Ab u s eo f So c i a l Me di a December 16, 2014 by hariharan kumar Leave a Comment
By Pranav Gupta, Symbiosis Law School, Pune Editor’ Edi r’s s Note: Th This is re rese sear arch ch pa pape perr em emph phas asiz izes es on se seve verral attributes attri butes of violen violence ce that prevails prevails in Indi India a and which provokes the aggression and crime. It also includes numerous issues related to religion and community violence, also the present date rumor tools like social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter Twitter,, SS etc.! which have emerged as one of the sharpest weapons, complimenting politics and media which easily misguides the mob. The paper also e"plains the rel relati ation on bet betwee ween n int interc ercom ommu munit nity y and int interr erreli eligio gious us vio violen lence ce and showcases the impact of such aggression and how di#erent religions and religious te"ts backed their views over crime. It also attempts to take a broad but detailed account of use $ and misuse $ of social media, print and electronic media in during riots .The need forr %r fo %res espo pons nsib ible le& & us use e of so soci cial al ne netw twor orki king ng si site tes s li like ke tw twit itte terr, Facebook and others during a communal riot will be taken up for discussion in the conte"t of hate propaganda, instances of fake and misleading videos or rumors being propagated. It also presents a case study on the rol ole e social media played in the recent uzzafarnagar riots.
SOCI AL MEDI AI NT HE ARENA OF COMMUNALVI OL ENCE India can be marked by the diversity of traditions and practices. Indi In dia a is th the e bi birt rthp hpla lace ce of va vari riou ous s reli eligi gion ons; s; na name mely ly Hi Hind ndui uism sm,, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Cultural diversity tolerance are both bo th br brou ough ghtt ab abou outt in th the e co coun untr try y by la la! ! an and d cu cust stom om,, !h !hic ich h associates them to religious communities. "he amount of diversity in the belief systems of India today has resulted in to certain social struct str uctur ures es !it !ith h relig eligiou ious s ide ideas as and e# e#pr press ession ions s cla claimi iming ng si$ si$abl able e in%uences. Human society is a collection of various groups and individuals !ith distinct identities !hich are divided on the basis of class, religion, and culture. &very society has its uni'ue identity !hich di(ers it from fr om ano anothe therr and the str strugg uggles les for lim limite ited d re resou sourrces put the these se groups or divided societies to a con%icting stage. "hese communal or social con%icts !hether non)violent or violent are someho! a form of human action. Communalism is an e#tensive phenomenon
in the social life of an Indian citi$en and communal riots are the morally reprehensible !ay of e#pressing it. Communal riots have become an undiminished entirety part of communalism. *n event can be classi+ed as a communal riot on t!o grounds' rstly , if there is violence and,secondly , if t!o or more communally identi+ed groups confront each other or the members of the other group, at some point during the violence.i- "here have been several horri+c communal riots have been the /01 Sikhriots and the 2332 4u5arat 64odhra7 riots the recent 8u$a(arnagar riots. Social media had a key role in the *ssam violence, 9isht!ar 6Jammu7 this time in the 8u$a(arnagar riots also, the posts by user over :acebook, "!itter, S8S coverage by the Indian media tend to a(ect the mold the opinions and actions of the other individuals of the society. "he internet has become an integral part of modern living. "he spread of social media and the use of platforms is changing the !ay society operates. Social media has been playing a destructive role in inciting communal violence in India and time has come to check its misuse. Social net!orking sites are a threat to national security as they are used as tools for drug tracking, money laundering and match)+#ing, terrorism, instigating violence and for rumor tools etc. Social media tools like •
Blogs
•
•
=iscussion forums
•
8icro blogs
•
S8S
•
And the most burning issue, i.e. Social networking sites – Facebook, Twitter etc.
