WASHINGTON, D.C.– Today, empowering the fight for free speech and against the stifling of Sikh voices, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) took a bold stand by hosting a Social Media Censorship Day of Action on X, formerly known as Twitter. This concerted effort aims to shed light on the censorship faced by Sikh Americans and to demand accountability from the current leadership of X. Today also is Indian Independence Day.
SALDEF’s Social Media Censorship Day of Action served as a platform to address the grave issue of censorship that has marginalized Sikh voices. The event included an earnest plea for a response from X’s present leadership and insights from SALDEF’s new and comprehensive 2023 Dissent Across ‘Democracies’ censorship report.
The panel discussion featured:
- Jyot Singh, Policy Manager at SALDEF
- Jas Singh, Founding Member of The Sikh Net (United Kingdom)
- Hardeep Singh, freelance journalist and Deputy Director of the Sikh Messenger (United Kingdom)
- Jasveer Singh, Senior Press Officer for the Sikh Press Association
Notably, the candid admission by Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter, on a 2023 YouTube show, wherein he revealed the Indian government’s overt threats to Twitter, underscores the perilous erosion of democratic values within a nation that prides itself as the world’s largest democracy.
“The Indian government’s global social media disinformation campaign and manipulation of profit-driven social media firms have severely constrained the Sikh diaspora’s online freedom of speech. This suppression repeatedly manifested in recent years as censorship faced by Sikh Americans who attempted to engage in honest discussions about the 2020-21 farmers’ protests, advocated for justice amid the state’s manhunt of a Sikh activist in 2023, and continue to truthfully highlight broader human rights concerns in India,” said Jyot Singh, Policy Manager at SALDEF.
Public critics of the Indian government, including global Sikh activists, endure targeted online harassment. SALDEF’s extensive research has captured firsthand accounts of individuals receiving hate-filled emails and direct messages on significant Sikh holidays or memorial dates. This hostility often seeps from their dedicated Sikh-focused pages to their personal profiles and even businesses, resulting in unwarranted review bombings that endanger livelihoods. Censored journalists and activists were a part of the panel.
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SALDEF’s resolute response to this urgent issue is reflected in its 2023 Dissent Across ‘Democracies’ censorship report. The report presents well-founded recommendations aimed at empowering platforms to withstand manipulation and safeguard democratic values. Among these recommendations are strategies like geofencing antiterrorism requests, cultivating alliances with advocates for marginalized communities, partnering with democracy-oriented nonprofits, and fostering resilience in the face of challenges.
“This is an important report on an extremely serious subject which indeed has global ramifications. SALDEF must be commended for their continuous and comprehensive efforts in highlighting such sinister incursions on free speech, not least because of the interference with that very inalienable right, now impacting diasporic communities – as has been observed on prominent social media platforms, like the one formerly known as Twitter. Let’s hope policy makers, community organizations and companies take its thoughtful recommendations seriously, and implement steps to act upon them,” said Hardeep Singh, freelance journalist and Deputy Director of the Sikh Messenger.
“Twitter has been absolutely appalling when it comes to engaging on issues that impact the Sikh community which stem from censorship and fall into misinformation and beyond that,” said Jasveer Singh, Senior Press Officer for the Sikh Press Association.
“Personally, Sikh Press Association probably sent a dozen different emails over the course of six months with our account running freely on Twitter and we were just being completely ignored,” said Jasveer Singh, Senior Press Officer for the Sikh Press Association.
“It was ironic because Meta had us down as an organization that they wanted to engage with in terms of discussion and opening up and getting feedback into the Sikh community and I said, ‘That’s fine, but you’ve already banned us from your platform’,” said Jas Singh, Sikh Activist and Founder of The Sikh Network (UK)
“I saw Jack Dorsey’s message where he openly admitted that India forced Twitter to take action against accounts posting about the Farmers’ Protests or else they’ll shut down Twitter’s offices in the country. But, he presided over Twitter and did nothing. To admit it afterwards, and then pass the books to Elon Musk and blame him is a huge failure for Twitter’s leadership,” said Jas Singh, Sikh Activist and Founder of The Sikh Network (UK)
To read SALDEF’s full 2023 Dissent Across ‘Democracies’ censorship report, please visit https://saldef.org/sikhcensorship/.
About SALDEF:
SALDEF is a national Sikh American advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. focused on building leadership and capacity in the Sikh American community.
Our mission is to empower Sikh Americans by building dialogue, deepening understanding, promoting civic and political participation, and upholding social justice and religious freedom for all Americans.
We are grounded in our values of optimism (chardi kala), humility (nimrata) and service (seva), inspired by the community (sangat) for the benefit of all (sarbat da bhalla). We envision a United States where Sikh Americans are recognized as a vibrant and integral part of the fabric of this nation and are respected for our shared values of service, social justice, and an unshakeable belief in freedom and equality for all.
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