Digital (R)evolution and Cyber Censorship in South Asia (NeMLA 2025)
Event: NeMLA 2025
From election campaigns to marches for equal rights in a patriarchal society, the digital landscape in South Asia has commanded a space which was not easily possible before the digital revolution. In the same breadth, fake news and propaganda narrative has also marred noble causes which hinders this evolutionary social mobility enabled by the digital media. In this scenario, the digital space becomes a double-edged sword where the dominant narrative can be deemed as the ‘truth’. Weaving through the complexity created by opposing narratives, this panel would involve discussions about the medium and culture of the digital world as well to further contextualize echo chambers and shadow bans, which act as filters of information. Much like boundaries created within the continents and countries these filters demarcate boundaries and reinforces certain power structures, enabling the powerful to remain powerful and enforce censorship on content voicing dissent.
This panel takes forward the discussion initiated by Sriram Mohan from his edited collection, Global Digital Cultures: Perspectives from South Asia where he says “Global Digital Cultures focuses on enduring concerns of representation, identity, and power while grappling with algorithmic curation and data-driven processes of production, circulation, and consumption.” Questions and concerns will be discussed in this panel regarding issues centering digital (r)evolution and censorship amid a digital culture which offers to be a platform for everyone.
Saleha Malik