Is social media a megaphone for idiots?

Ajay Chandar
DM 16103
If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed. Adolf Hitler

21 August 2013. The sleepy town of Muzaffarnagar found itself under the spotlight for a very
disturbing reason. Bands of hooligans took to the streets, each targeting members of a
particular community. Retaliation soon followed and the violence spread to the hinterland,
leaving in its wake 62 dead and 93 injured.
One might argue that communal tensions had long been simmering beneath the surface, but
what was it that finally brought it to the fore? The riots were, as established by investigation,
sparked by a provocative Facebook post, which caused the outrage that resulted in the
tragedy.
In a country where sentiments run high, and where people with vested interests do not
hesitate to stoke hatred, social media becomes a dangerous tool in the hands of idiots who
unwittingly use it to further these motives.
With social media gaining popularity amongst several sections of Indian society, including
ones in which the general levels of education and awareness are low, many users of Facebook
and Whatsapp are unable to discern fact from myth. As a result of this, they are swayed by
half-truths and lies, which they spread to their network. These untruths eventually spill over
into the real world, where they are further exaggerated and often employed to fuel
widespread discontent, as was witnessed by the citizens of Muzaffarnagar.
The ruling partys electoral victory is often attributed to its effective use of social media to
reach out to the youth, but those who say so usually overlook the slanderous remarks that the
party made about the Prime Ministerial candidate of the opposition, his family and the party
to which he belongs. These lies were passed on from person to person through social media
networks, and few, if any, stopped to ascertain the veracity of these facts. Had they done
so, the outcome of the elections might have been different.
If everybody were allowed to air their opinions without restraint, almost everybody would
take offense to one opinion or another. Therefore, in a country like ours, which has a history
of communal tensions, riots and disharmony, it is necessary that social media be monitored
by law enforcement authorities and miscreants be brought to book before they influence too
many gullible netizens.
One might argue that social media allows for civil activism, which keeps the government
mindful of public sentiment, thereby ensuring that despotism doesnt come into the picture.
The anti-corruption movement of 2011 and the Justice for Nirbhaya crusade were largely
driven by users of social media, who were successful in bringing the Lokpal Bill to public
attention and ensuring that the rapists were punished. However, the success of such
campaigns also results in a lot of misplaced activism by the gullible, who promote intolerance
on social media under the influence of their leaders. A case in point is the Facebook page of a
right-wing political leader who regularly promotes religious intolerance and pseudoscience.
His views are regularly picked up and shared by many of his followers, who blindly believe
everything he says. Its only a matter of time before one such post causes communal
violence.
Is social media a megaphone for idiots? It certainly is. For every intelligent, discerning user
of Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, there are many who use these channels to promote half-
baked conspiracy theories, outright lies and hatred to their network. As more idiots come into
contact with an idea created or distorted by a fellow idiot, one of them might take it a little
too seriously and do lasting damage to the world we share with them.
REFERENCES
"Tension between two communities in Muzaffarnagar over Facebook post" , Niti Central, 24
August 2013