By Aruna SankaranarayananSep. 2, 2020
This time last year, I was a new graduate student, fresh off the boat, who started early in the summer. Being the first from my undergraduate alma mater in India to come to MIT, and with most of my cohort starting in September, I lacked easy access to a community here and was not having a particularly social summer.
It was during this time that I read about the revocation of Article 370 in the Indian constitution, which would enforce full control of the Indian government over the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The act erased the quasi-independent status of Jammu and Kashmir by removing several protective clauses pertaining to the area from the Indian constitution. More frighteningly, the Indian government house-arrested several local leaders to prevent resistance, increased army presence in an already densely fortified area, and cut off internet and telecommunication access from the region of Kashmir. The lack of communication effectively subjugated more than nine million people by snipping their ties from the world. Most Indians, particularly majoritarian Hindus, rejoiced at the revocation of Article 370.
One of my thoughts last summer was, Are there Kashmiri students at MIT? If yes, how are they coping? If I couldnt communicate with family back home in one of the most heavily militarized areas in the world, I would have crumbled. If I, with a family in a safe metropolis, lovely housemates, and some scattered family in the U.S., were feeling lonely and empty, I could not imagine what a Kashmiri student from back home was going through. I decided to write to Sangam, the largest community of Indian students at MIT, to reach out to Kashmiri students it was a distant possibility that they would be on that list, but I wanted to try.
Surprisingly, my email was not published, and I did not receive an explanation about why it was censored. A week later, I reached out to the moderator of the mailing list seeking an explanation. Irrespective of where their support lay with respect to the revocation of Article 370, surely they would understand why it was imperative to reach out to Kashmiri students at MIT.
My email was deemed softly political, thereby disqualifying it from an apolitical forum that existed primarily to share events on campus and in Boston. Both Sangams charter and their website make no claim in this regard; in fact they emphasize the importance of building well-integrated communities of students from the subcontinent in a world far away from home. After attempting to convince the moderator, and through them the executive board of the group, over several emails, I was eventually forced to give up.
I try, one year later, to objectively explain why I was deeply struck by this incident. When I consider the reasons for such censorship, at best I can assume that the moderators operate on implicit guidelines that only allow for sharing event posts in order to avoid unnecessary traffic on the list, and at worst, assume that they are themselves majoritarian and see this as a scandalous view that must be discouraged. Is this the cost of empathy these days?
Sangam has since published mails from MISTI and notable alumni on events that are not necessarily apolitical (and to their credit, not particularly majoritarian) about South Asians and the BLM movement, and casteism and majoritarianism in the sub-continent, and also published non-event posts, but it did not give me permission to publish information about a Harvard and MIT student-led protest (an event post) against a contentious bill passed by the Indian government or share a document to collect signatures of students and staff requesting the government to reconsider the act. Arbitrary censorship of emails (that are not spam, or fomenting extremism or hate) is in itself deeply problematic since it imposes the biases of the moderator and the executive committee, and sometimes majoritarian views, on the members of the group. If such censorship excludes certain sections of the community, it is inherently cruel, and depending on who is being excluded, undeniably political. Being apolitical is a luxury accorded to the privileged; usually an apolitical stance is simply an implicit expression of a majoritarian stance.
This is not a piece about Sangam the groups executive committee pours in a lot of unpaid labour for it to exist, thrive, and evolve, and I acknowledge that. I am simply most familiar with the workings of Sangam since it is my community; however, I am also aware that such occurrences happen in international groups across the campus. From informal conversations with non-Indian international students, I have heard similar stories of opinion suppression, majoritarian views, and exclusion based on academic pedigree in their communities at MIT. Since entry into institutions like MIT is a self-selecting system that commonly filters out those at the lower rungs of privilege, this selection also trickles down to student associations and their leaderships, leading to incidents like the ones I describe. Further, it is often the case that the leadership of international groups at universities of MITs stature is connected to the consulate, visiting political leaders, and other spheres of influence. What is problematically political, then, is also something that might adversely impact these relationships between the group and influential circles of the community. Such imposition, and selective bias, does not bode well in a polarized world, and most definitely not in a melting pot of countries and cultures like MIT.
Through this piece, I reach out to you, the wider MIT community, to urge you to enlarge your windows, expand your perception, and deliberate on that oft-forgotten world outside your own with the same rigour that you bring to science. It is only by understanding each other, particularly those of us who are not adequately represented, that we can truly calibrate the factors that make up a just and safe campus and world.
Aruna Sankaranarayanan is a graduate student in the MIT Media Lab.
