The TLDR: The government is combating any and every sign of possible support to the farmers with astonishing single-mindedness—and perhaps without a sense of perspective. Rihanna—along with other global celebs—was on the receiving end yesterday as the government unleashed its secret maha-asthra: Bollywood tweets! But the brouhaha was a distraction from more serious developments both on the platform and on the ground. 

Government vs RiRi

The trigger: The global pop icon tweeted out a CNN story on the protests with a single line: “Why aren't we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest.” A handful of other big global names, including Greta Thunberg, followed.

The government’s response: an unprecedented and wordy statement that declared:

“Before rushing to comment on such matters, we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken. The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible.”

Celebs to the rescue: Almost on cue, a rash of Bollywood and cricket stars piped up—including Sachin Tendulkar, Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Karan Johar and Suneil Shetty—to declare their undying loyalty to the government, and warn against “false propaganda.” 

All of them dutifully used the hashtags: #IndiaTogether and #IndiaAgainstPropaganda put out by the Ministry of External Affairs statement. The least rah-rah of the lot: Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane who skipped the propaganda bit… hmm.

Point to note: The blatant orchestration between celebrities and the government was bizarre but perhaps not surprising. In its latest cover story, Caravan magazine notes: 

“Behind this wave of nationalism in Hindi cinema, however, there seems to be a system of unspoken collusion. The image-conscious government watches closely not just the content of films but also the opinions publicly expressed by celebrities. Some are approached directly to amplify the government’s voice. Those who cooperate are rewarded in many ways: tax cuts, government assignments, national awards and so on. Those who do not are punished through the misuse of institutions.”

Adding to the madness: Smriti Irani who tweeted out this meme with the two hashtags. Irani did not add any further comment (and neither will we).

Also, Diljit Dosanjh who rolled out—with remarkable speed—a musical tribute to Rihanna titled ‘RiRi’ 🤦‍♀️:

Kangana Ranaut jumped into the fray—and the two recreated their previous Twitter spat. Dosanjh egged her on in Punjabi, while she repeatedly called him a Khalistani. Yeah, it was pretty civilised. 

The most surprising: was not the usual bickering among the usual suspects on Twitter, but news organisations like The Print losing all semblance of balance. It issued an ugly 50-word edit on Rihanna’s tweet that read:

"A fool, paid-to-tweet celebrity who can't find Punjab on the map, member of the global Left cabal—Rihanna's day out in Indian Twitter's political akhara was entertaining. For others, she became an instant anti-Modi mascot. In just a few hours, Rihanna got a cheat-sheet into the most argumentative democracy." 

Then The Print reissued the same edit but the first bit in quotes to distance themselves from the ugliest rhetoric—without clarifying who they are allegedly quoting.

Meanwhile, the farm leaders: issued a fairly low-key response:

“On the one hand, it is a matter of pride that eminent personalities of the world are showing sensitivity towards the cause of farmers, while on the other hand, it is unfortunate that the Government of India is not understanding the pain of the farmers and some people are even calling peaceful farmers as terrorists.” 

The fallout: Well, RiRi got her wish thanks to the government. We’re all talking about it now. Global interest in the protests is now at an all-time high—and it’s not just the usual publications. The story is making headlines even in Vogue UK, Teen Vogue, Fox News and Variety. That’s what happens when foreign ministries take on red carpet types—instead of sticking to the usual diplomatic targets. 

Government vs Twitter: round #2

On Monday, the government forced Twitter to block 100 accounts and 150 tweets of some of its fiercest critics in India (explained here). But the platform unblocked them after its lawyers met with a ministerial committee, and politely explained why the request violated its policy:

“Twitter had apparently said that ‘stock phrases and exaggerations/ crude emotional appeals do not constitute inflammatory speech in light of the judgments of the Supreme Court’. Twitter appears to have described the government’s directive as disproportionate and impractical.”

