeat of the deadly Hamas attacks?”

The best leaders may be able to do is frequently remind Israel that thinking strategically yields better outcomes than lashing out in vengeance. That’s apparently been a focus for the Biden administration, as they’ve held up post-9/11 America as a cautionary tale, stressed that if Israel is going to overthrow Hamas they need to plan for what comes after, and pushed Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.


JS: Relatedly, what is the president doing right? Wrong? Some say he’s giving a free pass to Israel. Others say his left flank is going to be a problem for him. Others still are calling him a war president by proxy.

NG: It’s a really hard situation and I think he’s handled it well under the circumstances. In particular, supporting Israel in public has given him more leverage with the Israelis behind the scenes, which he’s used to delay an Israeli ground invasion, get humanitarian supplies into Gaza, and more. He’s also sent clear signals to Iran that the US does not want the war to widen, but is prepared to, which functions as deterrence.

As for something Biden did wrong? I thought his speech overdid the links between Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas, miscasting Israel as Ukraine and Russia as Hamas. The wars, the combatants, and the overall situations are too different in too many ways. Russia-Ukraine is pretty straightforward. Israel-Palestine is anything but.

On “free pass to Israel,” I’d say it’s clear that Biden is supporting Israel after the October 7 Hamas attacks, but not simply going along with whatever Israel wants. Some Americans (and others) want Biden to be more critical of Israel, to stop US military aid, to make America’s priority stopping the Israeli military, or take other steps. But “free pass” is more political hyperbole than objective analysis.

Regarding Biden’s “left flank,” it’s hard to say. For one, it’s impossible to know now what American voters will have at the front of their minds when voting in November 2024. Some criticism of Biden about Israel from the left is a genuine criticism by Biden voters, and some is by activists, commentators, podcasters, etc., who’d never vote Biden, and who guaranteed that Biden would lose in 2020 and Democrats would lose the 2022 midterms. How, or if, US policy towards today’s events in Israel and Gaza impacts the next American election — I don’t know.

And I don’t think others really know either.

“War president by proxy” is ridiculous. A lot of things happen in the world that are outside America’s control. Hamas killing 1,400 people in Israel was one of them, and Israel responding to that militarily is another. As a global leader, the US president plays a role in managing various crises. Israel and Hamas have fought many times, across many presidencies, and the US has been giving Israel aid throughout.


JS: Some say Trump’s “isolationist” tendencies are better than Biden’s “internationalist” tendencies. Is this a real debate or false binary?

NG: In general, it’s a false binary. There are degrees of isolationism and interventionism, and circumstances can change views. George W. Bush ran in 2000 as an anti-interventionist, and after Sept. 11 became the opposite. Specifically, it’s wrong. Trump deployed more US troops to Syria, authorized drone strikes, ordered the assassination of an Iranian general — the first foreign military commander targeted and killed by the US since World War II — and quite a bit more. Biden withdrew forces from Afghanistan and curtailed the drone program, then did a lot to help Ukraine after Russia’s invasion. It’s not cut and dry.

On Israel-Palestine, Trump wasn’t isolationist, taking various actions to shift US policy in favor of the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That didn’t cause the violence we’re seeing, but it did worsen the situation in ways that made violence more likely.




John Stoehr  is the editor of the Editorial Board. He writes the daily edition. Find him @johnastoehr

Israel-Hamas war and the impact of online disinformation


Inna Lazareva,Adam Smith,Avi Asher-Schapiro
Published: October 12, 2023

A dove flies over the debris of houses destroyed in Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip 

October 11, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

What’s the context?

Israel-Hamas war sparks deluge of disinformation that spills over into the real world
Disinformation spreads worldwide after Hamas attack on Israel
Platforms struggle to moderate viral falsehoods
False narratives can manipulate opinion and hinder justice

TEL AVIV/LONDON/LOS ANGELES - False and misleading information has surged online since the militant Islamist group Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel, manipulating world opinion, fomenting local confusion and bolstering calls for retribution, experts say.

Israel has since rained down retaliatory strikes on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, leaving 180,000 homeless and 2.3 million without electricity or water.

At least 1,200 Israelis and 1,200 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, according to reports.

