World Of Social Media Politics

Facebook India has been locked in a legal tussle with a Delhi government-led panel that insists that the Delhi Riots were a result of misinformation spread on the platform. The platform denies responsibility. At the same time, legislators in the United States are looking at ways to end ¡°immunity¡± for social media platform heads in cases of social media causing the spread of fake news, leading to social, political impacts that may cause harm to lives.

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Prior to this, leaders of the two leading national parties, Congress and BJP have been drawn in a legal battle over Facebook. A report in the Wall street journal, stating that Facebook may be purposely ignoring policy-violating content from the ruling party members and affiliates, started this furor. Facebook and its founder were also in the eye of the storm regarding influencing the US presidential elections. Most of us have watched social dilemma on Netflix and seen how the political landscape of many other countries, like Myanmar, too was affected by hate speech and propaganda on social media. This caused deaths, destruction and divides in these societies.

Are Facebook or Twitter that important for prominent political leaders to be hotly debating over them?

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For the 2016 US Presidential election, user data was supposedly taken without permission, and harvested to predict and further influence the election result. Christopher Wylie, one of the persons working to obtain the data reportedly was quoted saying: ¡°We exploited Facebook to harvest millions of people¡¯s profiles. And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons. That was the basis the entire company was built on.¡± This is one amongst many other political events linked to being influenced or propagated through Facebook and other social media, including Arab springs and Brexit. Terrorists also use social media platforms to push their agendas, brainwash young minds and recruit them. Numerous cases of teenagers travelling from various countries to Syria after being shown falsely glorious pictures of ISIS captured lands have been seen.

What is worrisome about this?

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Popular social media app Instagram was in the news recently when famous celebrities were named by Mumbai police as having purchased fake followers and fake likes to create an image of heightened popularity. The Delhi government has recently called in Facebook representatives to ascertain the social network¡¯s role in the February 2020 Delhi riots, as posts may have ignited violence, similar to the situation in Bengaluru in August 2020. Manipulated twitter trolling and negative trending is a force to reckon with, as it is synchronized in a manner where various accounts post similar messages with the same hashtag to push a pre-decided topic into collective consciousness. Incorrect information, forwarded many times on whatsapps, has led to deaths of innocent people due to mob lynching. In an ongoing suicide case, various conspiracy theories have floated through whatsapps, causing grief to the families involved, and tarnishing reputations of others who may or may not be involved- as the investigation continues. A famous UK based blogger, Clemmie Hooper admitted to creating a fake Instagram account to troll competitors, and create a better reputation for herself. Some of her comments deeply affected relationships and careers of those whose secrets she was revealing online through her fake account. The anonymity and distance that the internet allows makes it easier for people to hide behind their screens and push agendas for ulterior motives or even money.

India is one of the fastest growing markets for social networks.

How to not spread fake news, and be cautious when faced with it?

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It is very important to identify if the received news is correct, before spreading it further. Most content is pushed to user feeds by AI that is incapable of detecting if it is true or false. In most instances, fake news is packaged in a manner that elicits a strong emotional response from the user, thus triggering action and thus, is more likely to be shared. Apart from causing discord through comments, passing on incorrect information can cause serious harm to public life and security. It is a punishable act by law, and can even attract a jail term.

• It is important to scrutinize messages that come with a ¡°forwarded sign¡±. A forwarded message means that it has probably not been written by the person who sent it. If unsure of who has written it originally, refrain from passing it forward.
• Always check the message for grammar, language and manner of writing. Check photos and videos carefully to see signs of editing or manipulation. Check if a named authority or source has been quoted. Inspect the logos, if any, for authenticity.
• Cross verify the information with a verified source on the internet, or outside. Online fact checking sites work to constantly debunk fake news. Ensure that the story has been covered by more than one source before believing or sharing it.
• Understand that parts of the news item may be true, but all of it may not- read the entire matter of the message carefully and critically before forwarding.

The polity of trolls

Political vehemence is often spread through online trending and trolling. Political parties have dedicated teams who pay young individuals, across remote geographies to promote an ideology, or to pull down an opponent. As most user data is stored and mines, political parties can choose to target individuals who are more likely to believe them, and spread their propaganda.

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Conversely, individuals also choose the safety of hiding behind fake profiles and non-proximity to viciously troll others. These are mostly depraved people, who find sinister pleasure in pulling other people down. They are identified by psychiatrists as those who are unhappy by their lives, and thus lash out in the frustration on those they find better than them. They derive pleasure in this sadism. Some also do it for plane amusement, as they lack a basic moral compass.

Trolling has become so vindictive in recent times that there are strict laws against it. Promptly active and well equipped cyber cells have tracked down even the smartest of trolls and have had them arrested.

Profile of a troll

A troll will repeatedly show up on a profile, often with hurtful or demeaning comments. Trolls make it personal, trying to entice anger, in order to get a reply and carry further a conversation. They may repost, even if their posts are deleted. A reverse search image of a profile photo also helps identify fake profiles and bots on Facebook. Most trolls use fake or unclear profile names. There are also various websites used to identify bots that may be causing trending or trolling.

The growing space of social media has led to many opinions being expressed, and many emotions being displayed. An interesting phenomenon to note is that every newsfeed is distinct, according to the user¡¯s browsing history. Unmanned AI will show items that would interest the user most, whether or not the content of those stories is verified. Therefore, it is important to note that two users in the same geographical location may be exposed to two very different versions of the same story, depending on how AI of the app has profiled them. It is important to ensure the same courtesy in replying online, as would be expected in off line interactions. Social media is a great way to instantly be updated on all that is happening around the world, but it is also a labyrinth to be navigated with caution. It is every internet user¡¯s responsibility to ensure that they avoid propaganda, and do not mistakenly spread fake news.

Views expressed in this article are author's alone