The Nazis and the BJP-RSS regime both understood the power of propaganda, although Hitler and Goebbels did not have access to social media. An RSS official, briefing the media, claimed that they operate 10,000 weekly social media cell meetings.

After the Nazi’s electoral victories of July 1932, Hitler appointed Joseph Goebbels as director of the new Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda^[60]. Goebbels envisioned an empire that would control schools, universities, film, radio, newspapers or, in essence, all public outreach media.

Hitler’s chief architect, Albert Speer, stated at the Nuremberg Tribunal that “what distinguished the Third Reich from all previous dictatorships was its use of all means of communication to sustain itself and to deprive its objects of the power of independent thought.” Hitler was a magician of illusion^[61]. The cultural historian Piers Brendon has described propaganda as the “gospel” of Nazism^[62].

The Nazis used public displays, humiliation, radio, newspapers, public addresses, and teachers to propagate their disdain for Jews and to persuade public opinion. Films^[63] became a tool to propagate Nazism. Some films, like Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will) glorified Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Other films like Der ewige Jude (The Eternal Jew) were not designed to glorify the Nazis but rather to dehumanize, criminalize, and demonize vulnerable minorities, particularly Jews.

Jews were portrayed as the eternal enemy of Germany, and as feeding off the hard work of “true” Germans. Jews were also shown as conspiring with the allied powers against Germany. At the same time, Germans were portrayed as superior and with the means of providing for a secure Germany. As they moved into France, the same messaging was directed towards the French.

The BJP-RSS regime operates its propaganda machine differently than the Nazi ministry. It has been so successful that Reporters Without Borders now rates India below Somalia and Colombia, ranking 150th of 180 nations. There is an official information technology cell that is directly run by the BJP. The government applies preferential treatment to ensure the Hindutva ideology is propagated and prevails, while opposition voices are drowned.

The BJP-RSS regime also control media owned by high caste Hindu allies and editors. They oversee platforms that are manipulated^[64] by the BJP’s information technology cell and RSS social media cells.

Before any Hindutva policy announcement, this focused propaganda machinery is ready with emotionally charged prime-time shows, hashtags, memes, & fake social media accounts^[65]. Using WhatsApp forwarding the regime bombards citizens with messages in support of Hindutva policies.

Researchers have documented that the ruling BJP-RSS regime uses social media such as Facebook^[66] and WhatsApp to run complex propaganda campaigns that amplify existing attacks against Muslims. In a report titled “Communal Conflict in India,” the Wall Street Journal stated that Facebook inflammatory content was up 300% above previous levels in the months after December 2019, when there were protests regarding the Citizenship Amendment Act. The inflammatory content was primarily targeted at Muslims.

Indian Government Creates Fake News: The Wall Street Journal also referred to another report called “Adversarial Harmful Networks: India Case Study”^[67] that found that misleading and inflammatory anti-Muslim content posted by individuals, groups or pages related to the RSS are “never flagged” because Facebook does not have the systems to detect content in Hindi and Bengali.67 This means that anti-Muslim content continues to go unchecked.

In addition to this organized propaganda machinery, journalists are often threatened or detained^[68] under draconian laws^[69]. Sixty-seven journalists were arrested by the BJP government while nearly 200 were physically attacked^[70] by the BJP in 2020.

India is the World Leader in Shutting Down the Internet: India has become the world’s leader in shutting down the internet to block dissident voices. It blacked out the internet at least 106 times in 2021. This is the fourth year in a row that India was worse than any country in the world. It was worse than Burma which shut down the internet at least 15 times and Iran which shut down the internet at least five times. India even forced Twitter to put agents on payroll^[71].

The twin strategy of threatening journalists and using their own IT Cell is responsible for Freedom House downgrading India^[72][73] from free to partially free noting its “…crackdown on expressions of dissent by the media, academics, civil society groups, and protesters.”