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By Devvrat Pandey, Aakash Sharma: In the bout between India’s leading wrestlers and the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP Member of Parliament Brij Bhushan Singh against whom charges of sexual exploitation have been levelled, India Today takes a deep dive into the Twitter pool of hashtags to understand the sentiment of the masses.
Using Social Media Intelligence (SOCINT) techniques, India Today’s Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) team analysed some of the top trending hashtags related to the controversy. Most recently, Paramjeet Mallik, a physiotherapist who was present at the national wrestling camp in Lucknow in 2014, also alleged that he was familiar with at least 4-5 junior women wrestlers who went through the same ordeal.
The BJP MP found himself pinned to the mat when Delhi police registered two FIRs against him on charges of sexual harassment. The protests led by India’s top wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, in January and April, have finally cornered the wrestling federation chief and a powerful politician from Uttar Pradesh.
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Following the start of the protest, there was a sudden increase in Twitter trends aimed at Brij Bhusan. Social media was abuzz with anti-Brij Bhusan sentiment for a few days. However, the sentiment later shifted, and other hashtags supporting Brij Bhusan began to emerge.
TWITTER HASHTAG BATTLE
The ongoing Brij Bhushan controversy has stirred up a storm on Twitter, as hashtags related to the case showcase a divided sentiment among netizens. While some users have rallied behind the cause, expressing their support for the embattled figure, others have vehemently opposed his actions, leading to a heated debate on social media.
Since the controversy began, Twitter has been inundated with campaigns against Brij Bhushan. It has been observed that the most popular tweets are coming from both sides of the online war between supporters and detractors.
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ANIT-BRIJ BHUSHAN SINGH TRENDS
The online campaign started to take a definite shape by April 28, with two hashtags witnessing a large volume of tweets. The hashtag #IStandWithWrestlers gained traction on social media on April 28th at 10 am, and since then, it has garnered more than 28.5K posts. Another hashtag supporting the protesting wrestlers was #Istandwithmychampion.
The trend gained significant traction, with a total of 21.8K tweets at the time of writing. Our analysis of 10,000 posts shows that 985 were original tweets, while 7,660 were retweets from 7,019 unique users. This indicates a high level of engagement and support for the trend among the online community.
On April 30, the trend #arrest_brijbhushan_now was started which saw approximately 186,000 posts in 24 hours. To gain further insights into this trend, a sample of 10,000 posts were analysed, of them there were only 268 original tweets and 8,329 retweets from 4,883 users. The hashtag was endorsed by several influencers. A total of 134,348 tweets were posted within five hours, specifically from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm was observed. This gives an average of 26,869 tweets per hour further indicating a significant increase in traffic on a specific hashtag.
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TRENDS SUPPORTING BRIJ BHUSHAN SINGH
Following the negative social media sentiments facing Brij Bhushan Singh, an open call to support the WFI chief was given on Twitter. This resulted in a pro-Brij Bhushan trend emerging later in the campaign, with some influential Twitter users coming to his defence. Supporters of Brij Bhushan used hashtags like #StandWithBrijBhushan to express their support.
Previously, a hashtag #iSupportBrijBhushanSharanSingh was seen on April 25 at 11 am and reached its peak on April 30. During this time, it generated only 4,139 posts, 844 tweets, and 2,598 retweets by 1,953 users.
However, the largest trend #NationWithBBSS that emerged following the open call generated a staggering 247.8K posts since it first appeared on April 29 at 11 pm. The trend gained significant momentum, reaching its zenith on April 30. Our analysis of 10,000 posts related to the hashtag reveals that 209 original Tweets and 9,083 retweets were generated by 4,535 unique users.
India Today utilised open-source tools to download the data for further data analysis. The data reveals that a vast majority of tweets were posted between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm on April 30, with a staggering 75,665 tweets in just four hours, averaging 18,916 tweets per hour. Such an unusual surge in traffic on a particular hashtag indicates possible artificial amplification through automated tweets. Such trends also raise questions around the authenticity and organic nature of a trend.
As per Twitter’s policies, any artificial amplification carried out in a coordinated manner to promote a hashtag is considered a violation of the platform’s rules and policies. Such behaviour undermines the authenticity of the user experience and makes it difficult to identify organic reactions from real users.
When the visibility of a hashtag is artificially boosted, it becomes challenging for other users to spot genuine reactions from real users. This, in turn, can ultimately harm the credibility of the platform.
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