"Algorithms of social media companies often function like the editor of a racist newspaper”-Interview with Bansree AS

Digital platforms owned by big technology companies play a major role within the control of the circulation of ideas in many parts of the world. They accentuate the visibility of certain narratives while casting other voices to obscurity. In India, the right-wing Hindu nationalist or Hindutva ecosystem of hate has undergone a process of platformisation; social media platforms are now integral to this ecosystem’s circulatory matrix of misinformation, hate speech and violence. At the same time, articulation of ideas that challenge hegemonic upper caste Hindu nationalism struggle to find a space within this digital landscape. Bansree AS, whose YouTube channel Kerala Freethinkers Forum-kftf has over 267000 subscribers and 2.4k videos identifies himself as a part of such attempts. For him internal colonialism of upper caste Hindus which has prevailed over India over a few thousand years is Hindu (upper caste) racism. Scholars like J.Reghu [1] have argued that the mainstream Indian nationalism which gained upper hand during the colonial period contributed to a continuation of this internal colonialism. 

Bansree is a core member of a specific section of rationalists in Kerala; there are many splinter groups among rationalists in Kerala. Within the very complex landscape of diverse ideologies and political affiliations in Kerala, there are also new atheists whose arguments often align with the Hindu right-wing. An aluminium fabricator by profession, Bansree traces his journey into digital content creation to his interest in archives and history. He often faced hurdles when he tried to access official archives. Through his YouTube channel he aims to make non hegemonic intellectual discourses that were not easily available to him accessible to the general public. He is inspired by the anti-caste movements and intellectual discourses which contributed to what is often termed as the Kerala Renaissance. These movements and discourses transformed Kerala from a society where caste slavery and severe discrimination prevailed to a comparably more open society in a span of roughly one century [2]. The state also saw the first -or second according to some accounts democratically elected communist government in the world in 1957. 

Bansree’s work shows the significance of specific histories in the shaping of digital cultures of different language groups and regions.

While the weight of the dictates of the algorithms that Bansree feels has a universal dimension, the significance of the long public speeches of an hour or more that form the core of his channel is linked to the role and impact of such speeches within the intellectual and political history of Kerala. Critiques of Marxism that are part of the corpus of speeches in the channel shows the multiplicity within the diverse voices that position themselves against right-wing hegemony in India. 

Question: What prompted you to become a YouTube content creator? How do you view your journey within the historical context of Kerala? 

Bansree: I am a rationalist and my politics is anti-caste politics. My politics is informed by the thoughts of anti-caste leaders including Mahatma JyotiRao Phule, Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, Periyar EV Ramaswamy and Sahodaran Ayyappan. I approach history through an avarana (lower-caste) lens. In Kerala, Sahodaran Ayyappan was the key figure behind the beginning of the rationalist movement. As a rationalist, activist, journalist and legislator, Sahodaran Ayyappan ignited the fire for radical social transformations in Kerala [3]. He was a disciple of Srinarayana Guru (radical saint, philosopher and social reformer from lower caste Ezhava community who played a major role in the “Kerala Renaissance”). In Sahodaran Ayyappan’s time, newspapers did not give prominence to rationalist ideas and this prompted him to start the print publication Yuktivadi (Rationalist) in 1929. In the present time also, it is difficult to build a space for non hegemonic ideas within the public sphere. I was prompted to start a YouTube channel in 2013 because of the realisation that rationalist ideas did not have enough presence in the post 2010 Kerala’s digital sphere in Malayalam language. 

The availability of cheaper broadband internet and the popularity of social media like Facebook and YouTube during that time helped me in my endeavour. I always had an interest in archiving. I used to keep cuttings from old newspapers and magazines. This interest also prompted me to enter into the digital world. Historically, the entry of avarnas (lower caste people) into the public sphere of Kerala was not easy, especially in the Travancore region. In the colonial period it was difficult for lower caste people to run print publications. For example, Paravur Keshavan Ashan’s publication Sujanandini was known as an Ezhava [4] publication. During the Ezhava-Nair riots of 1905, upper caste Nairs burnt down the press which published Sujananandini. I do not know of another such incident when a press was burnt down in Kerala before or after that. 

During the beginning of 20th century, a few publications such as Vivekodayam, Mitavadi and Sahodaran emerged which challenged the conceptual hegemony of upper castes within the public sphere. Hereditary caste order is one of the oldest forms of racial order; scholars like Divya Dwivedi and Shaj Mohan have written about this [5]. In Kerala, Ayyankali did the radical act of riding villuvandi or bullock cart in 1893 which turned caste streets into public streets (through his protest Ayyankali who belonged to the untouchable Pulaya caste broke many caste rules; people of his caste did not have the right to access public roads or to ride bullock carts). Sahodaran Ayyappan who began the rationalist movement in Kerala, ignited a new revolutionary fire by burning the effigy of caste demon after 1917. His slogan was “jaathi nashathukku jai, matha nashathukku jai, daiva nashathukku jai (down with caste, down with religion, down with God)”. Sahodaran Ayyappan wanted to “liquidate Hinduism” or caste-based Hindu order. 

When I became interested in rationalism around 1998, I tried to find out more about the history of nationalism in Kerala. I looked for Sahodaran Ayyappan’s publications like Sahodaran(Brother) and Yuktivadi(Rationalist). If you want to read the old editions of these publications, you have to travel to Appan Thampuran Smarakam in Thrissur district. I got to know that even there only a few volumes are available. I realised that it is not easy for the public to access old documents about rationalism. Through this experience I realised the importance of documenting rationalist activities. In 2010 I bought a still camera and began to take photos of rationalist events and to put them up on Facebook. I really wanted to buy a video camera, but I could not afford it from the meagre income that I was making from my job as an aluminium fabricator. Eventually I managed to buy a Sony video camera (HDR -XR160E) for 25,000 rupees (roughly 250 Euros) and I began to upload videos on YouTube. 

