Internet and Mob justice
Social media has become a minefield and one wrong post can result in a backlash
By : sethuraman
Update: 2015-07-31 23:43 GMT
“Few can be more cruel than a bunch of schoolkids in high spirits,” Ruskin Bond once wrote. People who have been at the wrong end of social media ire will disagree. The harassment and backlash can be so extreme it can drive you to the edge of sanity. Cyberworld is a tough place to survive if you aren’t thick skinned and have strong opinions about anything under the sun. Nothing breeds (trends) faster on social media than a barrage of hate.
Trending world over is Cecil the Lion, a star attraction at the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe that was killed by Walter Palmer, a dentist from the US. Cecil was a collared lion and famous, being a part of a study by the Oxford University for the conservation of lions.
Walter Palmer lured the lion out and, shot it with a bow and arrow and 40 hours later tracked it down and shot it. Palmer also posted a picture with the dead lion. Strapped for cash, hunting is a source of legal income for people and the government in Zimbabwe among other African countries. But killing Cecil, a member of the National Park, was illegal and Walter Palmer defended himself saying he did not know the hunt was illegal or that the lion was famous
Many celebrities including Sharon Osbourne, famed wife of rockstar Ozzy Osbourne, went on a Twitter rampage against Palmer. “Walter Palmer is Satan. I don’t know how anyone could go to this man for dental services after this. He is a killer. Beware! I hope that Walter Palmer loses his home, his practice and his money. He has already lost his soul... I hope someone mounts his ugly ass head to the wall. Walter Palmer is a COWARD,” she tweeted. Actor Mia Farrow went as far as posting his office address.
The online backlash that followed was vicious. People demanded instant justice rather than allowing law to take its own course. While it is okay to voice opinions against the act, the online mob, as it usually does, took it to extreme levels by targeting his family, threatening him with death, physical violence and eventually shutting down his clinic by posting negative reviews online and staging protests outside the clinic.
This sadly isn’t an isolated incident. The online mob targets different topics and people every week. Notorious for vicious attacks online are the self-proclaimed ‘Modi Bhakts’ — ardent followers of Narendra Modi and the Hindutva ideology — who take it upon themselves to abuse and threaten anyone who voices an opinion against their leader or the ideology they support.
Despite being a universally respected figure, even the late A.P.J. Abdul Kalam did not escape criticism online with a few claiming he didn’t voice his opinion enough on various issues. Kalam never voiced strong opinions in social media platforms and even if he had taken any stand, it would have been slaughtered but what speaks louder than any post is his life and work.
Even Salman Khan was at the wrong end of the online hate bandwagon when he tweeted his opinion that Yakub Memon, shouldn’t be hanged for the crimes of his brother Tiger Memon. The negativity that followed made him retract his tweets and offer an apology. Social media gave the voiceless a voice but now no one ever seems to shut up.