Rights groups and researchers have warned against social media users sharing misleading or baseless claims, including miscaptioned imagery or altered documents, in an effort to shape public perception.

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European Union industry chief Thierry Breton this week urged social media leaders Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg to tackle the spread of disinformation on their respective platforms - X, Facebook, and Instagram - to comply with new EU online content rules.

Here's what you need to know about disinformation during the conflict and how it's spreading:
What disinformation is spreading?

There have been four main narratives that have spread across social media, according to Jack Brewster, an editor for news rating website and misinformation tracker NewsGuard.

These are the key fake story lines identified by Brewster:that the attack against Israel was a false flag, a campaign perpetrated expressly to lay blame on an opponent.

that Israel is staging footage of dead children killed by Hamas.

that the U.S. administration approved an $8 billion aid package for Israel.
and that Ukraine sold weapons to Hamas.

The Arab Center for Social Media Advancement, a non-profit known as 7amleh, also tracked some inaccurate accounts of Jewish babies being held captive in Gaza, as well as of sexual abuse.

For families in the Middle East, disinformation can have a personal toll.

On Monday, a video on Musk's X platform purported to show Yaffa Adar, an 85-year-old grandmother, who was kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz near the border with Gaza on Saturday.

It shows footage of an older woman, surrounded by soldiers. The woman is seen resting after exiting a black van as soldiers hand her a bottle of water.

The video spread widely online, but on verification with the family, it became apparent the woman shown is not Adar.

“It was absolutely heartbreaking (to see that video) – to think that maybe she’s back and then to find out that it’s not her,” her granddaughter Adva Adar told Context.
What has helped fuel disinformation?

Across social media, dis- and misinformation have been spread about the violence in an echo of the fake news unleashed in the early stages of the Russia-Ukraine war, Brewster said.

The most notable change in the social media space is how X, formerly Twitter, is being used to spread disinformation, tech and media experts said.

“Some users have passed off video game footage as real, while others have shared clips from other events or wars entirely,” Brewster said.

Other social media platforms, such as TikTok, have been used to share out-of-context videos.

NewsGuard highlighted two videos purporting to show Israeli senior officials captured by Hamas - the men were in fact in the hands of Azerbaijan’s security service - and Hamas militants paragliding into Israel in a clip that was filmed in Egypt.

These videos received hundreds of thousands of views before being taken down.

TikTok did not provide comment when contacted by Context.

X directed Context to statements made by CEO Linda Yaccarino that it had "redistributed resources and refocused internal teams ... to address this rapidly evolving situation."

Theodora Skeadas, a former public policy staffer at Twitter who worked on content moderation, said that staffing cuts had significantly undermined the platform's capacity to tackle the deluge of doctored posts and misleading videos and images.

"The work that Twitter would have done in the past is (to) elevate reliable information, remove misinformation and content that violates the terms of service (and) add labels to certain posts for more context," she said.
How are platforms tackling the problem?

X has said that more than 500 unique Community Notes, a feature that lets users add context to potentially misleading content, have been posted about the conflict.

But Skeadas said community notes "can't keep up with the volume of posts during a crisis".

YouTube has said that graphic content may be allowed on the platform if it provides sufficient news value, but is moderating for videos that violate its rules.

Snap says it is monitoring for misinformation and incitement of violence.

Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, said a team of experts including Hebrew and Arabic speakers were monitoring the "rapidly evolving situation in real-time".
What are the real-world consequences?

The main aim of false narratives is to manipulate public opinion and justify collective punishment, Nadim Nashif, executive director of 7amleh, told Context.

“These phenomena have a considerable impact on ... access to information, something quite worrying in a context in which Palestinian narratives are censored and/or unable to make it to the online realm," he said.

This can lead to further calls for violence and to actual harm, as well as obscuring human rights violations and preventing justice from being served, he said.

Adar, whose grandmother is still missing, is worried that disinformation could prevent her family getting help.

“We are really looking for the world to understand the situation here – and then something like this comes up and people think that things are better, where they are not.”

New to Context? We'd love for you to find out a little more about what we do. Click here for a selection of our best work.

