By Ananya Guha
The news of rumours on social media sites creating havoc in the social order and disrupting normal life, with underpinnings of social and ethnic tension is depressing to say the least. Over and above, the story of an international company worming its way into privacy and private data of individuals through Facebook, and its unholy nexus with politics is also alarming. It has resulted in public spats between political groups and, of course unending media discussions. Social networking sites ostensibly began with reconnecting old friends, and developing a network of personal, social, business, professional and academic relationships. At least that is what one thought Face Book had embarked upon with a flourish. But sharing ceased to become caring, and the act of sharing degenerated into spouting venom and hatred against people and communities one did not like. So we have the phenomena of hate messages and campaigns. What purpose do they serve? By propaganda of hate and counter hate, with malevolence ruling the roost what do such perpetrators achieve? Of course they create sharp cleavages of discord and divisiveness within society. But what is alarming is that there is a total disruption of healthy community consciousness.
The paradox of the internet and the virtual world is this vicious double edged sword. Making, or breaking. On the one hand there is information explosion, on the other misinformation explosion, traducing all norms of an ethical conduct and code of living. Globalization becomes a myth and an antithesis, because rumours spread are local, and mishaps take place in the local world. Rumours of child kidnapping have led to vile murders in Assam in North East India and fomented community clashes in Shillong. The child kidnapping stories had deleterious impact in Jharkhand, Karnataka and some other states of India.
The question is the vicious cycle of fake news, which can spread in minutes cutting across region, time and space. If internet connectivity through the mobile phone can create wider spaces of information and knowledge, it can even shrink those spaces in the most harmful of ways. This is the crux. The problem is in believing, or what to believe. The choice lies in personal jurisprudence. What is the ‘ law ‘ to follow?
And again no matter how much we talk about education abetted by technology, or e- learning or online learning, the point is that the vast online experience that people are gathering nowadays must be ‘ educational ‘ in intent and content. Technology is the artifact upon which such education must hinge. However its misuse in the form of fake news and malefic intentions is criminality.
The real world and the world of simulation are interacting in bizarre ways. To be connected with friends on social networking sites is both real and virtual. But where does the virtual end, and the real begin and vice versa. So, how does false news become real? What are these magnetic pulls of the internet which carries the seeds of destruction? Is it due to lack of education and literacy? If so this must be critically addressed. Alas! Even educated people forward false information, mindlessly.
We are in the midst of a social catastrophe. The parallel media of networking sites, the FB, WhatsApp and Twitter are merged with the mainstream media in ways which are reconciled or not. Tweets splatter news headlines. Such tweets are opinionated. The other networking sites apart from expressing opinion spread the message of hate through vilification, rumour mongering and falsehoods. Expressions such as fake news, hate messages are in currency. Is there no space or place for love in the expanse of technology? Or are shrinking spaces our new ontology only to go berserk and revisit human atavism?
The fallacy is that we are ALL caught in this technology propaganda dialogue, being one up, culminating in vicious bouts of animosity and brigand like hostility. Who is spared of it? Individuals, politicians, the media are entrapped in its vortex of propaganda and false excitement. Technology cannot excite base passions. What we should look out for are the finer instincts of well being, sharing information, highlighting human virtues, and not becoming prey to ends in themselves.
The dangerous trend is the coalescing of the traditional media, especially the digital media with the new media of social networking sites. Everyone is a citizen journalist! Yes everyone is, a responsible citizen, or should be, but the mantle of news journalism may not fall upon everyone! There are people who are doing that and, competently. The excitement of technology, distinct from passion is an anathema to this crisis of human-technology interface. The moment excitement builds up, irrationality drives in and open spaces of the world wide web instead of fostering innovation, lead to its unbridled misuse – hate campaigns, slander, abuse and vilification. Dialogue between minds takes the worst beating. Dialogue becomes monologue, an impasse of ideas, a one-way traffic to malign, impugn and hate. Where exactly are cyber laws then? Once again, the dilemma resides in this perennial complexity of the real and the virtual.