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In response to COVID-19, “Coronasur” (virus as a malevolent force) and “Corona Devi” (goddess of contagion who combats Corona) have emerged, reprising traditional Hindu notions of “good” defeating “evil.” Many Hindus hold the view that virtual sacred spaces must have an analog referent that remains the seat of ritual power. Women in rural villages in…
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The Facebook groups discussed in this essay are three of over twenty different groups and pages I follow or have joined as part of my research into Hindu nationalism on social media platforms. While many of the groups I monitor are private, the screenshots of posts included here are from publicly viewable Facebook groups. While…
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Digital Religion: The Basics explores how digital media and internet platforms are transforming religious practice in a digital age and the impact this has had on religious culture in contemporary society. Through exploring six defining characteristics of how religion is acted out online, including multisite reality, convergence practice, networked community, storied identity, shifting authority, and…
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Much speculation was raised in the 1990s, during the first decade of internet research, about the extent to which online platforms and digital culture might challenge traditional understandings of authority, especially in religious contexts. Digital Creatives and the Rethinking of Religious Authority explores the ways in which religiously-inspired digital media experts and influencers online challenge…
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In this article, we present new empirical evidence to demonstrate the severe limitations of existing machine learning content moderation methods to keep pace with, let alone stay ahead of, hateful language online. Building on the collaborative coding project “AI4Dignity” we outline the ambiguities and complexities of annotating problematic text in AI-assisted moderation systems. We diagnose…
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How digital networks are positioned within the enduring structures of coloniality The revolutionary aspirations that fueled decolonization circulated on paper—as pamphlets, leaflets, handbills, and brochures. Now—as evidenced by movements from the Arab Spring to Black Lives Matter—revolutions, protests, and political dissidence are profoundly shaped by information circulating through digital networks. Digital Unsettling is a critical…
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In India and its diaspora in the UK, online activities of various sorts—tweeting, blogging, messaging, trolling, and tagging—have become central to tensions surrounding religion’s presence in public life and the stakes of belonging to the nation. Three clusters of social media practices undergird these digital mediations: piety, surveillance, and fun. Such practices reveal how internet-enabled…
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A film on the preservation of Sanskrit and Tibetan texts With this feature film, I want viewers to quickly move from asking why to wanting to learn how: how the mission will be accomplished, how it will all turn out, and perhaps even how they—the viewers—might become agents for accomplishing such a purpose in their…
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A multidisciplinary storytelling initiative As scholars in the field will attest, religion is a complex phenomenon. Because religion is difficult to define and continually in flux, understanding it deeply often requires collaboration and creativity. This is why the Magnum Foundation launched its pilot initiative On Religion: Photography in Collaboration in 2016. On Religion (2016) Several…
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How the Internet has shaped religious thought, reach, and practice Beginning in 2010, the Center for Religion and Media at New York University (NYU) established a two-part, multiyear initiative to explore how digital technology shapes religious knowledge and forms of practice. The drive to learn more about this domain came out of the recognition that…