The accounts were restored, and the matter appeared to be resolved. Except the government decided to push back—and in a very public fashion. The Information Technology ministry sent a notice to the company demanding immediate compliance:

“Twitter is an intermediary and they are obliged to obey directions of the government. Refusal to do so will invite penal action’… ‘Twitter cannot sit as an appellate authority over the satisfaction of the authorities about its potential impact on derailing public order. It cannot assume the role of court and justify non compliance.”

The notice cited various Indian laws and Supreme Court judgements to make clear it has no right to defy its orders—and warned “in case of non-compliance, statutory consequences shall follow.”

The consequences: are unclear for now. Twitter has not responded either to the government or to the media. And the accounts remain unblocked. Back in December, Morning Context pointed out that content moderation in India is largely a thankless exercise for the platform:

“What is worrying is that, at some point, Twitter may find itself evaluating the value of such an exercise in a country where it barely made Rs 86 crore in revenue and turned a paltry profit of Rs 7 crore in the year ended 31 March 2020, according to data sourced from Tofler.  While India is an important market in terms of users, the country does not even account for 1% of Twitter’s annual revenue.” 

Two points of irony: One, the increased global scrutiny may make Twitter less likely to cave—given the blowback it will face in other markets that matter to it more. 

Plus this: as one internet privacy expert points out, if this showdown goes to court, the government will be forced to reveal the legal grounds for its request. Right now, we have no clue what exact offence triggered the request to block these accounts. The reason: Section 69A of the Information Technology Act allows the government to keep all such information under wraps, and force Twitter to do the same. A very public court case will change all of that.

Battle in the states

While everyone was bickering on Twitter, the confrontation between the government and the farmers intensified across several states.

Haryana: A massive mahapanchayat gathered in Jind and issued a five-point demand—which includes a repeal of the three laws, guaranteed minimum price and demand for further talks. More worryingly for the BJP, UP union leader Rakesh Tikait addressed the gathering, and said: “We have so far talked about ‘bill wapsi’ (repeal of the laws). The government should listen carefully. What will you do if the youths call for ‘gaddi wapsi’ (removal from power)?”

That’s not an idle threat in Haryana where the ruling BJP government relies on the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) to remain in power. And JJP—which relies on farmer support—is under great grassroots pressure to dump its ally. Of course, as Scroll points out, right now, the protesters are overwhelmingly Jats—while other castes are more sympathetic to the government. So it’s unclear what electoral calculations the netas will make.

Bihar: Here, the BJP government has adopted a new tactic to squelch any possibility of dissent. The state police issued a shocking notice warning promising “grave consequences” for would-be protesters. Anyone who takes to the streets will not receive a character certificate which is required for securing passports, government jobs, financial grants, bank loans and more. 

Uttarakhand: has taken this one step further, and declared that it will be monitoring social media for “anti-national” or “anti-social” posts—which will then be kept on police record.

The bottomline: is most fittingly this (full version here):

Reading list

• The Telegraph has the best overview of the Rihanna row, while Times of India has the most details on the government’s notice to Twitter.
• Scroll has an excellent ground report on how age-old caste divides are also splitting support for the movement in Haryana. No, it’s not all farmers.
• Also on Haryana: The Telegraph on the increasing political pressure on the ruling BJP.
• Hindustan Times reports on the rise of a social media-savvy farmer protest. 
• Indian Express reports on the moves of the Bihar and Uttarakhand governments to squelch protests.
• The two best reads on this are paywalled. Caravan has an excellent cover story on Akshay Kumar, and the rise of  ‘nationalism’ in Bollywood. Morning Context offers a nuanced analysis at Twitter’s content moderation policies in India.
• Also read: This older Huffington Post India piece on Bollywood’s cosy relationship with the Modi government.
• Parting reminder that our farming system is broken: A farmer in UP threw away his entire cauliflower produce—10 quintals—because the mandi would only offer him Rs 1/kg, which amounts to less than his cost of transportation.