Social media menace

The country as a whole has witnessed the emergence of social media as a menace. A sizable section of people have taken to social media, including Facebook, Twitter, etc., to air their views on various issues and happenings they happen to see around them. But what has happened in the process is that a large majority of this section of people have only displayed irresponsible behaviour by way of making such remarks and posts, which are often derogatory, defamatory, unfounded, unsubstantiated, untrue, and at times obscene too. Many people pass comments on social media about other individuals just on the basis of hearsay, rumours, and fake news. Thus, people have been compelled to state that social media is awash with fake, flawed, and skewed comments, ‘information, and ‘news’. There is a section of people who try to compare social media with the news media. Another section even claims that social media is an alternative to the news media. In reality, there is a huge difference between news media, traditional media, and social media. While news media, like newspapers, TV news channels, traditional and entertainment media (like cinema), and other print media (like books, magazines, and journals) are all registered under specific provisions of the laws, the contents therein are also regulated by different laws. In sharp contrast, the contents of social media posts are not regulated, thus leaving scope for individuals to defame others by posting derogatory, defamatory, unfounded, unsubstantiated, and untrue contents and comments. The outcome is that many people on social media browse superfluous content, get accurate knowledge about nothing, and only fall prey to those who propagate half-truths through social media. Often, social media is not only flooded with fake news and skewed views but also with outright lies. Mark Zuckerberg wrote in 2018 in a Facebook post that social media enables people to spread information faster than ever before. But what he probably failed to forecast is that the speedy dissemination of information would also open floodgates for spreading unreliable and false information. Moreover, many times, false information, intentionally or unintentionally, gets transferred through social media, which in turn manipulates the beliefs of the people towards a particular community, the government, or some ongoing issue. Some people with vested interests are always up for the opportunity to generate public opinion on certain issues that suit them. But it must be kept in mind that public opinion is the currency of democracy, and, therefore, vested interests cannot be allowed to hijack public opinion through the organised dissemination of misinformation by misusing social media.