ABSTRACT
The digital space, dominated by social media, has provoked a real information revolution by placing the public foremost in the network. By heralding free speech and facilitating access to unfiltered information, the Digital Age has ended monopolies over information access and extended the boundaries of democracy. However, the same tools have also exposed the dark underside of technology and democracy as networking has produced ‘misinformed masses’ – often religiously intolerant and heavily influenced by disinformation. Dystopian narratives, averse to alternate facts and figures, and constantly disseminated online, are causing an emergency in democratic societies, including India and Bangladesh. This chapter seeks to critically examine the contemporary narratives around online religious campaigns targeting the minorities in both countries. The rise of far-right extremism and the spread of radical messages and propaganda, occasionally challenging bilateral ties and disrupting the goals of public diplomacy, have also been focused in the chapter.
