Can comedy and satire be tools of social change? How does this ecosystem interact with a large democracy like ours? When the perception of what is offensive changes from person to person, how do we define an “offence”? Are Indians too easily offended?

To discuss these themes, Roli Pulse, the digital arm of Roli Books, in association with Newslaundry, brought together comedians Vir Das and Aditi Mittal, and Newslaundry co-founder Abhinandan Sekhri, in the sixth and final episode of this specially curated video series on the media landscape.

On whether social media has made acceptable certain things that were once unacceptable, Aditi says, “Social media has enabled people to coagulate around things that are socially unacceptable — things that are bigoted, racist, sexist...And so people know now that if I say something ridiculous, I will get an invitation to Bigg Boss. And for a whole lot of people, that is a valid route to infamy.”

As consumers of social media, Aditi adds, “we are the monsters that we are fighting. When we hate-share stuff or cringe-watch stuff, we’re adding to it.”

Vir says, “If [something] is offensive, does that mean it should not exist, or does it mean it needs to be modified? Is it the only thing that’s offensive?” He also points out that what is defined as offensive changes “every five years or four years or three years or two years..."

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