Social media provides both a means of expression as well as way to stifle it. Last week, Agrima Joshua, a comedian from Mumbai, faced the l...
Social media provides both a means of expression as well as way to stifle it. Last week, Agrima Joshua, a comedian from Mumbai, faced the latter as online mobs started to attack her on social media. Some of the trolling had to do with her political views, some with the religious community to which she belongs.
Her online bullies went so far as to dig out a stand-up comedy sketch she had performed more than a year ago. In it, Joshua took a dig at some of the outlandish claims made about a proposed statue of medieval Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji. The online mob made sure to misrepresent the content of the video, claiming that Joshua was ridiculing Shivaji – rather than simply mocking the absurd claims made by supporters of the statue.
Joshua isn’t the first person to call out these claims. Fact checkers have been kept busy debunking online misinformation that the statue will be a major source of electrical power or help Mumbai city defend itself against terror attacks.
Power of the mob
The online mob attack on Joshua had an immediate impact. After all, Shivaji is a powerful symbol of both Marathi as well as Hindu identity. Videos of men openly threatening Joshua with assault and...