More here:
Finding human territory in a fractured world - The Tech
- Censorship or conspiracy theory? Trump supporters say Facebook and Twitter censor them but conservatives still rule social media - USA TODAY - December 5th, 2020
- OIF Seeks Information on 2020 Censorship Incidents | News and Press Center - ala.org - December 5th, 2020
- In India, a Clash of Digital Innovation and Internet Censorship - CoinDesk - Coindesk - November 30th, 2020
- Censored Planet: University of Michigan research finds worldwide increase in internet censorship - WSWS - November 30th, 2020
- Twitter claims it has reversed ban of link to Sidney Powell's Georgia election lawsuit - Fox Business - November 30th, 2020
- Jeanine Pirro Thinks Big Tech is Censoring Her Text Messages - Mediaite - November 30th, 2020
- Censorship In The Biden Era - OpEd - Eurasia Review - November 30th, 2020
- Ex-Employee Confesses! Behind-the-Scenes of Google Censorship - The Liberty Web English - November 30th, 2020
- The attempt to censor Jordan Peterson shows the intolerance of the social justice generation - Telegraph.co.uk - November 30th, 2020
- PlayStation Reportedly Censoring PS5 Users on Twitter - ComicBook.com - November 30th, 2020
- Ted Nugents Wife Shemane Targets Instagram For The Recent Censor But She Puts It Again On Instagram To Find A Solution For Free Speech - Metalhead... - November 30th, 2020
- Censorship - Wikipedia - November 28th, 2020
- What Is Censorship? | American Civil Liberties Union - November 28th, 2020
- What is Censorship? - National Coalition Against Censorship - November 28th, 2020
- Censorship on social media? It's not what you think - CBS News - November 28th, 2020
- 'Welcome To The Party, Zoom': Video App's Rules Lead To Accusations Of Censorship - NPR - November 28th, 2020
- ICANN Can Stand Against Censorship (And Avoid Another .ORG Debacle) by Keeping Content Regulation and Other Dangerous Policies Out of Its Registry... - November 28th, 2020
- Ted Cruz digs in for congressional battle over censorship on Twitter, Facebook - Houston Chronicle - November 28th, 2020
- The Dangerous Inversions of the Debate Around Trans Censorship - The New Republic - November 28th, 2020
- Carter Estes: Effort to ban Trump officials from Harvard is a dangerous attack on free speech and education - Fox News - November 28th, 2020
- Meet the Censored: Andre Damon - WSWS - November 28th, 2020
- Donald Trump says Twitter censorship is a national security issue - Washington Times - November 28th, 2020
- In hybrid online-offline format, theatre fest explores the Unexpressed, censorship of womens bodies and artistic collaborations - The Indian Express - November 28th, 2020
- Was this censorship?: Noam Chomsky, Vijay Prashad ask Tata Lit Live after it cancels their discussion - The Hindu - November 28th, 2020
- Tata Lit Fest cancels a discussion between Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad, raising concerns of censorship - Frontline - November 28th, 2020
- Barcelona members strike back vs. Bartomeu: What does 'motion of censorship' mean, and what's next? - ESPN - September 18th, 2020
- What the *, Nintendo? This in-game censorship is * terrible. - EFF - September 18th, 2020
- Social media censorship in Egypt targets women on TikTok - The World - September 18th, 2020
- Trumps Partial TikTok And WeChat Ban Tip-Toes Into Chinese-Style Censorship - Forbes - September 18th, 2020
- Judd Apatow Criticizes Hollywood's Censorship For International Market: China Has Bought Our Silence With Their Money - Deadline - September 18th, 2020
- Bangladesh in the Shadow of Censorship The Diplomat - The Diplomat - September 18th, 2020
- Why is the government pushing unprecedented online censorship? - Telegraph.co.uk - September 18th, 2020
- Not Content to Censor Conservatives, Zuckerberg Now Seeks to Meddle in Election - National Legal and Policy Center - September 18th, 2020
- New Alliance to Track and Fight Censoring of Conservatives - CBN News - September 18th, 2020
- Reading the Evolution of Censorship and Sedition in India - The Wire - September 18th, 2020
- China's Influence on the Global Human Rights System - Human Rights Watch - September 18th, 2020
- China Isn't Hiding the Border Tensions With India From Its Public Anymore - The Diplomat - September 18th, 2020
- Call Trumps Attacks On The 1619 Project What They Are Censorship of American History - Forbes - September 6th, 2020