(Writing by Adam Smith; reporting by Inna Lazareva in Tel Aviv, Adam Smith in London, Avi Asher-Schapiro in Los Angeles; editing by Lyndsay Griffiths and Zoe Tabary)

Analysis: Propaganda, deception, and fake news in the Israel-Hamas conflict

The last thing that matters in any propaganda operation is whether there is any truth in it.

Palestinians wounded in Israeli air raids on the Gaza Strip are brought to al-Aqsa hospital in Deir el-Balah, on October 14, 2023 [Adel Hana/AP Photo]

By Zoran Kusovac
Published On 14 Oct 2023

The Hamas Authority for Refugee Affairs has called Israel’s already notorious directive that all civilians should evacuate the northern part of the Gaza Strip “fake propaganda”.

Whoever wrote that is dead wrong, and was certainly not involved in the planning of last week’s armed incursion into Israel carried out by the Palestinian group’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades. The last thing that matters in any propaganda operation is whether there is any truth in it.

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Multiple surprise breaches of Israel’s security barriers between it and Gaza were carried out in a very determined and efficient fashion, as were the executions and captures of members of Israeli armed forces and civilians in the settlements swarmed by Hamas’s fighters.

But the main purpose of the attack was not military, except possibly to the limited degree of taking hostages who can be used as human shields in case of (expected) Israeli armed retaliation on the ground. The real purpose of the action was Hamas’s desire to demonstrate what it is capable of, militarily and in terms of willingness to use extreme violence.

The action was planned as a message saying “This is what we can and will do” – and as such it falls under that important, even crucial, part of the art of war we call psychological warfare.



The term may be new – it was first used barely 80 years ago, at the beginning of World War II – but the actions it describes are as old as warfare itself, as old as humanity.

From time immemorial, military commanders knew that they stood a better chance of being victorious in battle if their enemy was weakened and demoralised by fear and uncertainty.

Ancient warrior chiefs knew that surprise is one of the most efficient military tactics. If you make your foes guess when and how you will attack, and especially if you make them expect you at a different place at a different time, you have already half won your battle. The other half of victory is achieved by striking your enemy when and where he did not expect you and overcoming his weakened resistance.

Many wars in the past have been won without ever waging or winning one decisive battle. US senator and former military officer in the Vietnam War, John McCain, stated that Vietnamese Commander-in-Chief General Vo Nguyen Giap beat the United States in war but never in battle. In that sense, Hamas beat Israel in last weekend’s battle, but it has not won the war. Yet it scored an important propaganda victory

.

Palestinians queue to fill containers with water in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 14, 2023 [Mahmud Hams/AFP]

Scenes of Hamas machinegunning Israelis – soldiers and civilians – caused outrage in Israel and most of the Western world. But in the eyes of many Palestinians, most of the rest of the Arab world and many Third World countries, the armed fighters demonstrated determination, nerves of steel, skill in the use of modern military technologies and total disregard for their own lives in an action that proved that underdogs can successfully challenge the domination of the big and the mighty. In that vast part of the world, Hamas scored an important propaganda victory.

In Israel and in the West, it shot itself in the foot, giving additional proof to those who consider Hamas fighters cold-blooded murderers and “terrorists”. It also unified Israelis who rallied together regardless of differences in politics or opinions.

Was Hamas aware of the effect the raid would produce? Certainly, but it obviously calculated that it was worth it for them to show themselves in a new light and again raise awareness of the Palestinians’ plight.


The Israeli response was as expected: first came deliberate aerial bombing of Gaza with doubtful military effect, and then came an immediate psychological warfare campaign. Propaganda and guns – a classic military strategy

.

(Al Jazeera)

Israel’s call to civilians to evacuate northern Gaza in 24 hours is pure propaganda in the function of war. Every military planner knows that even under extreme threat, civilians, who cannot be disciplined the way armies can, who resist attempts to instil order, who try to take with them possessions that slow them down, and try to find alternative routes and means etc, may only cover 20-25km (12.5-15.5 miles) in a day.

But when their numbers swell, with even 10,000 being huge, not to mention a million, they will simply block every road, including ones needed by the military to manoeuvre, and create chaos, panic and demoralisation.

This is exactly what Israel intended to do, but it succeeded only partially. Why? We’ll examine it tomorrow.

