It is quite surprising how far humans have evolved that access to the Internet is considered somewhat of a fundamental right. It has changed and developed the perspective of the whole world. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have become hubs for information and opinions.
According to the survey done by the Pew Research centre, almost 55% of the Americans get their news from these social media platforms. [Editor’s note – click here for updated stats]. That’s nearly 300 million people only in America, which is an astronomical figure in itself. India also hasn’t been far behind and has now become a global leader in the consumption of the Internet. In India, this boon has been very rapid and has taken the whole country by a storm. But the most fascinating part is that even though it’s the world leader in Internet consumption, almost 67% of the population still do not have access to the Internet.
But ‘with great power comes great responsibility’. The new media have become so powerful that they can bring a change in a matter of seconds. These platforms, which started as a great concept, has become, to some extent, a hub of negativity. Earlier, people used to come to these platforms to get a break from their normal lives, but now they take a break from social media to get normal.
Whenever you log in to Facebook, Twitter or even YouTube, you can see how much negativity is being spread through these platforms.
People are constantly bashed and harassed on these platforms for just expressing their opinion. The platform, to an extent, has created a world of its own. The people on these platforms cannot live with it nor live without it. It, in my opinion, can also be considered an addiction.
New media has also led to reforms and movements which brought in mammoth changes in the society. It has led to a lot of social movements like me too, black lives matter and also played a very significant role in the refugee crises across the globe. But has also been used to spread hatred amongst communities. The communal violence in Delhi just a few months ago is a prime example of that. The new media has also led to the rise of the cancel culture, which is very prominent in society nowadays. Me too, movement can be considered to be at the forefront of this new cancel culture.
“Me too”, in the recent memory, was one of the most influential social media movements. It began with a series of tweets of sexual harassment against Harry Weinstein in 2016. The campaign has got one of its most significant victories with him being sent to prison for 23 years for his conduct. But, the journey for the movement hasn’t been a smooth ride. It has garnered a lot of criticisms due to the misuse of the law by the people. This has been a constant problem with this system as it has created somewhat of a justice system of its own. If a person is once accused, it is very difficult for him to improve his reputation. The problem also lies in the fact that the public on these platforms picks and chooses who they want to punish.
Someone, like Rajkumar Hirani, who has a MeToo case against him, has not faced any backlash from the industry or even the general public. This is due to the ‘good guy’ image he has created in society. But someone like Sajid Khan is entirely ostracised by the industry and continuously bashed by the public. It just showcases how much hypocrisy exists on these platforms and what kind of people are running it. One, more problem with the movement has been that a lot of fake accusations are thrown around. This can have severe consequences in the lives of the accused. It can be stated that instead of empowering those who have suffered misconduct, the system tends to attack the accused personally. Not only has it led to constant public shaming but also led to some of them even losing their jobs.
It can be said that the Me too movement played a big role in the rise of cancel culture. A lot of people are being “cancelled” because of the stuff they have said or done in the past.
A famous case was when the renowned actor Kevin Hart was forced out from hosting the Oscars because of what he had tweeted a few years back. Though his comments can be seen as pretty volatile in nature, the backlash faced by him was extreme and uncalled for.
What the people have now realised is whatever they write or say is not private and open to the public to see and criticise. It, in my opinion, have made people more cautious and scared about what they post on their social media accounts.
One more case, which garnered a lot of attention recently was the boy’s locker room case. A lot of stuff was said about how these teenagers were so out of touch and privileged. These teenagers were bashed throughout the social media, and deservedly so. The problem lies with the fact that people believe whatever said on these platforms are true. They do not wait or even consider to hear the other side of the story. These people go on these platforms and throw out judgments as if they are law and order.
And what happened was that one of the screenshots was fake. But it was too late, cause a negative image of these kids were created in the eyes of the public. Even though the screenshots were bought in light with good intention, but due to the overreaction of these platforms, the main problem was long lost and forgotten.
