Dissent and Assault on dissenters through social media.
In a democracy, dissent is known to be an act of faith, the highest form of patriotism. But it has become anti-national in contemporary India. Where did we go wrong?
It was on a chilly night of October 2016 when Gauri Lankesh, former journalist and activist, was shot right outside her house, putting the pillars of democracy in peril. That year, within October itself, 3 journalists, devoid of a blanket of security, took a bullet for doing their job. India saw a rise in a movement of what came to be shortly known as ‘Pseudo Nationalism’ where questioning the State would mean jeopardizing one’s life, let alone dissenting it.
Assault on dissent in India today does not necessarily wait for you at your doorstep with a gun ready to be pointed at your head. It finds a way to creep you out on the very platforms where you voice your opinions. Conventionally, dissenters seemed to either be killed or be subjected to an unfair judicial process. The worst of all, however, is with the rise in social media activism. Social media in 2020 plays a considerably major role in our dynamic lives. The authority it gives people who are made overnight stars and inspirational public figures over one viral post is overwhelmingly concerning. This, in turn, gives rise to an uncontrollable power to some in forming an active spiral, of purposefully shaming intellectual thought process of people, using selective troll & memes on these platforms.
Trolls on social media might seem physically distant but their constant bullying and worse, threats cannot be shrugged off easily. Any voice of dissent or doubt that tries to come out and be heard is suppressed and sometimes even strangled to death. The same voice then is subjected to propagandist humor which is used as a tool to manipulate the ignorant minds of the mass. Dissenters keep getting personally targeted and receive immense hate, threat and backlash online. The targeted harassment of individuals who express dissent demonstrates that social media can not only provide a platform for the marginalized but also facilitate their victimization.
The other side of the coin is media houses, which despite being private entities are prone to state interventions and pressures. Recently, a controversy arose over Facebook India supporting hate speech by a notable public figure of the presiding government, despite receiving several red flags. Another such initiative has been the ‘Swarajyamag’ which keeps denouncing logical criticisms by dissenters that come in the way of the State. The passing of the oppressive UAPA bill has seemed to give a further higher pedestal to such suppression of dissent that is expressed through social media.
Suppressing dissent has gone global in recent years. According to a study by Freedom House, the practice of paid, government trolls have become widespread and have spread from around 30–65 countries. “In these countries, there are credible reports that the government employs staff or pays contractors to manipulate online discussions without making the sponsored nature of the content explicit,” the report said. Consequently, it becomes hard to distinguish propaganda from actual grassroots of nationalism, even for reasoned observers.
India in 2020 is revolutionary. It has to rise above its narrow, conventional walls of patronage and stand up to the silencing of critiques, sponsored by the State while its supporters keep unleashing terror on anyone who tries to question it. The representatives of the people need to move away from their comfortable cave of favouritism and acknowledge the crucial role of dissent in the functioning of a healthy democracy.
