The good, the bad, and the ugly of sexual assault and social media
News of sexual violence is not only consumed but also made on online platforms such as Twitter and Facebook
Social media is the main source of news for young Indians, according to the Reuters Institute India Digital News Report, released in March 2019. The appeal is clear to see: easy access, real-time updates, a wide variety of news sources, opportunities to engage with others and express opinions, and even the potential to create or add to the news with ‘insider information’. The question now is, what are the implications of sharing and consuming sexual assault news on social media? I conducted a short survey to find out more about how people perceive the news on social media, but before that a short summary on different aspects of forms taken by news of sexual violence on social media.
The nature of ‘news’ on social media
Platforms such as Twitter and Facebook provide access to a wide range of formal and informal news sources. In addition, the traction of stories on social media inform the news coverage as well, creating a sort of feedback loop — if many people are engaging with and sharing certain reports on sexual assault, it creates an impetus to produce more such stories.
Furthermore, social media has the potential to make information that is shared in an individual capacity go ‘viral’. In several cases, such personal accounts get picked up by the mainstream media as well. Thus, news is not only consumed but also made on social media.
SOCIAL MEDIA HAS BEEN USED BY SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AS A TOOL TO BE HEARD, QUICKLY BUILD PUBLIC SUPPORT/PRESSURE, AND TO GET ATTENTION FROM THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA.
In the context of sexual violence, social media has empowered people, in particular women, especially those who feel unable to approach the police or courts, either out of a lack of trust or a lack of access.
A prime example of this is the #MeToo movement in India, where social media became the ground on which women shared and discussed their stories of sexual harassment, sparking nation-wide attention and dialogue. Indeed, social media became the epicentre of news rather than mainstream media. In this case, social media gave women a voice and resulted in a real-world movement that has built awareness and given women a new vocabulary for their experiences.
Also, social media has been used by survivors of sexual assault as a tool to be heard, quickly build public support/pressure, and to get attention from the mainstream media. For example, the highly publicised case of sexual assault against former Union minister Swami Chinmayanand came to public attention after the complainant shared a video online where she said she feared for her safety.
Unfortunately, however, there is a dark side to the news of sexual assault on social media as well.
The #MeToo movement has been criticised for requiring little more than “access to Twitter” to level allegations that are widely accepted without “evidence” or “inquiry”. Legal troubles have arisen too. Several defamation cases have been launched against women who have said they were sexually harassed, including famously by former Union minister MJ Akbar against journalist Priya Ramani. The internet’s shield of anonymity is also showing cracks. In November 2019, the Delhi High Court said of an Instagram account that shares #MeToo stories from the art world that “the accuser cannot be permitted to engage in guerrilla warfare against the accused”.
And while the complainant in the Chinmayanand case garnered support through her social media plea, it is also on social media that a video went ‘viral’ of the BJP leader purportedly receiving a “naked massage” from her.
Indeed, social media can also become a site of harassment and revictimisation for those who have been sexually assaulted — there have been multiple instances of victims’ identities being revealed (which is against the law) and videos of rape being shared on social media platforms. In some cases, this phenomenon has spurred victims to complain or pushed police into action — such as in the case of a 12-year-old girl in Bhojpur, whose rapist shared a video of the assault online. This led her family to file a police complaint, which, in turn, resulted in an arrest. Similarly, in the Puttur gang-rape, the victim was videotaped and told that the footage would be made public if she complained; the victim did not complain but the rapists shared the video anyway. The video went ‘viral’, the police were alerted and the offenders were arrested.
However, despite the opportunities to galvanise activism it presents, social media continues to be rife with “fake” or “manipulated” news. There have been well-documented attempts to communalise sexual crimes or promote false statistics, which has several dangerous implications.
What people think
I conducted a short survey on people’s perceptions of social media as a source of news on sexual violence. The 53 individuals who responded to the survey were between the ages of 18–28 years, and were from various regions across India, including Bangalore, Manipal, Chennai, Delhi and Mysore.
Out of these respondents, 47.2 per cent said they were very active on social media while 49.1 per cent said that they were active; only 3.8 per cent said they were inactive on social media. In terms of news consumption, 75.5 of the respondents said they relied on social media for news; 26.4 per cent said they believed the news on social media was completely trustworthy and 69.8 per cent said it is trustworthy “some of the time”. A majority (56.6%) of the respondents said that they were “influenced” by how news on sexual assault was disseminated and discussed on social media.
SOCIAL MEDIA CAN ALSO BECOME A SITE OF HARASSMENT AND REVICTIMISATION FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED.
I also asked people whether social media plays a negative or positive role in the way it disseminates information on sexual violence. Here, 64.2 per cent felt that it played a positive role, saying it helps build awareness about issues and acts as a platform to unite the masses, while giving every individual the chance to talk about their experiences, like in the case of the #MeToo movement. However, 35.8 per cent of the respondents said they felt social media plays a negative role: among the reasons given were “lack of censorship”, victims being affected because of news going viral or their identities revealed, and doubts about the credibility of information.
On whether they think social media has a desensitising effect, 71.7 per cent of respondents said that social media builds awareness and sensitises people. The other 28.3 per cent think otherwise, saying that social media gives any individual the right to comment on any post, including with victim-blaming remarks that promote rape culture.
Social media, thus, is beneficial in many ways. But such platforms have a negative side as well and must be used with caution, particularly when it comes to sensitive news such as sexual violence.