Just to add that I was right about the Israeli land attack on Gaza not happening on Friday night. I believe it will not happen today, either.

But I will not say it might not happen next weekend. That might be a realistic time for the Israeli army to have achieved their desired level of operational readiness.


SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

  

UPDATES

SRI LANKA

Economists ask for a debt moratorium to exit crisis

by Arundathie Abeysinghe

The leaders of eleven parties have asked President Rajapaksa for an interim government to adopt new policies to cope with a shortage of basic goods. Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party left the ruling coalition. Four main Buddhist groups call for the government to step aside.

Colombo (AsiaNews) – The leaders of an eleven-party alliance that has the majority in the Sri Lankan parliament have asked President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to form an interim government to adopt new policies as a first step to resolve the country's economic crisis. This follows the resignation of every cabinet minister in the wake of countrywide protests.

Political analysts agree that a new interim government should not follow the policies that have aggravated the current crisis, but implement concrete solutions to deal with high food prices, shortages of food as well as fuel, gas and electricity and essential medicines.

The main cause of the current crisis is the lack of dollars in the state's coffers, economic analysts told AsiaNews. Like most countries of the world facing similar economic crises, loans and interest payments should be delayed through a moratorium policy for a period of five years.

Had this been done instead of repaying a US$ 6 billion loan, money would have been used to obtain essential goods to alleviate the country’s suffering.

Some left-wing parties, including the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), believe the government should not seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as this would only lead to further debt.

Recently, former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe, leader of the United National Party (UNP), denied reports suggesting that he was asked to form a national unity government.

According to UNP sources, the only solution is a national consensus with a caretaker government of all parties under the Chief Justice to organise elections as soon as possible.

According to government sources, representatives from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by former President Maithripala Sirisena met with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday for urgent talks, but nothing came of them.

The SLFP has decided to leave the ruling coalition and its members now sit separately in Parliament.

For his part, President Rajapaksa, who discussed the crisis with 132 MPs from his coalition, asked all political parties in Parliament to offer their help in finding solutions to current economic challenges. He also appointed four ministers to conduct government business until a full cabinet is appointed.

The leaders of Sri Lanka's four major Buddhist groups also wrote to President Rajapaksa, presenting six proposals to resolve the economic crisis, including the formation of an interim government.

Meanwhile, protests continue in various parts of the country with larger crowds, which now include professionals, artists and students. In addition, protests are being reported among Sri Lanka communities around the world.

Sri Lankan lawyers hold massive protest as country in abyss of economic crisis


Colombo [Sri Lanka], April 5 (ANI): Sri Lanka is currently in the abyss of an economic crisis and amid this, a large number of lawyers staged a massive protest in front of the Attorney General’s Department on Tuesday in the Hultsdorph area in Colombo.



The demonstration, which commenced near the Aluthkade Magistrate’s Court, later proceeded towards the Attorney General’s Department, reported Colombo Times.
The lawyers are protesting the Attorney General’s move to withdraw certain lawsuits and also against the soaring prices of commodities that have gravely affected the day-to-day lives of the general public.

A protest letter with president Gotabaya Rajapaksa regarding the economic crisis in the country was officially lodged by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, as per the news portal.
Amid the unprecedented economic crisis in Sri Lanka, the leader of the Opposition, Sajith Premadasa has called for abolishing the Executive Presidential system.

Sri Lanka is battling a severe economic crisis with food and fuel scarcity affecting a large number of the people in the island nation. The economy has been in a free-fall since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country is also facing a foreign exchange shortage, which has, incidentally, affected its capacity to import food and fuel, leading to the power cuts in the country. The shortage of essential goods forced Sri Lanka to seek assistance from friendly countries.
On Sunday, 26-member Sri Lankan Cabinet Ministers submitted resignations amid rising public anger against the government over the economic crisis.

