the indian governments war and information. we look at the track down on free press and the spread of fake news at hospitals. and bartlet is just struggling to cope with a re, quote number of things. the case melissa tom will have all those stores and a lot more offset. i shall bring. i've got office in berlin from the in the news team. thanks for watching the what thing is that, what you get for $0.50 or $0.50? no. thinking come sales lots and lots of stuff. did you know it costs $0.50 to feed one hungry child for one? for the

evening with the share of the meal you could share your with children with just $0.50 and a tap on your smartphone. together we can end global hunger, please download the app you're watching dw news asia coming up today, a health check on india's information eco system. modi's hen do nationalists are cracking down on critical news outlets while spreading this information on a massive scale. what's the message in this media offensive? also coming up the dang, a crisis in bangladesh, how the mosquito borne disease is heading harder and reaching farther than ever before. the

my name is melissa chan, thanks for joining us. we take a closer look at india today and the state of the country's information eco system . first, we have traditional media journalists and news rooms. and these institutions are under attack by prime minister and a random moody and his government. they do not like criticism. neither does any government, but india is meant to be the world's largest democracy and a place that is supposed to welcome freedom of the press. yet, most recently police, which was of journalists working for news, click a popular online news website. the reports on the failures and shortcomings of the moody government officers confiscated computers and phones and said the rates are part of an anti terror investigation. a journalist from across the political spectrum have come together and denounced the governments action. ok, so that is the state of the main stream media. the other half of india's

information eco system is about what happens on social media. on line. a recent investigation by the washington post exam and tell him, do nationalists under moody, has been using social media to advance their 80 ology and cement their power. writing quote. they have perfected the spread of inflammatory off and false and bigoted material on in industrial scale, earning both n b and condemnation beyond india as borders. for more. joining us in the studio is d w 's, michelle stockman. michelle, can you tell us out more about this washington post investigation? what do they mean when they talk about social media being harnessed by the government? well, right now, the indian government is led by the ruling b j. b party, which is a hindu nationalist party, which basically wants to make and get into a hindu for state even though on paper it's a secular democracy. and so it's using social media to promote that agenda. and

what that looks like is basically just information that's sent out saying i'm talking about politics of fear that basically a india is in do majority is in danger and will be saved or if there's a b, p, lead government in office. and also that this information is largely targeting muslims and other minorities and people who are critical of the government, like journalists or civil society members. and what's up is a major platform that is used to spread this, this information. and i spoke to the washington post to leave a bureau chief j c. and he spoke to me about what this operation looks like on what's up to get this this information out. and he spoke about one state election where the b p had just a 150000. i sent suggesting it had a 150000 people on just what's up. and also they are working with 3rd parties,

quietly, tools that might be creating the student's information, but to understand how this can be spread so far and so fast. let's hear what he has to say and there were audio problems with it. so i put some titles on, but uh sorry, terry, but here you go. let's listen to what you have to say to the inside of the, pardon me, tell me that when they send out a message into, let's say, a and 20 or different, what's happened. they're almost finished up. there are people inside the copy and paste it forwarded to another sort of 10203040 good sit there. and so very quickly, they expect whatever message they call that be able to reach hundreds of thousands . and there hasn't been ongoing effort to automate the process because you know how much easier it would be if you could just with one sort of quick spread any message in the private for encrypted channel. there is no

accountability. there are no factors. the, the code you know, oh is this ryan, is this wrong? is this the visit? is this an appropriate? i just within a few clicks you can start any method. and so if that's the case is big tech, doing anything about this? you would think so, but india is a huge market for them. 500000000 whatsapp users. there are more facebook users in india than the entire population of united states. and so the indian government has a lot of leverage to pressure these us down. the social media companies to either take down content that they don't like or to keep up content like can you give us a specific example? because i think we're talking patterns and abstract here. but give us a specific example of, of what you're talking about. one thing that the washington post by that was this

phenomenon of cal vigilante streamers. and so the cow is secret in hinduism. and so there are groups of young men, sometimes when to ad hoc groups that go around and try and find dr. are transporting cattle, which they think is disrespectful to the animal and they will stream these hunts, basically on platforms like facebook and youtube and these become and have become violent. and this is live stream. it's really action packed. and actually youtube awarded. one of these call vigilante streamers, a silver award, which means he got a 100000 subscribers and really had a lot of violent contacts. and in fact, one instance where someone, a muslim man who in largely are these cattle transporters. he died the day after he was attacked by this group from internal entry. so it's a rewarding, actually,

