Anna Hazare, Jan Lokpal Bill top FB status updates in 2011

NEW DELHI: Social activist Anna Hazare created a movement not only in the country but on Facebook also, as people discussed and debated the Jan Lokpal bill, making him the most talked about topic in 2011 on the social networking site.

The Facebook Memology 2011, which captured the top ten Facebook status trends during the year, ranked Anna Hazare and the Jan Lokpal Bill at the top as most mentioned in status updates.

"This year in India, Anna Hazare and Jan Lokpal bill was the most talked about topic which triggered a wide roar amongst all Indians against corruption. His fast led to a nationwide protests in India," Facebook said in a statement.

Social networking sites were used as an organising tool for protests during the Anna Hazare fast earlier this year.

Shahrukh Khan's much hyped film Ra.One followed Hazare in popularity, as people talked about the movie and the song Chammak Challo, sung by R&B superstar Akon.

Status updates about deaths and condolences for terrorist Osama bin Laden, ghazal singer Jagjit Singh and Steve Jobs were the next most common updates.

Facebook has more than 25 million users in India and 800 million users globally.

Other most discussed topics include cricketers Yuvraj Singh and M S Dhoni, Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Rockstar, the Indian National Congress as well as earthquakes in Sikkim (2011) and Gujarat (2001).

Globally, death of Laden was the most talked about status update, followed by Packers winning the Super Bowl, Casey Anthony found not guilty, actor Charlie Sheen, death of Steve Jobs, the Royal Wedding, the death of singer Amy Winehouse, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 video game, military operations begin in Libya and Hurricane Irene.

Anna Hazare, Jan Lokpal bill top status updates in 2011

CHENNAI: Communications minister Kapil Sibal may think content on social networking sites is offensive, but a new study shows that the users are politically engaged people who air views and share news online.

According to a report released by Facebook, Anna Hazare and the Jan Lokpal bill were mentioned the most in status updates in 2011 in India. But Sibal might just dislodge Hazare if he persists with the demand to pre-screen internet content. On Twitter, #IdiotKapilSibal was the trending topic on Tuesday.

The Facebook study shows that social media users in the country prefer to share and discuss political events rather than entertainment reports. "Today's social platforms are allowing people to do something about the things they believe in. The criticism that this is just a modern version of armchair activism, or re-tweet activism, is unfair," said Narendra Nag, general manager, 2020 Social, an online community management firm.

Social networking sites were used as an organizing tool for protests during the Anna Hazare fast in April. Facebook, with over 38 million Indian users-over 3% of the population-is credited with playing a significant role in the 'India Against Corruption' movement. Likewise, Twitter, MySpace and Blackberry Messenger have been key to political movements globally.

"We had the right policy and correct philosophy (Jan Lokpal bill), and the huge number of social media users helped the movement," said Anna Hazare's former blogger and political analyst Raju Parulekar. In future, such channels will play a bigger role in democratic countries like ours, he said.

Shah Rukh Khan's film 'Ra.One' and song 'Chammak Chalo' were the second most-shared topics on status updates followed by Osama bin Laden, Jagjit Singh and Steve Jobs.

Globally, Osama bin Laden's death topped the status trend among a total of 800 million users as of September.

A separate study by Pew Research in June said that Facebook users are politically more active than other social media users. This year, social media has played a key role in international politics. The sites have been used to spread mass anti-government protests in Syria, Libya, and other North African countries.

The London riots in August were planned using social media tools, especially Blackberry Messenger. Later, police cracked down on planned riots with the help of Research In Motion, the makers of Blackberry. In the UK, status messages about the riots were the second most popular, after the Royal Wedding.

"Willingness to express opinions and network with large numbers of people will continue to fuel reform movements and people will thoroughly participate in such events," said Kiruba Shankar, tech expert and CEO of Business Blogging, a social media consultant.

On the move to control the content on the internet, Parulekar said, "I am absolutely against any kind of censorship in media or social media." He said these tools are important for democracy and democratic referendum.

Social media users and analysts suspect that the government does not want another Anna Hazare-type movement, which was powered by social media. "My suspicion is that they want to protect the government, fearing mass movements like the ones in Syria, Libya or other Middle East countries," Shankar said. "The internet is the world's largest democracy and it should not be meddled with."