Meanwhile, the 36-hour long curfew that was imposed on Sri Lanka on Saturday evening at 6 pm was lifted on Monday morning at 6 am but the country is still under a state of emergency.
(ANI)

Sri Lankan flag does not 'protect' protesters from military, lawyers say

A man holds a Sri Lankan flag as he gathers with protesters outside the Sri Lanka president's home in Colombo on March 31, 2022 to call for his resignation as the country's economic crisis worsened ( AFP / Ishara S. KODIKARA)

AFP Sri Lanka

Published on Tuesday 05 April 2022 

As Sri Lankans protesting the island's economic crisis clashed with security forces, a message circulating widely on Facebook and WhatsApp claimed that military law prevented soldiers from shooting at demonstrators holding the national flag because it would be a "war crime". However, Sri Lankan legal experts warned that there was no law to protect protesters carrying the flag.

"Please have the national flag with you when participating in all protests in Sri Lanka," reads a Sinhala-language Facebook post from April 3 shared more than 700 times.

"If possible, take a photo of it and keep it with you. The Sri Lankan military cannot shoot at you while you carry the national flag."

"According to the Army Act and the oath they have taken, it's tantamount to betraying the nation. Furthermore, as per national and international military law, it's a war crime. This is on behalf of the safety of all those committed to dissent."

Screenshot of a Facebook post sharing the false claim, taken on April 5, 2022

The post refers to "international military law", presumably meaning the Geneva Conventions, a set of rules ratified by 196 states that seek to reduce suffering in war.

Street protests have gripped Sri Lanka in recent weeks as demonstrators blocked main roads across the country over the worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.

Police fired tear gas and water cannon at hundreds of protesters trying to storm the home of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on March 31, demanding he resign over severe shortages of essentials, sharp price rises and crippling power cuts.

Rajapaksa later declared a state of emergency, giving sweeping powers to security forces to arrest and detain suspects for long periods without trial.

Facebook posts encouraging protesters to carry a national flag for "protection" were also shared here and here. AFP also found the claim circulating on WhatsApp.

Some social media users appeared to believe the posts shared genuine advice.

"Very good and valuable advice. Sharing for everyone's use," one person commented.

"Bless you for educating us, will spread the news so all those protesting or who are planning to participate can follow this great advice," another wrote.
'No extra protection'

However, legal experts said the claim was false.

Sri Lankan attorney-at-law Prabodha Rathnayake said there was no regulation in national or military law that said security forces could not shoot at a person holding the national flag.

"The few citations relating to the national flag are found in the Constitution and in trademark laws on the permitted commercial use of the flag," he told AFP.

"There are no clauses which prohibit the military from shooting at a person bearing the national flag, and none declaring it as an act tantamount to treason."

Luwie Niranjan, attorney-at-law and consultant at Sri Lanka's Center for Policy Alternatives, also said the advice was incorrect.

"The flag doesn't give you any additional protection," he told AFP. "But the military or police shooting an unarmed civilian who is engaged in a peaceful protest would be an offence under the normal law."

"Outside a war situation, the general law applies, and shooting unarmed civilians engaging in nonviolent protest would amount to murder," he said.

The right to protest peacefully is enshrined in Article 14 (1) (b) of Sri Lanka's Constitution, which says that "every citizen is entitled to the freedom of peaceful assembly".

AFP found no mention of the purported law mentioned in Facebook posts in the Sri Lankan Army, Navy and Air Force Acts.

AFP Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka opposition rejects unity offer, demands president resign

Demonstrators hold placards and shout slogan during a protest against the surge in prices and shortage of fuel and other essential commodities in Colombo on Monday.

AFP

• 04 Apr 2022

Sri Lanka's opposition on Monday dismissed the president's invitation to join a unity government as "nonsensical" and instead demanded he resign over the country's worsening shortages of food, fuel and medicines.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's overture came as armed troops looked to quell more demonstrations over what the government acknowledges is the country's most severe economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.

Police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse thousands of protesters trying to storm the private home of the prime minister — the president's elder brother and the head of the family political clan — in Tangalle, once a bastion of support for the Rajapaksas in the island's south.

The president asked opposition parties represented in parliament to "join the effort to seek solutions to the national crisis," after the late-night resignation of nearly all cabinet ministers to pave the way for a revamped administration.

 Demonstrators hold placards and shout slogan during a protest against the surge in prices and shortage of fuel in Colombo. AFP

"We will not be joining this government," Eran Wickramaratne of the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party said. "The Rajapaksa family must step down."

