Institutionalized Riot Networks in India and Mobile Instant Messaging Platforms

Abstract

Abstract The article uses the context of the Northeast Delhi riots in 2020 to examine how mobile instant messaging platforms have changed the nature of riot networks in India. What role does the state’s partisan approach play in aiding the use of these platforms by the constituents of such networks? Does the lack of adequate mechanisms to hold technology companies accountable contribute to how their platforms are used to aid the circulation of extreme speech, misinformation, and violence? The article explores these questions and argues for a framework to govern mobile instant messaging platforms that goes beyond attempts at self-regulation as well as efforts by national governments to regulate them. The complications that arise when such platforms are used by networks that favour majoritarian rulers are analyzed to examine the need for placing issues related to the governance of platform ecosystems within the framework of the protection of human rights.