Ifat Gazia is a Kashmiri Muslim scholar and Ph.D. candidate (ABD) in Communication at UMass Amherst. Her research critically examines digital infrastructures, platform governance, and the role of technology in shaping narratives under settler-colonial regimes. She focuses on digital erasure, online manipulation, and the creation of ‘Potemkin villages’ through social media influencers, particularly in East Turkestan. Her dissertation, A Taxonomy of Digital Erasure: People, Platforms, and Politics, investigates how digital platforms contribute to the systematic silencing of marginalized communities.
A self-taught filmmaker, Ifat directed her first widely acclaimed documentary, Long Ago I Died, at the age of 19. She also co-produced Here Still, an award-winning short documentary on Kashmir that received Asia’s Best Independent Documentary Film at the All Asia Independent Film Festival 2020 and screened at festivals across the US and Asia.
Before pursuing academia, Ifat worked as a journalist in Kashmir, reporting on social justice and human rights for both local and international publications. She was actively engaged with community-building efforts, especially in terms of providing mentorship to younger Kashmiri students who aspired to study abroad. She later earned an MA in Media and Development from SOAS, University of London, with a core focus on Information Communication Technologies.
Ifat’s work has received support from the MacArthur Foundation, The Annenberg Innovation Lab, the Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure, the Shuttleworth Foundation and the Media Democracy Fund. She has also been awarded multiple fellowships by UMass Amherst and other institutions.