It capped a day of rejections from political parties demanding the once popular and powerful ruling family relinquish power. "He really must be a lunatic to think that opposition MPs will prop up a government that is crumbling," lawmaker Anura Dissanayake of the leftist People's Liberation Front (JVP) told reporters in the capital Colombo.

And Abraham Sumanthiran of the Tamil National Alliance told AFP: "His offer to reconstitute the cabinet with opposition MPs is nonsensical and infuriates the people who have been demanding his resignation."

Every member of Sri Lanka's cabinet except the president and his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, resigned late on Sunday.

The country's central bank governor Ajith Cabraal — who has long opposed the International Monetary Fund bailout now being sought by the country — also stepped down on Monday.

A day after en masse resignations, the president reappointed four of the outgoing ministers — three of them to their old jobs — while replacing brother Basil Rajapaksa as finance minister with the previous justice chief.

'Deck chairs on the Titanic'

Political analysts said the offer of a unity government did not go far enough to address the economic crisis or restore confidence in the Rajapaksa administration.

"This is like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic," Bhavani Fonseka, political analyst and human rights lawyer, told AFP. "This is a joke."

Political columnist Victor Ivan told AFP that a cabinet reshuffle in the guise of a national government would not be acceptable to the public.

"What is needed is a serious reform programme, not just to revive the economy but address issues of governance," Ivan told AFP.

A critical lack of foreign currency has left Sri Lanka struggling to service its ballooning $51-billion foreign debt, with the pandemic torpedoing vital revenue from tourism and remittances.

The result has seen unprecedented food and fuel shortages along with record inflation and crippling power cuts, with no sign of an end to the economic woes.

Trading was halted on the country's stock exchange seconds after it opened Monday as shares plunged past the five percent threshold needed to trigger an automatic stop.

Economists say Sri Lanka's crisis has been exacerbated by government mismanagement, years of accumulated borrowing and ill-advised tax cuts.

The government plans to negotiate an IMF bailout, but talks are yet to begin.

'Step down Rajapaksa'

Noisy demonstrations have spread across the country since Sunday evening with thousands of people joining.

Thousands of young men and women dressed mostly in black and carrying hand-written posters and placards staged a noisy but peaceful demonstration at a busy roundabout in Colombo on Monday.

"Step down Rajapaksa," said one placard, while another read: "Return the funds stolen from the republic."

"Gota lunatic, go home Gota," crowds chanted elsewhere in the city, referring to the president, who imposed a state of emergency last week, the day after a crowd attempted to storm his residence.

The homes of several senior administration figures in various parts of the island were surrounded by protesters, with police firing tear gas to disperse the crowds.

Agence France-Presse

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka blocks social media platforms to contain protests

• 03 Apr 2022

Picture used for illustrative purposes only.

Gulf Today Report

Sri Lanka has restricted access to major social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter, internet monitoring organisation NetBlocks said on Sunday, after the government imposed a curfew to tackle growing unrest amid an unprecedented economic crisis.

The South Asian nation is facing severe shortages of food, fuel and other essentials, along with sharp price rises and crippling power cuts, in its most painful downturn since independence from Britain in 1948.

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READ MORE

Sri Lankan president declares curfew to preempt protests

Street protests grip Sri Lanka as economic crisis escalates

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"Real-time network data show Sri Lanka has imposed a nationwide social media blackout, restricting access to platforms including Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, and Instagram as emergency is declared amid widespread protests," NetBlocks said in a tweet.

A protester shouts slogans near a bus on fire during a demonstration in Colombo, Sri Lanka. AFP

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa imposed a state of emergency on Friday, the day after a crowd attempted to storm his home in the capital Colombo, and a nationwide curfew is in effect until Monday morning.

Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp were among the platforms shut down by internet service providers on the orders of defence authorities, the pro-government Ada Derana news channel said.

"On the request of the defence ministry, service providers advised to temporarily restrict social media platforms," the broadcaster said, quoting Sri Lanka's media regulator.

Anonymous activists had called for mass protests on Sunday on social media before the order went into effect.

Emergency powers in the past have allowed the military to arrest and detain suspects without warrants, but the terms of the current powers are not yet clear.