As online propaganda material specifically targeting Indian and South Asian ecosystems has been appearing more aggressively since the beginning of this year, counter-narratives and policy approaches towards the same need to be one step ahead of the propaganda material itself. While ideological propaganda is as old as salt on Earth, the advent of technological evolution and communications has offered a new wave for such propaganda to ride on, one that is difficult to check, regulate and address both technologically and via public policy.
With technological advancements has also come technological literacy by militant and terror groups. Conflict points in South Asia, such as Kashmir, offer an interesting study of the movements between online and offline terror propaganda. A lot of the current work on online extremism arguably keeps regular/consistent Internet connectivity as a given. However, an anomaly here offers an interesting paradox: do lower levels of online connectivity, below 3G or 4G, affect propaganda dissemination? Do terror groups find a way around these, or prefer to either stall online outreach completely or go back to the much more arduous world of offline propaganda?