Thursday, May 23rd 05:31 PM IST
 

Curbing social media can prevent the spread of panic

Arun George

Unlike regular websites, most people believe what they read on social media networks. They share them, they spread it and if it's shared by someone they follow and trust online, they're more likely to believe malicious information even if it's false. India with its various communal, caste and regional tensions can little afford to have sites that spread panic as quickly as social media sites do. Unfortunately, the sites have a responsibility to moderate such information and if they are unable to do so quickly enough, the government has to arm twist them. Admittedly there are risks to internet freedom with such curbs, but if done in a transparent manner can do more good than harm.read less read more

Ayeshea Perera

Curbing social media is not going to solve anything, because social media is not the root cause of the problem. If one were to take the most recent situation in which many north-eastern people fled Indian cities in other states for instance, the government must first realise that the exodus was more a result of the discrimination and hostility that they face in their day to day lives, rather than as a result of any SMS or social media rumour. Secondly, the government should acknowledge the power of social media and use it as means of countering the rumours and hate mongering rather than trying to merely clamp down on it. And finally, it should also be acknowledged that social media is not the only means by which malicious rumours are spread. As reported by Venky Vembu in Firstpost, a number of regional publications take on a decidedly more hateful tone than most social media networks ever do, and are likely to incite even more people. The government seems to be fighting all the wrong battles here. read less read more