iWorld
Twitter launches multilingual initiatives ahead of assembly polls 2021
KOLKATA: With the #AssemblyElections2021 taking place in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry, Twitter has unveiled a series of initiatives focused on encouraging informed and healthy conversations between candidates, political parties, citizens, media, and society.
The initiatives include an information search prompt with the Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) and state election commissions to provide reliable information around the elections; a custom emoji to encourage participation; a series of pre-bunks and de-bunks to tackle election-related misinformation; and a youth discussion series titled #DemocracyAdda aimed at voter literacy and civic participation among young Indians for the #AssemblyElections2021. These will be activated across six languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Assamese and Malayalam, in order to cater to audiences across India. Additionally, to put a spotlight on women in Indian politics, the service will be bringing back #HerPoliticalJourney, a video series where women political leaders talk about their personal stories with leading women news journalists.
Twitter India public policy & government manager Payal Kamat said, "Public conversation is critical during elections, and Twitter is where this unfolds. With digital penetration accelerating in India, more people now have access to credible, authoritative and timely information – crucial tools for exercising their civic rights. By leveraging the power of the Open Internet, we are encouraging people across India to be a part of the #AssemblyElections2021 conversation. None of this would be possible without support from the Election Commission of India, the State Election Commissions, and hope our efforts contribute to healthy and vibrant civic dialogue.”
Election information prompt
Twitter’s new information search prompt will make it easy to find credible and authoritative information about candidate lists, voting dates, polling booths, and EVM voter registration, among other election-related topics.
The ‘Election information prompt’ will be active in six languages including Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Assamese, Hindi, and English, supporting more than 20 hashtags. Some of the hashtags include: #विधानसभाचुनाव2021, #বাংলার ভোট 2021, #കേരളാതെരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പ്2021, #অসমনিৰ্বাচন২০২১, #தமிழ்நாடுதேர்தல்2021, #புதுச்சேரிவாக்கெடுப்பு2021
Custom emoji
Twitter has launched a custom emoji for the #AssemblyElections2021 to stimulate participation in election-related discussions. Featuring an inked finger to represent a citizen who has exercised their right to vote, the emoji is available now until 10 May 2021. People can Tweet in English, Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Assamese and Tamil to activate the emoji.
Pre-Bunks and De-Bunks
Staying ahead of potentially misleading information about how and where to vote, Twitter is publishing a series of pre-bunk prompts across languages including English, Hindi, Tamil and Bengali based on content by the national and state election commissions and civil society partners such as Youth Ki Awaz, Association of Democratic Reforms. The prompts will appear on people’s home timelines and in Search, including information about how to register to vote, and details on EVMs and VVPATs. The prompts will also serve the public with relevant voting information about booths, postal ballots, Covid2019 restrictions and accessibility, among other topics. Additionally, the service will focus on de-bunking critical issues as they arise with a curated Twitter Moment. These Moments are created based on high standards of accuracy, impartiality and fairness and are designed to feature compelling, original, and diverse content.
#DemocracyAdda
With the youth of the nation engaging in high quality discussions on the service, Twitter, in partnership with Youth Ki Awaaz (@YouthKiAwaaz), is bringing back its multilingual youth discussion series #DemocracyAdda, aimed at voter literacy and civic participation among young Indians for #AssemblyElections2021. The series will be available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Bengali. Twitter will be hosting live video sessions and Tweet chats with young citizens, civil society groups, changemakers and representative candidates to talk about key issues including gender equality, employment, education, health, among others.
#HerPoliticalJourney
While women leaders are making their presence felt in Indian politics, election coverage continues to be largely male-dominated. With this in mind, Twitter is launching the second season of #HerPoliticalJourney, a video series to put the spotlight on women in Indian politics and their personal stories of challenges and triumph. The series aims to raise awareness about the systemic challenges women face when pursuing political careers. The series will feature women leaders such in conversation with leading women news journalists. The videos will be recorded in English, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and Assamese.
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