Social media can be de+ned, among other things, as tools; ho! they are used, by !hom they are used and for !hat reason can represent either a threat or an opportunity for national security, it is itself shouldn>t be seen as a potential threat to national security but those !ho use these tools may pose a potential risk. ?It is no! a given that social media environments are important sources of data for understanding the dynamics of the di(usion of information and human behavior-@. &vidence suggests that social media had an impact on events such as 8u5a(arnagar riots, 4odhara Aiots, Babri 8as5id riots etc. 4roups representing a
potential threat to national security like International terrorist groups, "ransnational Crime rgs, Cracker groups, Aeligious sects, Hacker groups, 4>s, International organi$ations,*llied foreign states, terrorist groups etc.ii-
SOCI ALMEDI AARUMORT OOL Aumor tools have a lethal role in inciting communal violence in India and time has come to have a check on its harmful misuseiii- so that it does not again cause erosion in inter)community relations. :irst of all it is important for everybody including police other governing sources to understand ho! the ne! media is used by miscreants. *n e(ective mechanism is needed to monitor such misuse of social media. "he sad part is riot control plans that e#ist at present !ere made by 6the colonial7 British rulers. It has not been moderni$ed to suit present timesiv-. *ccording to reports Dttar Eradesh Eolice, a dubious video clip that reportedly sho!ed the e#ecution by mob of t!o Hindu Jat boys that !as circulated fuelled the riots in 8u$a(arnagar. But the footage !as later found to be a video shot in Eakistan and its role in 8u$$a(arnagar riots is still in 'uestion, the video became so popular that its snapshots !ere also published into the pages of some Hindi dailies. Certain political +gures !ere also booked under Sections 123 6forgery7, FG)* 6promoting enmity on religious grounds7 and 23)B 6conspiracy7 of the IEC and Section of the Information "echnology *ct for making this video public and inciting communal violence.vIn July 232, during the violence bet!een indigenous Bodos and 8uslims in *ssam, certain images !ere circulated, fueling panic resulting in the e#odus of thousands of northeastern to their native places from di(erent parts. Similarly, riots that broke in 9isht!ar in Jammu and 9ashmir after &id celebrations !ere also aggravated by certain postings on the social media. "he situation !as checked !ithin the right time and the riots !ere restrained. In 9isht!ar, the material on social media !ere immediately tracked and curbed, other!ise the result riots !ould have been di(erent. Certain ne!spapers !hich are morphed !ith in%ammatory headlines also have a larger role in the curving opinions and actions of the common people !ho do not follo! :acebook or t!itter. )ainik *agran >s 8u$a(arnagar edition on September / readsviusalmaanon dwaaraa +induon kaa katleamaari -uslims continue to slaughter +indus. September 0 !as also morphed !ith a fake headline
"he actual version read %/anchayat se laute do logo kigoli mar kehatya (Two killed on their way back from /anchayat!.& Its morphed version read %uza#arnagarmeinusalmanokaaatank, +induomein0hauf (uza#arnagar terrorized by uslims, +indus in fear.& It has become dicult for government to check the activities on social net!orking sites. In *ugust232, !hen morphed pictures !ere used by mischief makers in the form of 88S to fuel communal tension by targeting people from northeast. "he 4overnment had then braced do!n by banning bulk S8S and 88S for a certain period. "he task !as made more dicult !ith most pictures morphed and uploaded on !ebsites in Eakistan and some other countries !here vie!ing them !as easily possible."he government has to depend on the micro)blogging and social)net!orking sites !hose servers are located in the DS to act against the posts and uploads. *s these companies interpret individual>s privacy, it took days before ob5ectionable content !as blocked.vii- Social net!orking sites are becoming a tool to benign anyone>s image. *nd, it is 'uite dicult for us to take legal action against o!ners of the sites that are situated in the di(erent countries, as they are not bound to obey our la!.viii-
T HECHANGI NG SPHEREOFNEWS MEDI A "he face of media is changing !ith ne! communications technologies such as camera)enabled mobile phones, spy cameras voice recorders are giving 5ournalists an opportunity to gather and disperse information gathered very easily.i#- =igiti$ation of the ne!s media has led to compression of time and distance but various hidden realities and factor still a(ect the reporting of con%icts. "he images broadcast in our living rooms are not only informing the global audience of the horri+c happenings but might also instigate further violence in an e#isting violent situation. "herefore, the media>s report of a clash situation leads to the clarifying of the con%ict itself. "he media kindles the opinion)building and impact the political decisions and audience>s reactions in society. "his eventually shapes crises and con%icts as in carefully selected ne!s tight control over the media. Since independence until the invasion of cable television in India, the electronic media had served as the mouthpiece of the government. In the peration Blue star /01 the local media !ere not supportive of the Sikh causes. 8oreover, since the beginning of the problems in Eun5ab, the
4overnment had strict control on the media and imposed heavy censorship. "here !as a tight control over media so capture the horri+c events !ere not even allo!ed in the local land. But during 2332 4u5arat riots the t!o &nglish)language national ne!spapers in India, "he "imes of India and the Indian &#press !ere critical of the state government. "he result of the multiple and comple# interests of regions, groups !ithin them leads to economic, social and political con%icts. Such con%icts are dicult to handle and re'uires negotiations bet!een the parties involved.
