Why Trial by Social Media Is Toxic and Unjust
Irresponsible behavior and the irreversible consequences
We live in a world where social media has given a new meaning to most traditional ways of doing things. You don’t need to land a movie or a T.V. show to be a celebrity. You don’t need to struggle to find a platform to be an influencer. There is no dearth of ways to express your view to the whole world.
Everything is a click away, as long as you have access to the world wide web.
A flip side to this is the misuse of that power and privilege in matters of extreme sensitivity such as the judicial system. Social media and the new breed of “armchair critics” who have an opinion on everything under the sun have taken it upon them to introduce a new system of justice — trial by social media.
We have seemed to come full circle in moving from the barbaric ways of “trial by combat” to a more systematic judicial system across societies as humanity evolved, to the latest form of “trial by social media” which has more in common with the barbaric ways than it does with what you would expect of a refined and modern society.
Most of the fundamentals of a social media trial are in direct conflict with some of the core fundamentals of a fair judicial process. Let me elaborate on some.
