Social Media is a flexible power-capital allowed by its unchecked nature and easy access to the various factions of society. Its flexibility is letting a number of mindsets get an easy way to approach the less fortunate intellects and entail them in unlawful and unethical passions. Society has to maintain peace and stability in all spheres of individual and collective social agreements based on the religious, ethically formulated socio-political and Socio-cultural grounds. These agreements are violated and breached at various weak and defective points. Moreover, these weak points are kept troubled by the answerable governmental organizations and social sects. In the contemporary world where anything can be accomplished efficiently, why has the existence of these unacceptable and detrimental factors is still prevailing? The world is in an indispensable need of counter advocacy against the illegitimate use of online social platforms. And it is only achievable when there is enough awareness about the use of social media platforms, their technicality, and adequate and functional regulatory bodies available to keep an eye on the stage. There are, Of course, several motives that are pushing social media to be more susceptible to extremism and radicalization. But let us first have a look at How and Why someone becomes extremist and develops radicalized manners.
Burrhus Frederic Skinner was an American psychologist and a well-known name in the field of behaviorism. His view on Behaviorism suggested that the environmental factors existing in a community, where a person lives, puts a vital effort in shaping his behavior. These factors are, by default, critical to the fundamental insight of an individual’s psychological condition. We are living in a society where beliefs and ideologies are interconnected. A politically motivated person whose beliefs are western will also seek help from religious and native social practices. A religious person will be, on purpose, willing to establish some of his arguments on western philosophy and non-religious thoughts. For example, freedom of speech is viewed as a western idea more and less as a religious facility these days. Living in such a society is affecting the thinking patterns of young folks and easily intermixing the very simple rules thus creating a complex design of beliefs and approaches. The direct consequence of this chaos is a “Directionless path” with no wake of a defined goal and a leader. Eventually, the stage appears to be colonized by the unhealthy elements; they set the goals and act as a leader. They present their views in a pleasant and appealing tone, attracting the previously mentioned “less fortunate intellects” in abundance. Social media platforms, being an easy tool of communication, furnish a thorn-less path for the unhealthy elements to lead and offer a goal. Now, as the communication medium is contaminated excessively, it affects the behavior of society and shapes it according to these elements’ appetites. Further, when the intelligent algorithms and continuous human effort put a violent speech or post in front of the user continually, it makes the scenario worse. In Pakistan, there were 46 million social media users in January 2021, which counts 20.6% of the total population of the country. A major number of these users are children and young people. Now the question appears of how these elements so skillfully pollute the social pond of peace and prosperity? What are the reasons behind such hostility? Lack of Education, Awareness and the proper laws and their enforcement are the primary catalysts for these elements to smoothly function in the community.
Education is the immediate requirement of every human being. It encourages one to brood in a reasonable way and offers direction to strugglers. Education is different from what suggests contemporary beliefs about it. What is being offered in the educational institutions is a minor part of it. A well known American writer, Mark Twain, said that “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education”. From home to school and professional life, we learn at every single stage. Unfortunately, the only purpose of education in our society is earning; it avoids learning the principles needed for the adequate functioning of society. There is a need to know what we learn and what is being offered by society? Early education starts with child abuse and harsh punishments in school and at home. It leads a child to be encircled by bad companies, where a child gets an early education of extremism and violence. A child protection organization, Sahil, collected data on child abuse during January-June 2021 period. 1896 Children were subjected to various kinds of brutality during this brief course of six months. Where would this anger go? It will lead a child to fall prey to the hands of extremists whenever and wherever they encounter. Social media would provide an easy way of communication. Another negative side of improper education, which has to be eradicated, is that it doesn’t teach tolerance and a decent way of argumentation. The only lesson of our socio-political system is the excessive use of improper language and imposing your opinion forcefully on others. Irrespective of the fancy image that has been projected in society, the religious schools are also heading in the same direction. Neither the convict nor the victim has a better source of education, thus, increasing the number of extreme acts of violence and brutality. An indispensable demand of education is that it needs to be peaceful and beneficial, nurturing love and prosperity in the social environs. What Plato says about an entertaining way of education is,
Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.
