JOIN USSocial media sites like Facebook which were seen as alternative spaces for unbridled free expression are under the scanner of governments the world over. The Indian government made 5,832 requests for blocking material on Facebook during the second half of 2014.
The specific nature of content asked to be blocked has not been revealed but they were reportedly linked to views on religion and hate-mongering. Since the public is not privy to what exactly was blocked and why some pieces were targeted, one cannot comment on the validity of the posts. But the very move to get Facebook to block the specific pieces of content is alarming because it reveals the state’s straitjacketed view of free speech and expression. The heavy-handed approach also shows that the government has appointed itself the arbiter of what is Facebook-worthy and what is not.
The danger lies in the fact that increasingly, democracy and the right to free expression are being looked at with disdain. The blocking of Facebook content comes in the context of the punitive measures that the law-enforcing agencies are resorting to against posts, critical of the government or of specific politicians, that appear on social media. Worse, there is hardly any protest and questioning of the government’s actions.
A democracy with the right to free speech and expression can only survive if people are sensitive to any encroachment by the state into their rights in whichever form and under whatever excuse. Other democracies like the United States, Turkey and Germany too have resorted to similar action. India has fared worse than even Pakistan. But these facts are no consolation. For, it does not take long for restrictions to insidiously spread to other areas of media and free expression.
Most of those who access social media and familiar with the Internet are aware of the nature of the medium and the quality of postings. Rants, abuses, prejudices and unprocessed thoughts abound on cyberspace, particularly in social media. Facebook is a favourite haunt of those wanting to spew venom, spread judgemental and unverifiable information masquerading as facts. Such posts are usually neutralised by other Net users. This way, a process of self-correction occurs and, more often than not, toxic posts and comments are given a short-shrift. Rarely, if at all, has there been a riot or cultural conflict because of a damaging post on Facebook.
This being the case, there is little need for the government to veto these largely superfluous exchanges on Facebook. They are the Net version of a paper tiger and, barring rare exceptions, act more as a pressure-release forum rather than any real call to action.