Author: Janani Mohan
Making the “Indian Dream” of Digital Upward Mobility into Reality
On November 22, Indian Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar stated that India has converted its “soft power” into “software power” while speaking at the UNESCO India-Africa Hackathon. The Hackathon itself was an example of this transformation: the event convened over 600 students from 23 countries to solve social problems using software development. However, despite events like the Hackathon offering hope for India’s
Media Bias and Democracy in India
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages out of control in India, many are rightly focusing on the content of stories on the death toll and months of lockdown. The lack of journalistic integrity behind some of the stories deepens this grim situation. In April, reports emerged that, at the request of the Indian government, Twitter censored 52 tweets
If our parents hadn’t pursued the American Dream
If my parents hadn’t immigrated to the United States a decade before I was born, I wonder how different I’d be. Would I speak Hindi better? Would I wear kurtas instead of dresses every day? Would I have closer relations with all the uncles and aunties back in India? Nothing describes how it feels to
British Media Bias Isn’t Surprising – a perspective from the U.S.
When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently announced that they would no longer work with the British tabloids because of their belief that the journalists write “distorted” news, many were surprised at their critical language. Although that description is strongly-worded, the truth behind it can hardly be denied. After all, the very next day the
Is Social Media a Luxury? | Uganda’s Social Media Tax Law
In 2018, Uganda started taxing social media use. Responding to criticism of the tax, President Yowerik Museveni wrote, “Governments normally tax consumer items with inelastic demand… whose demand does not decline even when the price goes up… Alcohol, tobacco, etc. fall in this category because of addiction; social media use is definitely a luxury item.” Museveni
Gaming Nuclear Deterrence
Studying nuclear deterrence offers an interesting puzzle: deterrence is increasingly urgent to understanding nuclear escalation and global security but lacks the empirical data necessary for experts to reach meaningful conclusions. To solve this puzzle, experts must either theorize based on limited data sets or create their own data to study. The first, which is the