Five reasons why India can't censor the internet

In just 24 hours, in the Facebook alumni group of St Stephen's College, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal's ratings crashed faster than that of US President Barack Obama or what former telecom minister A. Raja, now in judicial custody over second generation (2G) spectrum case, ever had.

In a survey to pick star alumni for a big debating clash with counterparts from the rival college across the road, Sibal was on the top five a week ago -- among other stellar Stephanians like Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former federal minister Mani Shankar Aiyar or former UN diplomat Shashi Tharoor. No longer!

As the #Idiot hash-tag topped Twitter trends, some withdrew their votes for Sibal, and there were posts like "Chuck him across the road" -- a scathing insult, equivalent to the Parsis' excommunication.

Just a preview of the global firestorm over the next two days!

The fire wasn't from anonymous teens. Seasoned analysts blasted Sibal. Investor Mahesh Murthy posted: "Censor this! :) ! Five of the top 10 Twitter trends in India right now are: #IdiotKapilsibal, #KapilSibal, #Censorship, #FreeSpeech and #FreedomOfSpeech."

All this, for just one statement from a politician not unknown for his foot-in-mouth disease? Not quite. For, he has the power to misuse and try to make it happen.

During the Anna Hazare movement, Sibal summoned representatives of the social networks. In a king-and-subjects interaction, he kept them waiting, then kept them standing in his room; gave them a pre-emptive dressing down; and snapped: "I don't want any anti-government stuff on your networks. Fix it." There was no room for discussion.

So here's a five-point Internet 101 for the illustrious Mr. Sibal.

1. The internet cannot be edited: Duh! In an early Dilbert strip, the pointy-haired boss demanded that Dilbert "download" the internet and fax it to him. A decade down, it's not so funny any more.

The internet is not traditional media. India's 1975 emergency and the media clampdown was possible because of the linear, broadcast nature of the old media. New media is distributed. No copy desk or censor board can "fix" it. There is no editor to arrest. And, most content is hosted outside India's jurisdiction.

2. User-generated content cannot be filtered: That would slow down the global internet to a crawl, with posts appearing after days -- even assuming so many "editors" could be hired by, say, a Facebook or a Twitter.

Are phone operators responsible for "content" carried on their networks -- or their CEOs arrested if someone made a terror threat over a phone call? No, the telco is simply asked to help with the investigation -- into who made the call.

Yes, internet content has the permanence and public-impact potential that a phone call does not, but equally, it lends itself brilliantly to self-regulation.

3. Peer review works: Wikipedia is the best example. Who could have imagined that a user-created encyclopedia could be so objective, and comprehensive? Yes, anyone can go in and edit anything (barring entries like "Kapil Sibal", which have been locked due to vandalism!).

If you make an inappropriate change, someone will come in and correct it. And so it is on Facebook or Twitter. Abusive posts will be reported, blocked, and the individuals knocked out of the site.

4. Draconian controls are not necessary: In this age of global cooperation on terror, companies cooperate. A rational request from India to Google or Facebook to bring down offensive content will be heard -- regardless of jurisdiction.

5. Yes, there are precedents for Internet control, but...: Such censorship is in countries India doesn't want to be -- China, Pakistan, Myanmar or Saudi Arabia. Pakistan became a laughing stock when it issued a list of banned words for SMS messages. (That list is now standard reading for anyone wanting a quick lesson in present and future abuses that aren't in any dictionary.)

The big daddy of "regulation" is China, where everything is filtered, and if you break those filters, you are charged with treason. What a role model.

But wait.

Kapil Sibal knows all this, right? So why is this bright star from Harvard Law School and St. Stephen's college now sounding so anachronistic in the internet age? Is it the old "thou shalt display higher loyalty to the royal family than the prince himself" mantra?

If Kapil Sibal is to defend himself against the charge of sycophancy, he is on a weak footing. There were many prior potential triggers for tackling social media, including fanatic religious posts, derogatory comments by Pakistan sympathisers, Anna Hazare, and more. That he finally picked a post that targeted Sonia Gandhi suggests that this was not out of serious, objective concern about India's stability, security or secular fabric.

Censoring social media antisocial

NAGPUR: Social media, the 'virtual' land of the free and home of the brave, is under attack. However, Nagpurians have come out in support of online freedom, trashing communications and IT minister Kapil Sibal's intentions and suggestions.

