Hocus-Pocus of Social-Media
By – Pamarty Venkataramana
The biggest marvel of the internet-age has been the broadening of societal-reach and a greater narrowing of public-opinion.
Let us focus our attention on the @twitter platform, as a case in point.
Opinionated deliberations when reduced to a 140-characters tweet gain even more traction as sparks fly around to literally light up unsuspecting beards and lamentably not the minds. A wide spectrum of a million handles would be expected to spread more newer vision but is often seen to develop itself into a tug-of-war or a game of Kabbadi.
The ‘low’ being that invectives are liberally mouthed all around shamelessly by largely anonymous handles against self-obsessed blue-tick ones who are no less in the game of provocation.
The ‘pull’ of such a social-media platform has been so magnetic that Heads of States, worldwide have been accused of running their governments via @twitter
Strong criticism that goes to the extent of saying that constitutional organs have become redundant with policy announcements and debates on vital issues taking place by the masses in the open rather than in the haloed Parliaments or Secretariat offices.
However, the ruckus and baboonery only matches the sycophancy of cheerleaders.
One notices that armchair-pundits and often, most inexperienced ones dole out unsolicited advice on intricate matters of governance, be it defence strategies, external affairs policies, legal issues or agrarian and technology matters. Not to speak of education, labour, medicine, space and nuclear reactors.
What does all this reflect?
Frustration?
Wisdom?
Untapped potential?
Idle minds?
Loose canons?
Paid trolls?
Possessed souls?
It is left to your imagination : depending on which side of the fence your senses are tickled to be!
The larger questions which arise out of all this hocus-pocus are –
1- Is dementia more widespread in this tech-driven world than revealed by medical statistical data?
2 – Has Mankind become more unkind towards other humans than ever before?
3 – Has forward-thinking become a forgotten art and are communities stuck to old-fangled ideas which mangle systems while strangling growth?
4 – Have social-media platforms become extra-constitutional monsters which have gobbled freedom of elected Parliamentarians? Are they akin to cross-border terrorist outfits?
5 – Are not such social-media platforms weaning away young generation from growing up to become independent-minded folks with individualism and a free-identity?
Unless both the Parliament and Executive wake up to address these important questions, even the Judiciary would become impotent in redressal of a host of problems plaguing the society which has apparently afflicted modern-society, as ‘hysterical derangement’.
Tech-companies are outfits registered by a Government under prevailing law of the land and as such it is unconstitutional for such artificial (if legal creations), of law to assume powers larger than the Government itself.
Dark web and cyber-crime shadow-sites are not the mother-ships of criminal-activity but it is the unbridled,venemous attacks by few vicious and cantekerous evil cartels that fan the flames of both treason and hatred.
This must be halted. By Parliamentarians showing spine and bringing in laws to check irresponsible interactions that are taking place ‘out in the open’ in guise of ‘freedom of expression’.
Rumour-mongering, incitement and slanderous, defamatory public-engagements ought to be pre-empted not only by a personal- appeal in public-broadcast by the tallest leader of the day but also by amending the Law to help inculcate good practices in media-reporting as well.
A major measure would definitely be to covenant that every story of a news-break, be filed with an accompanying Affidavit executed by Reporter, Editor, Publisher attesting to veracity of the contents of ‘story’.
Falsehood, when, establushed would make them automatically liable for perjury and criminal intimidation besides attempt to foment public unrest, etc.
The ‘ayes’ may have the ‘Badge of Honour’ in an unequal society whose Constitution aims to provide Justice – social, economic, political : to every citizen.
Let #GoodGovernance establishments wake up and reveal their stripes before Mankind falls into this deep pit of ‘nothingness’.
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