Quiet quitting, misinformation busting: Key social media movements that made waves in 2024

In 2024, India’s digital landscape witnessed a surge of activism driven by social media, amplifying voices that sought to confront some of the country’s pressing challenges. 

As platforms like X, Instagram, and Facebook became battlegrounds for narratives, activists, journalists, and everyday individuals harnessed the power of connectivity to demand accountability, find solidarity, and mobilise action. 

This year, these social movements not only exposed deep-rooted issues, but also explored the potential of digital activism to drive change. 

Here are some of the most notable social media movements of 2024.

#AntiHustleCulture, #QuietQuitting

While on the one hand, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and Ola cabs CEO Bhavish Agarwal controversially advocated a 70-hour work week and raised a storm online, notable entrepreneurs like Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Swiggy Food and Marketplace and Kritarth Mittal, the 25-year-old founder of the Soshals app took a firm stand against hustle culture and normalised overworking.

In July, the tragic death of Anna Sebastian, a 26-year-old chartered accountant employed at Ernst & Young (EY), who died of cardiac arrest barely four months into the job, shook the country. In a letter to EY, Anna’s mother Anita Augustine blamed the workload, new environment, and long hours for her deteriorating health and eventual death. 

The incident sparked a sea of opinions against toxic work environments and the romanticisation of hustle culture, demanding healthier workplaces that prioritise employee well-being over sheer productivity.

In September, Mittal spoke against hustle culture from a hospital bed, attributing his health scare and hospitalisation to poor lifestyle choices. Kapoor too has emphasised that working late into the night should not be glorified, and advocated for a balanced work-life approach, highlighting the importance of personal relationships and well-being.

The year also saw many employees talking about how they were practicing #Quiet Quitting or ‘silent resignations’, wherein they mentally disengaged from their roles without formally leaving their positions.

A study by Slack revealed that 54% of Indian knowledge workers reported burnout, with two-thirds contemplating job changes within the year. Additionally, 16% admitted to ‘"quiet quitting’," fulfilling only their job requirements without going beyond.

Conversations on platforms like Reddit highlighted the nuances of ‘quiet quitting’, with users describing behaviors such as decreased participation in team interactions and disengagement from additional responsibilities.

#ManipurViolence, #Manipur

The Manipur riots began in May 2023, as a result of longstanding ethnic tensions between the majority Meitei community and minority tribal groups, particularly the Kuki and Naga communities. The violence has resulted in at least 258 deaths and displaced over 60,000 people. 

On May 4, last year, the state government had blocked access to the internet across all of Manipur. Reports showed that protestors and leaders on ground had to pay hackers up to Rs 1.5 lakh for internet access, and even had to rely on people outside the state to manage their social media accounts, as these platforms had become vital for communicating what was happening on the ground.

Peacebuilder and Founder of Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network Binalakshmi Nepram said 212 days of internet shutdown were recorded since 2023, when the violence started, affecting 3.3 million indigenous peoples. Nepram has been using platforms like X to amplify voices and issues from the ground, including how 33 people including girls and the elderly are missing  due to “enforced disappearances” since violence erupted in May 2023.

While violence unfolded in Manipur, countless individuals—including Kuki leaders and members of the Meitei community—dedicated themselves to driving the narrative online. Their efforts fueled a digital campaign that became a powerful tool in shaping public perception on social media.

Two incidents of violence—the parading of two Kuki-Zo women naked, captured in a viral video, and the killing of two Meitei students, whose images also spread widely—intensified tensions in the state, sparking protests and amplifying the outrage on social media.

Disinformation made these hostilities worse. Early in the conflict, an image of a woman’s body wrapped in plastic was circulated with claims that she was a Meitei woman who had been sexually assaulted. Fact-checkers like BOOM debunked the claim, revealing the victim was a woman killed by her parents in Delhi.

Similarly, a video circulated a month later alleging that a Christian Kuki woman had been assaulted by armed civilians. BOOM traced the video to Myanmar, exposing it as unrelated to the conflict in India. 

The Reporters’ Collective identified nine prominent handles each posting in favour of Kuki and Meitei narratives and shared them with the Narrative Research Lab in the last week of July.

Media personality Pradyot Tripura says the social media chatter was forcing people to take sides or risk seeming biased towards one group or the other. Beyond that, these campaigns also highlighted how false narratives have exacerbated an already volatile situation.

#FactCheckIndia

According to the World Economic Report, India is highly vulnerable to misinformation, with one of the highest risk potentials globally. This became especially clear just before the elections. Eight hundred million Indians are connected to the internet, according to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

Over 300 journalists from 50+ newsrooms joined forces to counter misinformation during India’s April-June general election. Spanning seven phases, the election witnessed 642 million voters over six weeks.

Rival media organisations transcended differences to collaborate through Shakti, a project uniting fact-checkers and news outlets to address election-related misinformation. Funded by the Google News Initiative, the project facilitated the translation and sharing of fact-check reports across 50 newsrooms, showcasing the power of unity in promoting credible journalism.