Question: The name of your channel is Kerala Freethinkers Forum-kftf. Do you run this channel or is it the official channel of an organisation? 

Bansree: I run this channel. We have registered an organisation called Kerala Freethinkers Forum. But this YouTube channel is not under the control of this organisation. When I began this channel in 2013, I gave it this name. Many people like Dr. C.Viswanathan, Ajesh Kumar, Azad Nikarthil,Prashant Appul and Renson have helped me in this endeavor. Soon, the channel became a public archive. In India, it is difficult for the common people to access archives.

In this country, there is a tradition of keeping knowledge as a secret; this is a part of Brahmanical ideology.

In Kerala, there are a few commendable public archive initiatives like Shiju Alex’s Granthapura. 

In the case of archives, when common people begin to use it against savarna (upper caste) hegemony, there will be restrictions on access. If common people are allowed access, those without an academic training will also read and learn. At present there is a severe gate keeping system which restricts entry into academia. In present day India, those who challenge upper caste hegemony find it very difficult to pass this gate keeping system especially under a government which bases itself on a Hindu (upper caste) racist ideology. 

If you look at the case of Kerala, in the past 30 years, it was Dalit and backward caste intellectuals who brought ideas that transformed the existing intellectual climate. This includes people like K.K.Baburaj, K.K.Kochu, Sunny Kapicaud, J. Reghu, Cherayi Ramadas, K.M.Salimkumar and Sudhesh M Raghu. None of them were from academia. Today there are academically trained people like Dr.Ajay Shekhar, Dr. Rekha Raj, Dr.K.S.Madhavan, Dr.T.S.Syamkumar, Dr.Malavika Binny, Dr.Amal C Rajan and Dr.Vinil Paul. From the Muslim community also a new line of scholars are emerging. I have tried to travel across to different parts of Kerala to document the talks given by these people and many such speeches are available on my YouTube channel. The channel also contains several discussions on rationalism and scientific thinking. 

Question: As someone who has been working as a content creator for digital platforms over a period of time, what do you think about the role of the policies and algorithms of big technology companies within the Malayalam social media landscape? 

Bansree: This question requires a serious study. I can talk only on the basis of my own experiences. I have reached some assumptions based on these experiences. Today India is ruled by a government which bases itself on a Hindu (upper-caste) racist ideology. So, social media companies also give maximum visibility to such racist narratives. For example, take the case of Kerala. Imagine one of the political figures who regularly targets Muslims gives yet another hate speech against that community. The editors of racist newspapers will publish it prominently in the front page.

Similarly, today I feel that the algorithms of social media companies often function like the editor of a racist newspaper.

When a content that targets Muslims reaches digital platforms, it receives a lot of amplification. When someone who walks on the road takes out his mobile phone, such content pops up. In my experience, content that targets Muslims receives a lot of views on YouTube, especially in the last years, following COVID-19. I try not to publish any racist or hateful content in my YouTube channel. However it has content that criticises Islam as a religion; they get a lot of views. Long videos are not promoted by the algorithm now. I make hour-long videos and they are not being shown to many people. But there is an exception. If you have videos targeting Muslims or Islam, they will reach many people even if they are more than an hour long. I am talking only about Malayalam content. 

Very often it is those who oppose Hindu (upper caste) racism who end up getting banned by social media platforms. For example, take the case of Baburaj Bhagavati. He is a social activist who has led a study on Islamophobia in Kerala. His Facebookaccount was recently closed [6]. At the same time, there are many Facebook accounts and YouTube channels which actively spread hatred against Muslims. I have not seen the authorities taking significant action against them. 

Question: What is your opinion about the phenomena in Kerala where factions from the rationalist/atheist spectrum contribute to right-wing narratives that target the minority Muslim population? Figures like C.Ravichandran are prominent among them and your YouTube channel has speeches by him that can be categorised as Islamophobic. 

Bansree: Kerala’s rationalist movement’s history can be traced back to at least 1929. If you look at that history, you can see that in the inaugural issue of the publication Yuktivadi (Rationalist), Sahodaran Ayyappan wrote that empirical observation and rational thought based on that observation is the only way to achieve valid knowledge. This idea draws from European enlightenment. In Kerala, early rationalists aimed to change the thought process of people. The writings of Dr.C.Viswanathan throw more light on this, especially about how Sahodaran Ayyappan’s ideas influenced the rationalist movement in Kerala. 

But, later, there were differences of opinion in the movement. In the case of C.Ravichandran, he says that he is an atheist and not a rationalist. His politics is right-wing politics and his opinions align with that of the Hindu right-wing. He has made many speeches that are misogynic and Islamophobic; he has also spoken against reservation (positive discrimination) policy. He supports the laws that discriminate against Muslims that the government in India has enacted. He is heavily influenced by the post 2000s Islamophobia of new atheism in Europe. It is a sad fact that all rationalists in Kerala have to answer for the Islamophobia and anti reservation stance of Ravichandran who himself says that he is not a rationalist. It is true that some of the videos of Ravichandran target Muslims as ‘others’ under the garb of criticism against religion. He has also made problematic statements about Palestine.Some such videos were published in my channel. It was my fault. In future I will be careful to not publish such content.