Social media gets a Gandhian platform: Pixstory

Senior journalist and writer Appu Esthose Suresh starts a Gandhi-inspired platform to filter fake news and hate speeches

October 10, 2021 01:09 am | Updated October 12, 2021 06:23 pm IST

NEW DELHI, 07/10/2021: Authors, Appu Esthose Suresh and Priyanka Kotamraju, pose for photograph during an interview at Gandhi Smriti in New Delhi on Tuesday, September 28, 2021. Photo: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR / The Hindu  

NEW DELHI, 07/10/2021: Authors, Appu Esthose Suresh and Priyanka Kotamraju, pose for photograph during an interview at Gandhi Smriti in New Delhi on Tuesday, September 28, 2021. Photo: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR / The Hindu  

From communal riots to transistor blasts and crimes of passion, Delhi is no stranger to felonies but the greatest criminal offence in the national capital was committed on January 30, 1948, when Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead at a prayer meeting by Nathuram Godse.

In a newly published book — The Murderer, The Monarch and the Fakir: A New Investigation of Mahatma Gandhi’s Assassination — Washington DC-based senior journalist Appu Esthose Suresh revisited the murder that shook the nation seven decades ago. Research for the book coincided with the urban protests in America and India in recent years that were heavily influenced by Gandhian slogans and ideals. Appu saw that Gandhi’s non-violence had new challengers — fake news and hate speeches. The interconnection between social justice and the need for correct information in the ‘hashtag era’ was established as Appu witnessed the online clashes between pro- and anti-government activists and cyberwarriors.

Appu and his co-author, Priyanka Kotamraju, not only researched and wrote the book but also took the Gandhian message a step further by starting a Gandhi-inspired social media platform — Pixstory — that flags intolerance and hate speeches.

The Gandhian calling came naturally to Appu, who had been researching on the Mahatma’s life and assassination for many years, beginning with his stay at North Campus, Delhi University, which was the first part of the Capital he explored.

North Campus stories

North Campus, a group of colleges situated next to each other, has nurtured generations of Indians over the last century and been a hub of inspiring tales. While pursuing a bachelor’s degree from St. Stephen’s College, young Appu discovered one such story.

In the Rudra North Block where he spent his undergraduate years, Appu discovered that it was St. Stephen’s College Principal S.K. Rudra who had asked the Vice-Principal, C.F. Andrews, to visit South Africa and persuade Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to return to India. Upon his return from South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi resided at the residence of Principal Rudra and gave shape to the Khilafat and the non-cooperation movement.

The Gandhian influence stayed with the author during his years in journalism when he worked with TheIndian Express and several other publications and his academic stint at the London School of Economics, finally leading him to fight a menace that has acquired an all-pervasive form — fake news. The book’s co-author, Priyanka, too has a vast experience of working with women and Adivasi groups. She has worked in the past with the famous Khabar Lahariya , a feminist news organisation that is run entirely by women.

Pixstory is already entering into international tie-ups with prominent names and is among the first such Indian-driven ventures which has received substantial support globally. The platform is also available as an app, aimed at giving news and also detecting and filtering fake and misleading information.

Driven by Appu’s early political influences, and floated by him and senior journalist Jayanth Jacob, Pixstory reflects the idea that fake news amounts to abuse of power. It calls itself a fact-based and evidence-based social media platform. During a meeting with The Hindu, Appu pointed out the way leading social media platforms have been unable to contain the spread of hate as they are based on profit-chasing format.

“We have taken a principled stand that our profit margins will not be high but we will not compromise on filtering hate,” said Appu, explaining the element of risk that he is taking in launching a platform that does not intend to empower or reward the hate mongers online.

Like other such ventures, Pixstory has a news section and segments where engagements on social issues of importance will be taken up.

The Pixstory teams are presently operating from Delhi and Washington DC. They include experienced journalists and social media professionals, working round the clock to add the much-needed diversity to the social media world and, hopefully, free it of toxic hate and intolerance.

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