Among other factors are the lack of awareness and the irresponsive behavior of the officials both in the governmental organizations and social media outlets. A crisis is spreading in the country day by day. The consequences could be witnessed easily on the national and international levels. But the tragedy is that no one knows about it and there is a lack of information on the subject. Folks are living in utter insensibility. Osho believed that “Truth is not something outside to be discovered, it is something inside to be realized”. It is the responsibility of every citizen to acknowledge the disparity between right and wrong. There is no need to go for external sources as every human being has the sanity to discern between good and evil. But no one is as competent to know the nature of good and evil, so, there come governments and other ethical organizations to instruct and push people to avoid evil. These institutions could be designated as academies, religions, ethical and moral movements and campaigns and the teachings of exceptional Brainiac's. These institutions are voluntarily or involuntarily providing their services to society. Governments and social media outlets stood first among those who do not provide services voluntarily but are accountable to conduct the obligatory directives. So, if these institutions do not perform well, either intentionally or unintentionally, the destructive segments of the society appear and contaminate the decorum. At this stage, the environment bears disastrous consequences.
Violence, crime, hatred, disinformation, and cults ushering in terrorist activities are the direct consequences of the lack of knowledge and awareness. People usually create and reinforce social media campaigns of their interest on different platforms. They do flourish their own beliefs and ideologies and target their opponents on social media. It provokes hostility and animosity in the society, leading to well planned and systematized criminalities. There have been instances of the same sort in the recent history of social media. People converge on the same ideology, irrespective of its good or bad nature, on social media platforms and transform abhorrence and animosity into physical crime and violence. The lynching of Mashal khan in 2017, a young student at Abdul Wali khan University, is an example of extremism that is facilitated by social media. On a bigger level, the extremism and radicalization may go up so as to affect an entire country, community, an organization or region. The 6th Jan 2021 Capitol Riot that was provoked by a tweet by ex. President Donald Trump in Washington D.C. is another example of violence where the mob entered the Capitol building. Social media has provided an easy channel for bad communication leading to the destruction of peace and prosperity. If not stopped with proper measures, this could lead to destruction of all social agreements.
Right education and planning will lead society to become aware of the offence. Once the transgression is understood, it will help the authoritative bodies to take the right steps in order to tackle the extremism and radicalization that has been concocted by indecent education. Awareness will let an offender know what he or she has done. It will help parents at home, students and teachers in schools and the authoritative bodies in their own respective domains to competently investigate and diagnose the nature of the offences spreading on social media. It will also add to efforts of making and executing the demanded rules and regulations for social media outlets and their users. Although, the laws are provided by the government; their implementation is merely limited. Any kind of offence that is circulating or spreading on social media, either an act of terrorism or ethnic hatred, come under the umbrella of cybercrime. So, cybercrime must be watched properly by the regulatory bodies and be eradicated to its maximum. At the expense of organizational efforts, the awareness about the use of social media and the concerning regulatory laws would help the social environs to cease the approach of unhealthy elements.
In a nutshell, Social media itself is neither good nor bad for society. Its pleasing or threatening nature relies on how we utilize it. If we use the available platforms for good purposes, it will eventually offer a precious environment. But, if we use it for evil assignments, as the flawed guys are doing, its consequences will be catastrophic. Promoting the righteous use of social media, we can not ignore the importance of proper education, awareness and law enforcement. Otherwise, the crime rate will go up in the blink of an eye. There are countless valuable services of society which could be encouraged and familiarized in the society to exterminate the negativities. For instance, the different platforms of social media are offering a secure and easy way of communication which can be utilized in a reasonable way. It provides opportunities for businesses to grow, and the student community to interconnect globally. It is also equipping cross-cultural means of transmission, educating people about one another. Long story short, Use it properly and you will be benefited, otherwise, the destruction is insufferable.