these social media companies are rewarding violent content. so, you know, these social media is companies like meta, they make a big deal about how they're trying to tackle this information. it doesn't look like they're doing so in india. now it's, it's a big question. and washing post also talked about. and another example where and kashmir and mr. kashmir, there were a stake accounts that were created that were distributing this information and also praising the indian government for its cracked on there and also targeting customary journalist, a separate test and enforced edition. and so there are actually isn't unit inside meta, which owns facebook, and they are searching for propaganda. and they found this unit in india they into tonight at they said we, we don't think this is a group. it should be on the platform. they notified meta indian executives in india, who said no, we're not touching us. we are not taking it down because this is affiliated with

the government and we could even be implicated for treatment. so there's internal divisions with in facebook about how to handle this. and also um, i mean meta has said that it denies that it has about depression from the indian government. but in 2019 a did commission an independent investigation about its human rights record after they were whistleblower testimonies and negative media attention. they found that there were, in fact, cases where a facebook did not act when there was a speech or cost action before violent, communal violence in india that turned deadly. but what does happen to that report? that's still a question i actually spoke to the senior counsel visual rights organization who told me what happened to that report. so let's listen to what he had to say or even a 2nd. you get this list that reports data. do you have actively set the data they will meet the board? probably even the you should have board for resolutions asking for this human

rights or board to be the developers that us getting that is use the same. do you believe the findings of this are stopping the address and the use of the black? you just used to not make the information available. so the don't know, even the mistakes my type stuff is committed, which ignores about what sort of actors there could state change. and in fact, you seem to be seeing the dies literally trying to do what do i it's, it's useful checks and balances or make the business method that individuals have to protect human rights in the nation. that seems to indicate the product as a government relations as political future in the minds of the executives, the protecting individuals, protecting the communities independent human rights. what's really tricky about this situation is that usually if big tech is problem, maddox, a government might step in to try to regulate it or try to make it accountable. but here you have a situation where the government is the problem, right?

the government is showing that it wants to be in charge of the conversation. it wants to direct the social media agenda and also wants to be control of their should be silenced. and it's, there's examples, you know, in 2021. the government read it, mobilly police rated twitters office there over to me that was labeled as manipulative media and, and that was freed up by a b, j, p. politician. so individuals need to be aware we all knocked us in here. we all need to be aware of what's coming at us and washing post is doing more. so watch out for more of the series to come. michelle stockman, thank you so much for joining us. you're welcome. bangladesh is worst ever done. a fever outbreak is threatening to overwhelm its health system. the country is dealing with more than 200000 cases of the mosquito borne disease, including a record number of depths. to find that the actually is well used to dealing with things you've vba. but this year is something else at this hospital in

the capsule dot com. then now treating around a 1000 patients, unexplored, undergone a few 100 beds. it doesn't have room for them all. in some cases, this outbreak is his entire families, including many young children. and she's just a 6 year old child, but hasn't taken any food except fluid for 15 days. she's become weak, my parents are suffering and i feel really bad to see this the, the cost of the test of my doctor friend with my nephew. when the doctor couldn't save himself, excuse me, even more modern condition, god forbid, if something happens to me at this age. where will my family and children go to me as the fear is much greater now. let me actually be there to

this hospital is now at the center of the response to this reco breaking outbreak when that is already claims more than a 1000 lives, including more than a 100 children a total, almost 4 times higher than last year, with doctors increasingly worried about how quickly some patients will be coming severely. you the shots and we're seeing the dinky shops enjoying most of the season. disclose usually classic then you use to follow a certain cost c, bro, face critical phase, and then control. suffice to have the lesser to are overlapping. a patient is going from a short history of fever to shocks, enjoying the following day. right? that means when someone is getting infected for the 2nd or 3rd time, they aren't going through the classic phases. well, emetics had really wants and need now is a vaccine the isn't one widely available yet that could help relieve this emergency

. but there is some hope for the future after the world health organization, david's backing to in the vaccine from japan. one that's pretty bolden 80 percent effective in trials preventing people being admitted to the hospital. the programs, thanks for watching the baby in here as a clip lesson named year is on the i think every clear f as in news. in some degree a few. your panel is con, change the degree of see it. nonetheless, the shift to fit in the interior it, the ed team is changing the l g b to q i plus narrative through not only would moves the feel like it is taking the stones despite the risks involved. fremont next on d. w will then progress pop calls to everyone who wants

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