HAT ECRI MES "he concept of hate crimes by analy$ing the various de+nitions stated by di(erent criminologist throughout the !orld, Hate Crime or Hate Violence is said to be, crime or violence committed due to the victim>s real color, race, religion, disability, se#ual orientation or origin#-. It>s an o(ence that sho!s the evidence pre5udice made on religion, race, se#ual orientation or ethnicity. Karious 5urists from DS* and &urope assumed that the distinctiveness is only the e#clusive criteria for studying the concept of hate crimes. Ho!ever, in hate crimes, the state of socio)economic should be e#amined thoroughly. "he social economic factors like social learning of bias, ine'uality, policy of selective handling of groups violence, economic factors etc. have ma5or impact over hate crimes. Here is a case study of such nature !hich recently shook not only the roots of Indian government but also displays the political as !ell as ethical side of India !hich has turned out too abysmal.
CASE
ST UDY : I MP ACT
OF
T HE
MEDI A MUZ AF F ARNAGARRI OT S In the recent decades, !ith a sharp rise in the communal incidents and religion based tensions, the gro!th of communal riots and force has ac'uired a dangerous position in India. Communal violence has been prevailing in India since a long time. :or e#ample, the /01 anti)Sikh riots. 2Lth *ugust 23G, a terrifying yet sad day in India !hich gave birth to a ne! group of communal riots namely 8u$a(arnagar Aiots>.
Severe clashes bet!een the t!o communities, the 8uslims> and Jats> in 8u$a(arnagar and Shamli, India broke out in the parts of rural areas and communally sensitive district of 8u$a(arnagar in Dttar Eradesh !hich claimed more than 1G lives leaving /G plus in5ured. "hese riots in 8u$a(arnagar have not only raised 'uestions about the social stability in India but also about the ability of the civil administration in order to remove disorder and enforce tough rules and la!s against targeted communal violence. :rom inception, the situations and factors !hich led to the emergence of such serious riots and violence !as, on this one day !hen a Hindu girl !as !alking past a 8uslim community on her !ay to school; she !as being harassed by a man !ho passed le!d, insulting comments on her. "he girl then further complained to her brothers about the incident. s stomach, !hich ultimately resulted in his death. "he guy !ho had harassed the girl belonged to the 8uslim community. "he friends, family and neighbors of that 8uslim boy caught hold of the girl>s brothers and lynched them mercilessly in front of many !itnesses. "his !as not the end but a beginning !hich opened doors to the 8u$a(arnagar communal riots. "he girl>s father, !hen tried +ling a :IA against the family of the boy !ho had harassed the girl, the police refused to register the :IA. n the other hand, !hen the 8uslim family !ent to +le a :IA for the murder of their son !ho harassed the girl, the police readily registered the case and arrested the :ather of the girl !ith his other close relatives. Here, the problem actually started, as by thinking that clear discrimination !as done by the administration, the Jat community re'uested the panchayat of their community to force the police in order to drop the charges against girl>s father. onetheless, the *dministration did not take any +nal decision. "he Jat community again approached the Eanchayat under the Bahu Beti Bachao Sammelan> and distributed a fe! in%ammatory videos and pictures via C=M88S.
social media like :acebook, 88S and C=>s as a tool arouse hatred before as !ell as during the riots. 8oreover, the people of 8u$a(arnagar gave a communal color to the violence by e#aggerating the incidents. 8any Hindi ne!s channels and ne!spapers misreported the happenings on daily basis by setting up a picture in the minds of the public that it !as the 8uslims !ho !ere slaughtering the Hindus and initiating distorted violence. *s a result, there !as a severe rise in the rumors and passion to +ght and revolt back in the riots.