- Facebook is bringing an updated content censorship term for its users from October 1st - Digital Information World - September 6th, 2020
- Will Joe Rogan Have The Guts To Call Out Spotify For 'Censorship'? - CCN.com - September 6th, 2020
- Joe Rogans Spotify move condemned by fans over right-wing censorship claims - The Independent - September 6th, 2020
- Shadow banning and its role in modern day censorship - Cherwell Online - September 6th, 2020
- Apple reacts to censorship censure - Mobile World Live - September 6th, 2020
- TunnelBear Circumvents Iran VPN Block, Launches 10GB Monthly Offer in the Country - Business Wire - September 6th, 2020
- Facebook is changing its Terms of Service, and users are not happy - Windows Central - September 6th, 2020
- End the blacklist of the World Socialist Web Site on Reddit! - WSWS - September 6th, 2020
- Kahle: Upholding the public trust - The Register-Guard - September 6th, 2020
- Science protections must be enforceable | TheHill - The Hill - September 6th, 2020
- Reddit isnt happy about President Trumps anti-censorship executive order - Reclaim The Net - September 6th, 2020
- Forget TikTok. Chinas Powerhouse App Is WeChat. - The New York Times - September 6th, 2020
- The shaky upcoming national election environment can be fixed - JNS.org - September 6th, 2020
- Kyle Rittenhouse lawyer Lin Wood threatens to sue Twitter over censorship - Reclaim The Net - September 4th, 2020
- We dont believe in censorship: Controversial Aboriginal commentator to lead WA festival amid fear of backlash from Noongar people - WAtoday - September 4th, 2020
- How WeChat Censored the Coronavirus Pandemic - WIRED - August 28th, 2020
- Voter Advocacy Orgs Sue Trump Administration for Executive Order Threatening Social Media Censorship - EFF - August 28th, 2020
- Kuwait eases censorship laws after banning 5000 titles in last 7 years - The Indian Express - August 28th, 2020
- Buffy's Amber Benson on censorship, the musical, and Tara's death - digitalspy.com - August 28th, 2020
- Kuwait relaxes book censorship laws after banning thousands of titles - The Guardian - August 28th, 2020
- Film and Publications Amendment Act: Protecting, not censoring, our citizens in the digital age - Daily Maverick - August 28th, 2020
- Chinas wrath on Hong Kong is causing artists to self-censor - Reclaim The Net - August 28th, 2020
- Here are 5 excuses liberals have put forward in defence of modern day book burning, and why it makes them look like total morons - OpIndia - August 28th, 2020
- Jessie and Austins aunt vs TikTok the debate around censorship of Bodies in the Suitcase video - HITC - August 28th, 2020
- Artists Ai Weiwei and Fang Fang's depictions of the Wuhan lockdown - DW (English) - August 28th, 2020
- A Radioactive Plague: The secrecy and censorship surrounding civilian deaths from World War II - Milwaukee Independent - August 10th, 2020
- Censorship on the internet in 2020: The potential effects of TikTok - Film Daily - August 10th, 2020
- Wicker: Time to address online censorship - The Vicksburg Post - Vicksburg Post - August 10th, 2020
- Open Technology Fund Authorization Act - BORGEN - Borgen Project - August 10th, 2020
- The Logic of a US WeChat Ban - The Diplomat - August 10th, 2020
- Ben Domenech Clashes With Joe Trippi Over Censorship Of Trump's Social Media - The Federalist - August 10th, 2020
- German Analysis Institute Regrets Censorship of a Professional Science Assertion - The Shepherd of the Hills Gazette - August 10th, 2020
- China Is Upgrading Its Great Firewall And Can Now Censor Even More Content - News18 - August 10th, 2020
- Twitter censors all links to BitChute - Reclaim The Net - August 10th, 2020
- Fear of Authoritarian Regimes Is Pushing the Film Industry to Self-Censor - Foreign Affairs Magazine - August 10th, 2020
- Facebook is wrong to censor Donald Trump - The Spectator USA - August 10th, 2020
- Education, not censorship, must be used to tackle online antisemitism - The Jerusalem Post - August 10th, 2020
- Why Did Facebook Censor This Video Of President Trump? - The Hayride - August 10th, 2020
- Lawyer concerned that 'internet censorship bill' may be used as a political tool - CapeTalk - August 10th, 2020
- Brother Nut, the Artist, Taking Vow of Silence to Protest Chinas Censorship - VOA Asia - August 8th, 2020
- Researchers slowly discover censorship doesnt work - Reclaim The Net - August 8th, 2020
- Setlist: Wiley, Twitter and the online censorship debate - Complete Music Update - August 8th, 2020