To post or not to post

Why I’m feeling conflicted on using Instagram as a platform to raise awareness

My father, a survivor of the Indian government’s genocide against the Sikh community in 1984, recently expressed how thankful he is that social media exists now. Other than information from biased media outlets and diasporic protests, there was global silence on the Indian government’s mass atrocities in the 80s and 90s. Now with social media and advanced technology, information is spreading directly from Delhi’s protest grounds to the desks of political leaders across the globe.

Nevertheless, using platforms such as Instagram to raise awareness of the Indian government’s neoliberal, capitalist farm bills feels conflicting. Big Tech including Facebook and Google are “in” on the bills, which will gravely harm farmers across India — especially farmers from Sikh, Dalit, minority, and lower-income backgrounds. The tech giants’ role in this atrocity, and many other atrocities, begs the question: to post or not to post?

As Indian media outlets continue to taint and dismiss one of the largest protests in human history, protestors from the ground and activists across the Sikh diaspora have transformed their personal social media accounts into platforms to raise awareness and share truthful information about the farmer protests. Silenced communities often rely on social media platforms like Instagram to find and share their voices in ways they haven’t been able to for centuries.

However, what happens when the very social media platforms we use to share information and amplify our voices are connected to the oppressors themselves? The question is not rhetorical, the answer is censorship.

We are witnessing social media censorship play out with the protests, as technology corporations Facebook and Google have a multi-billion dollar stake in the bills via partnerships with Mukesh Ambani’s tech platforms. Activists across Instagram are sharing how their posts on the protests have been shadowbanned from users’ feeds or have mysteriously disappeared from their pages. Facebook accounts of journalists who are covering the protests are being disabled without any warnings. Just recently, the main Facebook page ‘Kisan Ekta Morcha’ (built by IT cells from the protest sites) was unpublished from Facebook for a few hours.

Censorship on Facebook’s social media platforms are not new for the Sikh community. In June, Sikhs witnessed seeing the hashtag #Sikh blocked from Instagram on the anniversary of India’s Operation Bluestar. In the midst of the community honoring the lives of Sikhs who were murdered during India’s Sikh Genocide of 1984, Facebook silenced their important voices. This happened again just a few weeks ago when Sikh farmers commenced their journeys to Delhi to protest the farm bills.

Furthermore, Facebook has refused to censor violent hate groups including Hindu nationalist groups such as Bajrang Dal in India. India is Facebook’s largest market outside of the U.S. and WhatsApp’s biggest market; by censoring those protesting the atrocities of the Indian government and protecting those who inflict violence against India’s minorities in fear of a major business hit, Facebook and its platforms are showing which side they are on. They are siding with the wealthy, the oppressors, the nationalists, the silencers.

Social media needs to be akin to a public good where all communities and individuals who are continually left silenced have a place to safely express themselves. Facebook has instead commodified social media as a marketable item, leaving marginalized communities further marginalized at the hands of powerful capitalists and nationalists.

This is why it is difficult to have an account affiliated with Facebook and to use its platforms such as Instagram to uplift the farmers’ voices and protests. I’m left conflicted. Though there are additional social media platforms such as Twitter, Parler, and Mastodon, nothing is at the scale of Facebook and Instagram. There is no alternative to Instagram that provides the same level of multimedia amplification for the farmer’s protests and for the voices on the ground.

Nevertheless, as other activists are saying, I will continue to post. I will continue to post to fight Facebook’s censorship and appeal to the ruling class. I will continue to post to raise awareness of the farmers’ demands, the protests, and the Indian government’s atrocities. The more visibility, regardless of the platform, the closer we can get to positive change and ultimately justice.