PLANSOFGOVERNMENTT O CURB THEMI SUSEOFSOCI ALMEDI A . Setting up of a cyber surveillance agencies !hich can fore!arn about any such malicious intent and timely notifying in order to take suitable action. 2. :rame guidelines for telecom operators to prevent panic reaction and block harmful content on the internet and social media. G. Erepare a legal authority approved by the government to +ll the e#isting gaps in the Information "echnology *ct for dealing !ith such situation, including deterring malicious use of the internet and social media. Social media is 5ust a body to broadcast information 'uickly N !hether the information is good or bad depends ultimately on the individual, ho! he takes it.
ROL ET HAT MEDI A SHOUL D PL AY DURI NG COMMUNALRI OT S =espite the increased level of communication methods, very fe! governments say about successful communication to the mass during con%icts because they fail to understand the perception of the same con%ict in the minds of the common mass.#i- "he role of the social media in covering and resolving con%icts, especially those revolving around the religious di(erences that may lead to fueling communal riots in India is e#tremely critical.#ii- "here are enough challenges faced by a 5ournalist and media personnel regarding the care he should take in such a situation.
"he guidelines for a reporter in covering communal riots should be to look out for detailed background information, not continue !ith the stereotyping of communities, +nd residents !ho deal !ith both the communities, talk to victims from both sides, corroborate the victims> as !ell as the police>s accounts, discover the role of the police, the politicians and the media and highlight stories !here communities have helped each other."he people of society form their opinions based on the immediate coverage of reporters on the ground and ho! television anchors and the media e#pert analyst sitting in the studios analy$e in their frame of mind. Aeporters and 5ournalists are not value)free. * communal riot is a sensitive issue and their personal opinion may get in the !ay of professional reporting. It !ould be e#tremely dicult for a reporter or a 5ournalist to cover and report on a communal riot. Ho!ever, this problem !ould halt if the reporter or the 5ournalist keeps the basic concept of reporting in mind, !here +rst of all he or she needs to understand that con%icts !here heMshe is a social process in !hich he or she is an important social actor, an actor !hose 5ob is to halt the con%ict and not add to it.#iiin the broader aspect, there are many functions of the media in usual and reporters in particular include preventing or calming the con%ict so that a viable solution is reached immediately. =uring a communal riot, the media can even get the international perspective on the events and thereby create an environment !here the !orld starts to discuss the same. Dltimately, it might force the national and the state governments to act accordingly in fovour of the society. "he media should reali$e that they can either alleviate or aggravate the situation. "he media have the capability to provide a great deal of information during an ongoing communal riot. "hey can inform the public or communicate directly !ith the victims and their families ."hus, controlled steps and actions should be taken in order to prevent the situation from further aggravation.#iv-
CONCL USI ON "hrough our research, !e have been to conclude that responsibility of media increase !hile covering the communal riots. 8edia coverage social media helps people to get ne! information and ne! opinion to the same issue, it is necessary to insure the liberty of the opinion giving and vie!s by people in social media helps people to have better and update information regarding a !ith range of social, political, technical issues. But this is important that !e should not reprobates and trouble makers to misuse social media. "here is an urgency in the part of the government to install e(ective mechanism and surveillance system !hich check ob5ectionable content and suspends its transmission through social media. "elecom companies should develop e(ective techni'ues to trace the
location of the uploading content. :e! sections of the media and some users of social net!orking sites bid to hurt the sentiments of the religious groups through their opinion blogs and posts, !hich have tendency to provoke, deprave the peaceful ambience and lead the communal unrest. Social net!orking sites should be boosted to device greater self)check that they contribute lest to large scale la! and order disturbance. "he state should use all measures to punish those guilty for fueling the communal violence. It is also important that media should kno! that they can relive the situations and should react responsibly. Bit alone media can never bring about a racial change overnight, support from the part of readers are also re'uired, and try to maintain the harmony in the society and promote the essence of fraternity.
