THE NETWORKED PUBLIC (PB)

Networks, whether in the form
of Facebook and Twitter or WhatsApp groups, are exerting immense, unchecked
power in subverting political discourse and polarizing the public in India.
If people’s understandings of their political reality can be so easily manipulated
through misinformation, then what role can they play in fostering
deliberative democracies? Amber Sinha asks this much ignored and
often-misunderstood question in his book The Networked Public. In search for
an answer, he investigates the history of misinformation and the biases that
make the public susceptible to it, how digital platforms and their governance
impacts the public’s behaviour on them, as well as the changing face of
political targeting in this data-driven world. The book weaves sharp analysis
with academic rigour to show that while the public can be irrational and
gullible, their actions—be it mob violence or spreading fake news—are
symptoms of deeper social malaise and products of their technological
contexts. The Networked Public is essential reading for anyone who wants to
understand how social media and the Internet is transforming democracy not
only in India, but across the world.