India’s crackdown on cockroaches, critics and cameras

Video Duration 24 minutes 19 seconds 24: 19.

Key points

• Contributors: Saba Naqvi – Author and journalist Smita Sharma – Multimedia journalist Shyam Meera Singh – Founder, Strike Originals Sushant Singh – Lecturer, Yale University.
• Featuring: Anna Virginia Balloussier – Journalist, Folha De Sao Paulo Caro Evangelista – Executive director, Iser Magali Cunha – Editor-in-chief, Berreia Project.
• After protests calling for the release of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, pakistan has declared a state of emergency in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• The Listening Post 's Nicholas Muirhead reports on Brazil's evangelical influencers and the political space they are looking to take over.
• These protests differ from the unrest that exploded in July, though, by the attacks on the media.

For context, a administration at war with its critics – from young protesters to the media.

After media reports made public that the Electoral Commission removed concerning 130 million names from voter lists, a wave of youth-led protests has returned to the streets of India's capital, Delhi.

Dozens of journalists and content creators have been detained, assaulted or blocked from doing their jobs. As a new generation rises to challenge the administration, but tightening the screws on critical reporting doesn't appear to be working.

While casting protesters as rebels, the state's response has followed a familiar pattern: A media blackout and internet shutdown. The rise of digital micro-Bolsonaros.

It's been more than three years since Jair Bolsonaro fell from power, yet the right-wing movement he began is still without a clear leader. Into that gap has stepped a new crop of young evangelical political influencers. This person are tapping into a decades-old religious media machine to build their audience.

Their viral content ricochets throughout social feeds, mobilising followers and voters in ways old-school politicians just can't match.

For context, the Listening Post 's Nicholas Muirhead reports on Brazil's evangelical influencers and the political space they are looking to take over.

Featuring: Anna Virginia Balloussier – Journalist, Folha De Sao Paulo Caro Evangelista – Executive director, Iser Magali Cunha – Editor-in-chief, Berreia Project. Published On 18 Oct 202618 Oct 2026.

In short, india's crackdown on cockroaches, critics and cameras is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.