Extremism & Whataboutism: A Case Study on Bangalore Riots

TL;DR

This paper examines how whataboutism and extremism manifest in Bangalore riots, analyzing social media narratives to understand their role in inciting violence and proposing a new perspective on extremism in the Global South.

Contribution

It provides a case study on Bangalore riots, analyzing social media to reveal how whataboutism fuels extremism, offering a novel lens for understanding extremism in the Global South.

Findings

Twitter narratives employ whataboutism to deflect and justify violence.

Social media acts as a breeding ground for religion-based extremism.

The study offers an alternative perspective on extremism in the Global South.

Abstract

A common diversionary tactic used to deflect attention from contested issues is whataboutery which, when used by majoritarian groups to justify their behaviour against marginalised communities, can quickly devolve into extremism. We explore the manifestations of extreme speech in the Indian context, through a case study of violent protests and policing in the city of Bangalore, provoked by a derogatory Facebook post. Analyses of the dominant narratives on Twitter surrounding the incident reveal that, most of them employ whataboutism to deflect attention from the triggering post and serve as breeding grounds for religion-based extreme speech. We conclude by discussing how our study proposes an alternative lens of viewing extremism in the Global South.