Sibal had said recently that the modern, powerful online platform, which has played a major role recently across the world in ending tyrant dictatorships, and closer home in forcing the mighty to take notice of various demands, should be monitored to avoid objectionable content. The ambiguity of what would constitute 'objectionable content' is worrying most of the stakeholders.

Citizens in Nagpur came down heavily on Sibal's statements. Considering the role social media played in Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement, many feel the government wants to stop citizens from banding together.

Ajay Sanghi, city coordinator for India Against Corruption ( IAC), says the government is moving towards a repeat of the emergency situation. "They are going after Team Anna and the gloves are off. First, they put restriction on the number of SMS people can send, and now the social media is coming under the radar. The government is targeting our main communication tools, hoping that we will succumb. This is emergency part II," said Sanghi.

MLA Devendra Fadnavis prides himself on being active in the virtual world and said he was appalled by Sibal's statements. "I always thought there was a difference between China and India, but after listening to Sibal I feel we are now moving towards a Made-in-China democracy. If the government is supervising my moves online then they are curbing my freedom of speech guaranteed by the constitution," said Fadnavis.

Youth Against Corruption (YAC), an organization promoted by Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) recently held a three-day protest against corruption in Nagpur. Swapnil Kathale of YAC said, "Social media is the tool we all use to get our message to the public as fast as possible and it helps in making any protest or rally a success. Sibal's remarks smell of a conspiracy to clamp down on any public uprising against their corrupt system."

Adman Sanjay Arora said, "Less than one per cent of India's population uses Facebook and Twitter, and the government wants to clamp down on that as well! Censorship has never worked anywhere in the world and it will boomerang here too. There was a lot of rage today in Twitter as users bashed Sibal on the issue."

Fadnavis feels that social media has in fact brought in a lot of positive changes. "The virtual world is shattering walls of caste, creed and colour as people are interacting more and more," said Fadnavis.

Sanghi said, tongue firmly in cheek, "The things that need monitoring are the mouths of Sibal, Digvijay Singh and Manish Tewari."

Anna Hazare rules Indian cyberspace

Hyderabad: Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare ruled Indian cyberspace during his 12-day fast demanding introduction of Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament. Search engine Google produces 29 million results when a query is made by entering Anna Hazare's name, while Sonia Gandhi's name yields a little below 9 million results.

A page created in the Facebook on Anna Hazare has been liked by 3.64 lakh users against UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's page which has 57, 291 likes.

An account created in the name of 'Support Anna Hazare fast against Corruption' attracted 1.45 lakh likes. There is also a Facebook page 'I hate Anna Hazare' and it has been liked by 4,137 users.

Hazare video from Tihar jail compound, recorded by Kiran Bedi, has nearly 1.6 lakh views in YouTube so far and was rated as the second most viewed video of this month in Indian news and politics category.

Number one slot was occupied by a video uploaded by an Indian on US debt crisis.

Similarly, another video on Anna Hazare's indefinite fast against corruption was rated at Number 4 with nearly 1.65 lakh views.

Currently, SMSes containing words Anna Hazare or Corruption are the most circulated in the messages, according to web to mobile Free SMS service providers.

Nisha Parekh, vice president (international operations), SMS Country which runs 160by2.com, said out of 5 to 5.5 million SMS they handle everyday, nearly 1.5 million are messages related to Anna Hazare or corruption.

"We expect it to be around 3.5 million SMSes today (Sunday) with regard to Anna Hazare ending his fast," Parekh told

The social activist, finally, broke his 12-day-long fast today after Parliament's decision to refer three of his demands - citizen's charter, inclusion of lower bureaucracy and creation of Lokayuktas through Lokpal bill - for Standing Committee's consideration.

Ten days ago, the 16by2 handled 1.34 lakh SMSes on Anna Hazare and the figure reached 2.6 lakh on Saturday. 160by2 has 13.3 million registered users, who use the site for sending bulk SMSes.

Currently, Anna Hazare and Corruption are the two most used words in messages sent via Way2Sms, another SMS service provider.

"Messages containing the words 'Anna Hazare' and 'Corruption' have been delivered close to 13.5 million unique mobile subscribers in last 5 days via our way2sms," VV Raju, CEO of Way2SMSsaid.

He said along with social networking portals, users are largely using way2sms to express their support to Anna Hazare's campaign against corruption and in the last 5 days, they observed close to 3 million people using the word 'Anna\ Hazare' in their messages.