Big Tech, Democracy and Human Rights in South Asia
11.12.2025 | 3 - 6:30 PM | 10 Stephens Hall (ISAS Conference Room)
Technologies connect nations, regions, communities,and peoples in a world that is increasingly polarized and in conflict with itself. The digital age is surfeit with disinformation and ideological and political extremes that are weaponized by authoritarian regimes across the globe. The transmission of disinformation and hate within and across borders in the contemporary era significantly relies on digital media platforms that are used by hundreds of millions of users and are owned by big tech organizations. What forces threaten democracy and just peace in the digital sphere? Big Tech firms are uneven in enforcing accountability for policy infringements relating to disinformation and hateful content. How does a lack of accountability on the part of Big Tech impact political dissension and heighten popular extremism? South Asia is a case in point where the scale of social mediatization of hate attests to the power of Big Tech and its adverse impact on democracy and human rights in the region. This conference brings together scholars and professionals whose work focuses on the intersection of Big Tech, democracy, human rights, law and society. The conference serves as a platform for dialogue on policy and advocacy to understand and counteract the damaging impacts of Big Tech on marginalized communities in South Asia.
3:00 - 4:30 PMWelcome & Introductions
- Angana P. Chatterji, Founding Chair, Political Conflict, Gender, and People’s Rights Initiative, Center for Race and Gender, and Research Anthropologist, UC Berkeley
- Rohit Chopra, Professor, Department of Communications, Santa Clara University
Panel 1: Social Media Platforms: Impact on Democracy in South Asia
Moderator: Zeba Warsi, Foreign Affairs Producer, PBS NewsHour
Panelists:
- Susan Benesch, Executive Director, Dangerous Speech Project; Adjunct Professor, American University, and Faculty Associate, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University
- Sabhanaz Rashid Diya, Executive Director of Tech Global Institute
- Jeff Horwitz, Technology Reporter, Thomson Reuters
5:00 - 6:30 PMWelcome & Introductions
- Angana P. Chatterji, Founding Chair, Political Conflict, Gender, and People’s Rights Initiative, Center for Race and Gender, and Research Anthropologist, UC Berkeley
- Raqib Hameed Naik, Founding Director. Center for the Study of Organized Hate
- Leti Volpp, Director, Center for Race and Gender, UC Berkeley, and Robert D. and Leslie Kay Raven Professor of Law in Access to Justice, UC Berkeley School of Law
Moderator: Alexa Koenig, Faculty Co-Director, Human Rights Center and Research Professor of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law
Panelists:
- Michael Kugelman, South Asia Analyst & Columnist, Foreign Policy Magazine
- Nighat Dad, Executive Director, Digital Rights Foundation
- Gerry Shih, Jerusalem Bureau Chief, The Washington Post
Event organized by the Center for Race & Gender, and the Initiative on Political Conflict, Gender and People’s Rights at UC Berkeley, and the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, and co-sponsored by the Institute for South Asia Studies at UC Berkeley, and the Center for South Asia at Stanford University.