SANJAY PINTO
We’ve all heard school teachers telling their students that using foul
language is a symptom of poor vocabulary. It jolly well is. In just the same
way, getting abusive on the social media platform betrays a complete poverty of
ideas. There is no dearth of people in India who may be angry, disappointed and
let down by our politicians. It’s not just Team Anna. Not all of them need to
or do show up at demonstrations or venues of fasts. It doesn’t mean they feel
less strongly about corruption or other issues or are reluctant to champion a
cause. Because there are methods. And there are methods. And there is the
social media. A tweet or a wall post can be as effective as holding a placard
outside someone’s home or office or along a route. But just how prudently is
this done?
I’ve come across tweets against political bigwigs that are downright
intimidatory and clearly constitute offences under the Indian Penal Code and
the Information Technology Act. Sample some. “I will worship the soil on which
the corpse of xxx is found.” Or, “I just can’t wait to put raw rice
grains into the mouth of xxx.” (The reference is to a cremation ritual)
Then there’s this one: “xxx should be roasted alive.” And “The
decapitated torso of xxx will be found on a street corner.” There are more
direct threats: “xxx will be shot soon.” At one level, this could be the
handiwork of loose canons rather than guided missiles. I’m not sure how many
recipients of these threats read them or take them seriously. A poet in Chennai
recently filed a criminal complaint after someone on twitter threatened to
throw acid on her face. While few may actually intend carrying out their
threats, the trend is yet another reflection of the violent society we live in.
If you analyse the profiles of these individuals (assuming the information
revealed is correct) and their language proficiency, you will find that many of
them are well educated and well placed! Their cowboy tactics denigrate the
medium and make it seem like an anti social media section.
If you want to take on the powers that be, there are courts, elections,
space in the mainstream media and certainly better and civilised ways of using
the social media. A few days ago, I put up a status message on facebook , looking
for a case study of women drivers stalked and harassed by roadside Romeos after
the ban on sun control film on cars. Not only did I get more than sufficient
feedback, a healthy debate broke out on that thread and a friend suggested a
powerful initiative – 'Hollaback! Chennai'. It’s tagline: “I don’t accept
street harassment, I holla back!” says it all. I’ve heard of the global
movement but it was good to know that a local chapter existed. The page has
useful posts like “What to do when someone tries to grab you” and a healthy
exchange of ideas and experiences.
Have you heard of avaaz.org?
It calls itself “a global web movement to bring people powered politics
to decision making everywhere.” The site has had its share of impact and
success. Consider what it flaunts on its home page. “In just 3 weeks, over 3
million of us worldwide signed a petition opposing a scandalous bill that would
give the US government the right to shut down any website – targeting
sites like YouTube, WikiLeaks and even Avaaz! We worked with other
organisations such as DemandProgress, and President Obama’s team responded.
Avaaz organised a 1 hour meeting with top White House officials to deliver the
petition. The White House subsequently condemned the bill and key backers
withdrew their support. As of right now, the Internet censorship bill is dead
in the water. When we started, everyone told us the bill could not be stopped,
now it’s been ditched by both parties -- a huge win for internet freedom and
for people power!”
Here are classic cases of technology and the pester power of
campaigning put to good use. To be a change agent, you don’t need to call
people names. Just Holla back or raise your avaaz!
(An edited version of this column of
mine was published in The Hindu)
No comments:
Post a Comment