Caste discrimination of tech platforms

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When a close relative is of marriageable age, the parents register an application on their spouse’s phone to arrange a suitable match (read: same caste) and use technology to maintain the marriage relationship, following the ancient Indian marriage system. Indian society has experienced many forms of matchmaking – from marriage bureaus established by certain castes, to neighborhood aunties who match families before matching partners.

In India, matrimonial mobile applications are tailored to appeal to certain communities, regions, religions, educational qualifications, incomes and castes. In many cases, the bride and groom meet several times on the wedding day. Family compatibility may be more important than partner compatibility.

The cast filter prioritizes certain profiles for the user in Anoop. (All screenshots courtesy of Priteegandha Naik/Hyper allergy)

Over the past few years, these dating apps have taken over the “swipe right” and chat features from dating apps like Tinder and Bumble.

For all intents and purposes, dating apps are evolving to encourage more open communication between potential partners while reducing “family” barriers. However, the application will ask you to install one.Kundali” – In Hindu astrology, a birth chart that predicts a person’s character and future based on various elements, including caste. Interestingly, a common feature in all apps is a cast filter that allows your profile to be visible to some casts and invisible to others, ensuring endogamy in the digital age.

So how do we make sense of this amazing paradox? Dating apps have evolved to accommodate “modern” culture, where partner interests and compatibility are central to marriage. Thomas Misa, a historian who studies the relationship between technology and society, suggests that we should consider the “progress and development” in society by examining the “progress and development” of technology as a “co-construction”. Similarly, these mobile applications are not isolated entities but represent a specific trend in social reality. The persistence of the crown in these “manifests of modernity” challenges narratives about the death of the nation. Dr. Bihimrao Ramji Ambedkar Genocide. Ambedkar was a scholar-turned-politician whose ideas and books laid the groundwork for the anti-caste movement. of Genocide He was initially scheduled to speak at the Jat-Pat Todak Mandal. (An anti-caste reform group whose name translates to “dissolution of the caste system” in Hindi/Urdu). However, members of the group believed that the speech was too controversial and provocative and could provoke a violent reaction from the conservative Hindu community. . The speech was eventually canceled because Ambedkar refused to edit parts of the speech as per the demands of the members. He published his speech in the form of this book; This seminal work took on a life of its own and informed many critical debates and scholarship on caste and led the anti-caste movement.

In India, caste is a dominant social institution based on ideologies of purity and pollution that have influenced the economic and material domains. It is a strong system of social classification that divides the population into an “upper class” – Brahmins (priests and scholars) Kshatriyas (Warriors) and Vaishyas (traders) – and “low-caste” – Shudras And AvarnasThose who practice a craft that is considered polluting. This nexus between occupation, status and pollution kept the lower classes from accessing public facilities like wells, transport, education, temples, etc. Despite regional differences, caste remains a reality in the subcontinent. Historically, there have been times when caste boundaries have been fluid. However, the situation of the oppressed has never changed. This institutionalized, historical system of inclusion and exclusion has perpetuated the disadvantage of the “downtrodden” as they were unable to find avenues for their advancement.

Many scholars believed that industrialization and modernization would eventually lead to the demise of the crown system, but evidence suggests otherwise. Caste has modernized itself in many ways. Recent advances in science, technology, and especially the Internet have enabled caste’s technological profile in the matchmaking business as well.

Ambedkar’s scholarship has revealed the insidious nature of the system. Having caste filters in matrimonial apps leads to the modern avatar. Therefore, as Dr. Murali Shanmugavela suggests, it is useful to think in terms of “irrelevance” to see how it affects different domains. While the matrimonial apps show the reproduction of reality without challenging the status quo, social media sites like Twitter and Instagram have been pulled by journalists, academics and activists for their blatant caste bias. For example, Tribal Army founder Hansraj Meena launched an online petition urging Twitter to provide a blue symbol to Twitter Blue subscribers, and acknowledge that Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Castes (OBC), are marginalized by the Indian constitution on the basis of caste. Meena and other activists have alleged that Twitter’s bias towards verifying accounts is indicative of caste bias because anti-caste activists, belonging to marginalized communities, take longer or never receive blue ticks. As Blue-Tick accounts are “adequately” verified, they have more visibility and wider reach than other accounts with large followings, but no official branding. This system stifles diversity of opinion and turns these forums into echo chambers.

Instagram user @thebigfatbao explains how he was forced to take down a poster with the slogan “Genocide”.

Digital India also faced several caste biases. For example, Instagram user Big Fat Bao reported that a self-styled poster reading “genocide” was taken on Instagram, “in violation of community standards.”

Genocide One of Ambedkar’s most famous tracts deals with the relationship between caste and Hinduism, showing how women’s agency is restricted to maintain the system. Anti-caste and Dalit movements use this tract as their basic ideology to resist the caste system. The book has been published in various languages ​​by state governments, independent publishers and international publishers. So, legally speaking, there is nothing offensive about the title or the slogan (as it is often used).

Dilip Mandal, in an article about the representation of the DBA (Dalit-Bahujan-Adivasi) community in newsrooms, laments the death of the optimism that the Internet can provide a democratically diverse discourse by highlighting marginalized views and experiences. Upper-caste journalists occupying key positions in legacy media organizations have merely repeated the ideologies associated with the background system on stage. Cheap internet, free video editing services and public Wi-Fi have allowed Dalit-Bahujan-centric media outlets to flourish, but Mandal warns that “freedom of speech does not necessarily mean equality of speech”.

Technologies do not grow in a social vacuum, but often adapt and reflect society. Robert Young, a stalwart in the field of history of science, has provided a framework for explaining this interaction between ideology, science, and society. In an article published in 1977, Young explained that the direction and facts of “scientific” development reflected the ideology of the day: consider the large-scale institutionalization of environmental education degrees due to climate change. In the article “Science is it. Social Relations” (1977), he succinctly states.

“The anthropology of knowledge invites us to view our educational and research institutions as social systems. The three elements – social system, socialization and belief system – conform to, mediate and reinforce (directly or indirectly) the existing framework of order, power and ideology… The social relations of such institutions are the social relations of society. “

Young’s theory helps us understand how existing caste inequalities are embodied in technology in the form of creation. And Application. Ambedkar pointed out that “caste is a state of mind”, an abstract, arbitrary concept that manifests itself in behaviour, social structures and systems. In India, the “upper caste” modeled modernity based on their ideas and beliefs, as a result of higher social positions. Research studies on the history of engineering and science education in India reveal the brahmanization of these disciplines: an emphasis on lifelong learning, a gradual decline in practical or technical skills, and a strong effort to make knowledge a brahminical calling.

However, it is not all doom and gloom. Many Dalits and anti-caste activists have open discussions about the intersection of caste and technology, putting ongoing pressure on multinational corporations and Big Tech companies to reckon with the consequences of discriminatory design and practice. These incidents show the insidious nature of hatred and its real impact in different areas in different ways. Ambedkar said caste will be an issue wherever Hindus travel. It’s now cyber-traveled!



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