Indian brands reckon with a new challenge: hate

The increasing power of social media, where outrage easily gathers pace, is forcing Indian brands to reckon with a new challenge: the politics of hate. BBC's Nikhil Inamdar and Aparna Alluri report.

Indian CEO Rajiv Bajaj made headlines earlier this month when he said his company would no longer advertise on media outlets that were a source of "hate-mongering" or "toxicity".

Mr Bajaj - who runs Bajaj Auto, India's biggest motorcycle manufacturer - was speaking to CNBC-TV18 in the wake of a police investigation into three TV news channels who were accused of manipulating ratings and spreading fake news.

Reports said Mr Bajaj's company had blacklisted three TV news channels, though he has not named any publicly.

Days later, Parle-G, India's biggest biscuit maker, said it had decided not to advertise on channels that "broadcast toxic content". A senior executive said they were looking to send "a clear signal to all the news channels that they better change their content".

These brands are household names. It is something of a surprise they have chosen to speak up - Indian companies typically shy away from public stances, unlike in the West where big businesses have recently come out in support of progressive causes like LGBTQ rights, or spoken out against hate speech and racism.

But Indian brands may soon have to start rethinking this strategy.