If something that has been seen from these platforms is that it picks and chooses what it wants to talk about. They only care what will get them clicks and views. It has been certainly used positively in spreading awareness about the evil things going on in our society. The media has been certainly very active in the coverage of the rape cases going on in the country. One of the most prominent Nirbhaya case with its enormous support from the new media made it one of the famous case in recent history. Due to the enormous support and outcry in public, it became one of quickest cases in the Indian judiciary. It can be easily said that the new media played a massive role in the historic judgment. Or internationally, where Twitter played a crucial role in the Egyptian revolution of 2011. The Internet was used as a means to communicate and organise demonstrations and rallies. With the help of Twitter, the people were able to spread the news about the protests. The daily tweets in the country raised from almost 2300 to 230000 tweets per day . It can be considered to be one of the biggest victories of the new media. It leads to the overthrow of the Mubarak government, leading to the rise of democracy in the country. It can be considered to be one of the most historic moments in the country.
But with every positive comes a negative. The new media even though essential, has been a bane for the society. The news published on these platforms has continuously been referred to as fake news. The reason is that new media platforms are used by powerful parties and organisations to spread their propaganda. The people do not get that anyone can get on trending as you have to pay some minimal amount to these platforms just for getting those places.
These organisations have hired large IT firms to handle the news spreading in the domains of the public. If you go to the trending pages on Twitter, you can see that half of these trends are made up by these political parties targeting each other. Trends like the total boycott of Muslims, cancel halal meat are just of the few trends which were trending just last month. But, the most disturbing part is that those accounts which start these trends are followed by very influential people in the Indian parliament. Such hate speeches are used by the government to spread communal hatred amongst the people. When Kapil Mishra, a politician from the BJP tweets something like “India vs Pakistan 8th February Delhi. There will be a contest on Delhi Roads between India and Pakistan on February 8 ” he not only spreads hatred amongst communities but also influences 8.5 lakh followers of his as well. Even though the tweet has been deleted, it just takes a matter of a second to create outrage.
The social media has also been used to identify those people who speak against the government. Many members of the parties start attacking and barraging these people with hateful messages and threats. The phone numbers of these people are leaked online, which just shows how much privacy is valued in the country. Sedition charges are put up against these people to silence their voices. The case is different for different countries, as in China if you post anything against the government or even mention the name of the President, you are straight-up arrested. With the ban of over 18,000 websites in China, it is not only suppressing the voices of the people but is trying to kill it. It is a very notable fact that if there was free media and free speech in China, the world would not be facing the problem of Corona Virus.
One of the most famous cases of the new media being used for political propaganda was that of Cambridge Analytica. The company had come into limelight when it was exposed that it had been stealing personal information from people to use it for their client’s advantage. It had been one of the biggest scandals of 2016 and exposed how companies use personal data for their own benefits. The 2016 Republican campaign in the U.S. and the Brexit campaign had brought in Cambridge Analytica for their operations. Facebook, who has more than 2.1 billion users worldwide, allowed a third company to use people’s data for their own benefit. This was truly a scandal which cannot be put in numbers as it not only harmed the people’s privacy but made them a ploy in a bigger game which is politics.
The new media not only influences the people but also has a greater impact on the judicial system of the country.
Recently, there was a gang rxxe case which occurred in Telangana. The accused were being taken to the crime scene for investigation where they were killed in an “encounter”. This sparked a whole debate on social media, and overwhelmingly people were in support of the actions of the police. This action not only sparks the debate for equal rights of the citizens but also questions the believe people have on the judicial system. The act was compared to movies and was considered to be an act of great bravery. Many politicians also tweeted in support of this action. Those who were not in support of this action were called “anti-nationals” because they seek to speak against the police.
In the other scenario, the lynchings which took place in Dimapur do not get any coverage of any sorts on any of the mainstream platforms. More than 6000 people came into the prison to drag out Syed Khan from the prison and brutally killed him. There was no headline or any type of coverage for him because he was a prisoner. He was not an innocent person which means he does not have a right to live. The majority of the reason this kind of thing is not supported by the public is because no one can feel empathy for such a person. If anyone even talk about it, they all felt that what had happened was right and the guy deserved to die.
2020-5-15-1589501700