Published May 08, 2024
By Jesus Mesa
Live News Reporter
With India in the middle of what is considered the world's largest democratic electoral process, a storm of controversy has emerged over racially charged comments made by Sam Pitroda, a prominent figure associated with the Congress party, currently the largest opposition party in the country.
Pitroda, 82, came under fire for how he recently described India's racial diversity, saying: "People in the east look like Chinese, people in the west look like Arabs, people in the north look like, maybe, white, and people in the south look like Africans."
The awkward analogy, apparently intended to highlight the country's diverse population of 1.5 billion, was met with widespread condemnation for its racial overtones, a particularly sensitive issue in India.
Indian Overseas Congress Chairperson, Sam Pitroda, attends a conference at the Brussels Press Club on September 8, 2023, in Brussels, Belgium. Pitroda sparked controversy in India with recent comments about diversity in the country, labeled...
The immediate response from his party was to distance itself from Pitroda's comments. Jairam Ramesh, Congress General Secretary, expressed disapproval on social media, saying: "The analogies drawn by Mr. Sam Pitroda are most unfortunate and unacceptable. The Indian National Congress completely dissociates itself from these analogies."
On the other side, political leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling party led by the incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seized on the comments to criticize Pitroda and, by extension, the Congress party.
Nirmala Sitharaman, India's Finance Minister, slammed Pitroda and also attacked Rahul Gandhi, the leader of Congress and a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, one of the most important political dynasties in India.
"I am from South India. I look Indian! My team has enthusiastic members from northeast India. They look Indian! My colleagues from west India look Indian! But, for the racist who is the mentor of @RahulGandhi, we all look African, Chinese, Arab, and white! Thanks for revealing your mindset and your attitude," Sitharaman wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Soon after the clip of the remark went viral on Indian social media, Prime Minister Modi lashed out at Pitroda during a political rally. "I am very angry today... I am very angry with the remark made by Sam Pitroda," he said. "We will not accept this racist mentality."
Modi, in power since 2014, also said Pitroda's comments represent the views of the "Shehzade," a derogatory term which Modi frequently uses to refer to Gandhi, his biggest rival in the election.
The immediate response from his party was to distance itself from Pitroda's comments. Jairam Ramesh, Congress General Secretary, expressed disapproval on social media, saying: "The analogies drawn by Mr. Sam Pitroda are most unfortunate and unacceptable. The Indian National Congress completely dissociates itself from these analogies."
On the other side, political leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling party led by the incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seized on the comments to criticize Pitroda and, by extension, the Congress party.
Nirmala Sitharaman, India's Finance Minister, slammed Pitroda and also attacked Rahul Gandhi, the leader of Congress and a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, one of the most important political dynasties in India.
"I am from South India. I look Indian! My team has enthusiastic members from northeast India. They look Indian! My colleagues from west India look Indian! But, for the racist who is the mentor of @RahulGandhi, we all look African, Chinese, Arab, and white! Thanks for revealing your mindset and your attitude," Sitharaman wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Soon after the clip of the remark went viral on Indian social media, Prime Minister Modi lashed out at Pitroda during a political rally. "I am very angry today... I am very angry with the remark made by Sam Pitroda," he said. "We will not accept this racist mentality."
Modi, in power since 2014, also said Pitroda's comments represent the views of the "Shehzade," a derogatory term which Modi frequently uses to refer to Gandhi, his biggest rival in the election.
Congress political leader Rahul Gandhi has been the target of attacks by BJP leaders after Pitroda's comments. GETTY
"The country will not tolerate the disrespect of our countrymen on the basis of the color of their skin," the prime minister said during a rally in Telangana.
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad also took issue with Pitroda's comments, saying "he doesn't understand the country" and is the reason why Rahul Gandhi "speaks nonsense."
This is not the first time Pitroda has created a storm for his party with his off-the-cuff remarks. In an earlier speech, he expressed support for the inheritance tax, taking inspiration from a system used in some U.S. states. In April, he said that India would benefit from a system where the children of someone who died would receive only a portion of their wealth, with a significant portion to be acquired by the government.
Modi attacked that plan, claiming it would redistribute the wealth of Hindus to Muslims, the largest religious minority in India and a demographic that Modi has been accused of routinely disparaging.
The current elections, underway until June, will determine the Prime Minister and the central government's composition for the next five years. The election pits Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party against Gandhi's Congress party, among other regional and national factions. BJP is favored to win, but there are signs the results could be closer that expected.
Sam Pitroda currently serves as the head of the Indian Overseas Congress and primarily resides in Chicago. His role involves coordinating and managing the activities of the party's overseas chapters, and he is often engaged in outreach activities aimed at the Indian diaspora.
Known for his earlier contributions to India's telecommunications revolution, Pitroda continues to be involved in various technology initiatives and public policy discussions. He has more than 100 patents in his name.
"The country will not tolerate the disrespect of our countrymen on the basis of the color of their skin," the prime minister said during a rally in Telangana.
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad also took issue with Pitroda's comments, saying "he doesn't understand the country" and is the reason why Rahul Gandhi "speaks nonsense."
This is not the first time Pitroda has created a storm for his party with his off-the-cuff remarks. In an earlier speech, he expressed support for the inheritance tax, taking inspiration from a system used in some U.S. states. In April, he said that India would benefit from a system where the children of someone who died would receive only a portion of their wealth, with a significant portion to be acquired by the government.
Modi attacked that plan, claiming it would redistribute the wealth of Hindus to Muslims, the largest religious minority in India and a demographic that Modi has been accused of routinely disparaging.
The current elections, underway until June, will determine the Prime Minister and the central government's composition for the next five years. The election pits Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party against Gandhi's Congress party, among other regional and national factions. BJP is favored to win, but there are signs the results could be closer that expected.
