Gauging Opinions about the Citizenship Amendment Act and NRC: A Twitter Analysis Approach

Abstract

Today, the advent of social media has provided a platform for expressing opinions regarding legislation and public schemes. One such burning legislation introduced in India is the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and its impact on the National Citizenship Register (NRC) and, subsequently, on the National Population Register (NPR). This study examines and determines the opinions expressed on social media regarding the act through a Twitter analysis approach that extracts nearly 18,000 tweets during 10 days of introducing the scheme. The analysis revealed that the opinion was neutral but tended to a more negative reaction. Consequently, recommendations on improving public perception about the scheme by suitable for interpreting the Act to the public are provided in the paper.