During the 2024 general elections, political parties, across ideologies, engaged many influencers to create content. AI technology was used to promote different political leaders and mimic their voices in various campaigns. The proliferation of deepfake videos and AI-generated misinformation became a pressing concern. The #FactCheckIndia movement emerged on social media, with citizens and independent organisations collaborating to identify and debunk the rise in false information.

In fake videos that have gone viral online, top Bollywood actors Aamir Khan and Ranveer Singh appeared to criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi while urging citizens to vote for the opposition Congress party in the ongoing general election.

During the elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was also accused of using social media to disseminate disinformation, particularly targeting the Muslim community. The term "Vote Jihad" was employed by BJP supporters online to describe Muslim votes, which threatened to fuel divisions between Hindus and Muslims. A report by The London Story documented numerous instances of Islamophobic content shared by BJP-affiliated accounts on platforms like Facebook. Despite promises from companies like Meta to curb AI-manipulated content, many inflammatory ads were approved. 

Their circulation highlighted the significant influence AI-generated content could wield in shaping narratives during India’s massive electoral process.

The Election Commission of India was criticised for its ineffectiveness in regulating this disinformation, allowing hate speech and divisive narratives to flourish. 

Syed Nazakat, the founder and CEO of DataLEADS, a media and tech company based in New Delhi that coordinated the Shakti project, said about 60% of the fact-check stories were in regional languages, circulated through political speeches, false internet claims, bogus poll surveys and even political campaign songs. 

Climate change movements

#FridaysForFuture

The Indian chapter of Fridays for Future (FFF), a global movement launched by Greta Thunberg to address the climate crisis, became a crucial platform for raising awareness about environmental issues, organising grassroots campaigns, and advocating for systemic change.

Disha Ravi, a 22-year-old climate activist from Bengaluru and one of the co-founders of the Indian chapter of FFF, launched online campaigns highlighting critical concerns, such as preserving biodiversity, opposing destructive development projects, and advocating for renewable energy solutions. She has been inspiring a new generation of climate justice activists to follow her lead. 

Warrior Moms India 

Warrior Moms India, an online community run by 1,400 women from 75 villages across 13 Indian states raised awareness about air pollution by educating citizens, and engaging with policymakers to implement stricter regulations online.

To mark International Women’s Day, Warrior Moms launched an extensive campaign online, following which they took to the streets of Delhi, Bhagalpur, Samrala, Cuttack, Hasdeo, and included mothers from farming communities in the Shambhu and Khanauri borders to highlight the precarious situation of women and children due to climate emergencies. 

The International Women’s Day protests took place simultaneously in over 30 countries on six continents. 

Warrior Moms India has online and offline networks in cities such as Delhi, Odisha, Jharkhand, Punjab, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kochi, Pune, and Hyderabad. Ahead of the elections, they pushed for an urgent need for action on air quality to safeguard their children and their futures. They spoke to citizens, gathered their concerns and took them to the candidates in their respective regions. They also advocated for Clean Air Zones and new legislations promoting better air quality.

Warrior Moms India have also been mobiling people through social media and protesting against lethal air qualities in Delhi, and its impact on pregnant and breast feeding women. Delhi's air quality has deteriorated in recent weeks with monitoring stations in the city reporting AQI values exceeding 400, with some reaching as high as 472. 

#PlasticFreeIndia

Building on previous efforts, this campaign intensified in 2024, focusing on reducing single-use plastic consumption nationwide. Social media influencers and environmental groups collaborated to educate the public on sustainable alternatives, leading to several state governments enforcing bans on specific plastic products and encouraging eco-friendly practices among businesses and consumers.

In November, the Dwarka Progressive Club organised a three-day public awareness program in Haridwar and Kankhal under the #PlasticFreeIndia movement at Rajput Panchayat Dharamshala. The event brought together representatives from various states and the local community to raise awareness about reducing plastic usage.

#DharaviRedevelopmentProject 

Campaigns emerged under #DharaviRedevelopmentProject against the Maharashtra government’s approval of approximately 260 acres of salt pans to the Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between Adani Realty Group and the Maharashtra government, for the construction of low-cost rental housing for Dharavi residents. Environmentalists rallied against building on these ecologically sensitive areas that could exacerbate flooding in Mumbai's eastern suburbs, such as Vikhroli, Kanjurmarg, and Bhandup. 

Salt pans, along with mangroves, act as natural buffers against flooding and support local biodiversity by providing habitats for various bird and insect species. Mumbai's salt pans, low-lying areas where seawater evaporates to leave behind salt, play a crucial role in flood prevention by absorbing excess rainwater and high tides. 

A call for ethical social media spaces

While social media has proven to be a powerful tool for amplifying voices and driving awareness, the perils of instigated polarisation masquerading as genuine change continue to threaten this space. 

Research has time and again shown that social media platforms can be exploited to disseminate misinformation and incite dangerous speech, exacerbating societal tensions. The rise in misinformation has only gone to prove that often, carefully crafted narratives and divisive rhetoric are engineered to exploit communal, political, or cultural fault lines, creating an illusion of widespread support or opposition.

Having said that, the digital sphere has also shown the extraordinary potential of collective action, as many of these movements have shown. 

In the coming year, the challenge lies in navigating the fine line between harnessing the power of these platforms and mitigating their vulnerabilities.