Reporters Without Orders Ep 130: Prashant Bhushan’s SC hearing, Facebook, and more

In this episode, host Snigdha Sharma is joined by Newslaundry’s Ayan Sharma and Nidhi Suresh. 

The episode begins with the trio sharing bizarre news stories. While Snigdha talks about an AYUSH Ministry secretary asking attendees of an online training session to leave if they did not know Hindi, Ayan shares the story of a 92-year-old Vietnamese man who never cut his hair, and Nidhi talks about Supreme Court’s peculiar advice to Prashant Bhushan during his contempt case hearing. Nidhi, who wrote a report on the hearing, explains the proceedings in detail. 

Then the trio moves on to discuss another report of Nidhi’s on Facebook’s stance on hate speech and human rights, and why it has always been ‘hypocritical’. She adds “Facebook always accepts it is guilty of all the charges they have ever been accused of, they never deflect from that. But they don’t take action against it either.” The world’s largest social network is facing tough questions regarding its soft approach to the regulation of hateful content, especially after the Wall Street Journal report. “From Myanmar to the Philippines, the internet giant’s record speaks volumes about its commitment, or the lack of it, to tackle hate speech and violence,” says Nidhi. The trio also discusses Maria Ressa’s case. Ressa has consistently been critical of Facebook, holding the social media giant responsible for the spread of disinformation and hatred.

Then the discussion moves on to Ayan’s ground report on railway porters and their plight. When he spoke to them about how the pandemic has affected them, all of them had one thing to say--that nobody cared about their plight. The Railways has not provided any support to these porters, some of whom have been working at railway stations since generations. Ayan also highlights how “uncertain and clueless the railway officials” were when questioned them in this regard. “The porters need an answer from the government or the officials because they don’t know what is going to happen,” says Ayan. 

This and a lot more as they talk about what made news this week, what didn’t, and what shouldn’t have.

Tune in!

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