Sam Pitroda currently serves as the head of the Indian Overseas Congress and primarily resides in Chicago. His role involves coordinating and managing the activities of the party's overseas chapters, and he is often engaged in outreach activities aimed at the Indian diaspora.
Known for his earlier contributions to India's telecommunications revolution, Pitroda continues to be involved in various technology initiatives and public policy discussions. He has more than 100 patents in his name.
How much influence does social media have on India’s ongoing elections?
Joyojeet Pal, associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Information, discusses social media’s role in the current elections. Pal studies technology in democracy and labor, specializing in politicians’ use of social media and misinformation, particularly in India.
University of Michigan School of Information,
Published On: May 8, 2024
FACULTY Q&A
India’s multiphase general elections have reached the halfway mark.
The results of the seven-phase election, running from April 19 to June 1, will be announced June 4. This year’s election, the world’s largest with 960 million eligible voters, will determine 543 seats of the Lok Sabha (the lower house of India’s parliament) and India’s next prime minister.
How popular is social media in India?
It is estimated that about half a billion Indians are social media users, most using WhatsApp, YouTube, or both.
How big of a role do you think social media is playing in these elections?
Social media plays a massive role on two fronts. The first is the top-down communication from politicians to citizens, which has, for all functional purposes, moved from broadcast television or print to direct communication. Almost every prominent politician uses Twitter/X as an output channel at this point. In addition, they have teams that work on their Facebook, Koo, WhatsApp, YouTube or Instagram strategies, which involve direct outreach or through influencers. The second significant change involving social media and elections is the last mile outreach on WhatsApp, which includes regular/daily messaging with political or ideological content and voting-day reminders for turnout maximization. The WhatsApp coordination is often done using electoral roll information, so politicians have very granular information about who will and will not vote for them and where the pressure points for maximizing results lie.
How do you think AI on social media is affecting these elections?
There is a significant impact on the quality of messaging since social media teams working for politicians now use technology to check the quality of messaging before they put things out, as well as the data collection and analysis work, which has a good amount of technology. There is some use of AI for things like generating stock images, and while deepfake videos are the thing that gets talked about a lot, there is a lot less of that happening in practice and we happen to hear of it only because the cases where it is caught quickly make the news.
Is there a particular form of social media that spreads more false information than others?
In general, encrypted platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram are where the most misinformation gets spread because there are no structured avenues for checks. Our research found that fact-checking does not work well on WhatsApp because the people who spread the most misinformation tend to be up the hierarchy, so they rarely get challenged.
How do you think the political parties are using social media in India?
At this point, most major political parties have very comparable strategies. They have brand managers who work at the national level, large teams for major national leaders, and smaller teams dedicated to working for each politician standing for a local election. Since state legislature and national elections are underway, the teams’ sizes can vary.
How can Indians avoid misinformation on social media or at least know the difference?
As such, the problem is not “misinformation,” typically understood as explicitly false information, but innuendo, which is the constant flow of polarizing content. This is much more dangerous since it cannot be “debunked” per se but leads to a slow and much longer-term radicalization of people.
Published On: May 8, 2024
FACULTY Q&A
India’s multiphase general elections have reached the halfway mark.
The results of the seven-phase election, running from April 19 to June 1, will be announced June 4. This year’s election, the world’s largest with 960 million eligible voters, will determine 543 seats of the Lok Sabha (the lower house of India’s parliament) and India’s next prime minister.
How popular is social media in India?
It is estimated that about half a billion Indians are social media users, most using WhatsApp, YouTube, or both.
How big of a role do you think social media is playing in these elections?
Social media plays a massive role on two fronts. The first is the top-down communication from politicians to citizens, which has, for all functional purposes, moved from broadcast television or print to direct communication. Almost every prominent politician uses Twitter/X as an output channel at this point. In addition, they have teams that work on their Facebook, Koo, WhatsApp, YouTube or Instagram strategies, which involve direct outreach or through influencers. The second significant change involving social media and elections is the last mile outreach on WhatsApp, which includes regular/daily messaging with political or ideological content and voting-day reminders for turnout maximization. The WhatsApp coordination is often done using electoral roll information, so politicians have very granular information about who will and will not vote for them and where the pressure points for maximizing results lie.
How do you think AI on social media is affecting these elections?
There is a significant impact on the quality of messaging since social media teams working for politicians now use technology to check the quality of messaging before they put things out, as well as the data collection and analysis work, which has a good amount of technology. There is some use of AI for things like generating stock images, and while deepfake videos are the thing that gets talked about a lot, there is a lot less of that happening in practice and we happen to hear of it only because the cases where it is caught quickly make the news.
Is there a particular form of social media that spreads more false information than others?
In general, encrypted platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram are where the most misinformation gets spread because there are no structured avenues for checks. Our research found that fact-checking does not work well on WhatsApp because the people who spread the most misinformation tend to be up the hierarchy, so they rarely get challenged.
How do you think the political parties are using social media in India?
At this point, most major political parties have very comparable strategies. They have brand managers who work at the national level, large teams for major national leaders, and smaller teams dedicated to working for each politician standing for a local election. Since state legislature and national elections are underway, the teams’ sizes can vary.
How can Indians avoid misinformation on social media or at least know the difference?
As such, the problem is not “misinformation,” typically understood as explicitly false information, but innuendo, which is the constant flow of polarizing content. This is much more dangerous since it cannot be “debunked” per se but leads to a slow and much longer-term radicalization of people.
Joyojeet Pal, associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Information, discusses social media’s role in the current elections. Pal studies technology in democracy and labor, specializing in politicians’ use of social media and misinformation, particularly in India.
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