  Dangerous speech on social media platforms can be framed as blatantly
inflammatory, or be couched in innuendo. It is also centrally tied to who
engages it - it can be driven by openly sectarian social media accounts, or
through subtle nudges by influential accounts, allowing for complex means of
reinforcing vilification of marginalized groups, an increasingly significant
problem in the media environment in the Global South. We identify dangerous
speech by influential accounts on Twitter in India around three key events,
examining both the language and networks of messaging that condones or actively
promotes violence against vulnerable groups. We characterize dangerous speech
users by assigning Danger Amplification Belief scores and show that dangerous
users are more active on Twitter as compared to other users as well as most
influential in the network, in terms of a larger following as well as volume of
verified accounts. We find that dangerous users have a more polarized
viewership, suggesting that their audience is more susceptible to incitement.
Using a mix of network centrality measures and qualitative analysis, we find
that most dangerous accounts tend to either be in mass media related
occupations or allied with low-ranking, right-leaning politicians, and act as
"broadcasters" in the network, where they are best positioned to spearhead the
rapid dissemination of dangerous speech across the platform.
