Advantage or disadvantage?
Now the battle-fields are the Facebook, Twitter, Search Engines and other internet tools
My five year old son rushed into my room holding his android cell in pistol-like way and shouted at me, ‘Hands up Baba’. I smiled and put my hands up. It was an innocent joke of an innocent child but I feel in real world these android phones, laptops and tabs are more deadly weapons than guns and missiles; and they become more disastrous when they reach the hands of the social media activists. All over the world, there is a very compact and organised system of checks and balances even over the nuclear weapons but as far as the social media is concerned, it enjoys a complete free hand. In other words the world is experiencing the ever worst example of liberty of expression in shape of social media. A few days back someone posted a shamefully disgraceful ‘breaking news’ on social media that a very popular leader of a political party is ready for his third marriage and this time his partner shall be a lady who had been heading the social media cell of a very popular political party in government. That honourable lady is already married and is leading a happy life with her husband, even her daughter is now mother of a baby girl but some morally bankrupt ‘social –media’ activist trampled over all moral and ethical values and simply dishonoured the respected lady. Another problem is that we don’t have any active system of check and balance which could trace and penalise such rogues who are behind such dirty games.
Misuse of anything creates problems. By spreading disinformation, by misguiding the people and by deforming facts and realities, we do nothing but damage the hard-erected building of trust and confidence. Particularly in the third-world countries the situation regarding misuse of social media is really heart-rending. Scarcity of knowledge and lack of education are the factors which add a lot to the misery. Usually people are so innocent that they never try to investigate the actual identity of the person who is posting different pictures and news-details on Facebook and the authenticity of the posted material. A few days back someone posted on Facebook that the law enforcement agencies are humiliating the honour and respect of mosques and imambargahs during the Karachi Operation. The post included a picture in which some members of law-enforcement agencies were standing in a mosque or an imambargah wearing shoes. Certainly this post would have created unrest among the people and generated hatred against the law enforcement agencies. A spokesman of the law-enforcement agencies in Karachi had to issue an official statement to clarify the situation. How is it possible for a Muslim to humiliate the honour of a mosque or any other religious place; it is certainly a very important question.
On the basis of fake and baseless surveys, disinformation is being spread, people are misguided
Most users of social media are not aware of the fact that in this new age, wars are not fought in battle-fields. Now the battle-fields are the Facebook, Twitter, Search Engines and other internet tools. On the basis of fake and baseless surveys, disinformation is being spread, people are misguided. Now propaganda ‘nukes’ are more effective than nuclear bombs and missiles. All over the world almost all countries, all political parties, all militant or non-militant organisations and even different intelligence agencies have their propaganda wings. Five or six years back, I remember, one day I was searching for one of my published articles on the net. During this search I came by an old article of mine but with a lot of changes. The title was the same, my name was there too but the sentences were changed from positive to negative. Originally my first sentence was, ‘Pakistan is doing all its best to curb the menace of terrorism’ but this sentence was changed like this, ‘Pakistan is doing all its best to promote the menace of terrorism.’ Certainly this was not the job of some common man; it was the ‘craftsmanship’ of some ‘brain’ hidden behind. Even today situation is the same. Social media activists of the hostile countries particularly of India are very much vibrant in social media war against Pakistan. From CPEC to Balochistan, each and every issue sensitive to Pakistan is under their target. They are trying to portray Balochistan as a disputed territory, Kashmir as a part of India and Gilgit Biltistan as a state occupied by Pakistan. The fabricated story of humiliation of mosques and imambargahs in Karachi by the law-enforcement agencies is also a part of the same propaganda move. Social media would become a very deadly type of battle-field if not controlled in timely. We as a nation will have to be very alert and vigilant; we have a very passionate and patriotic type of youth blessed with extra-ordinary skill and expertise in the field of internet working. We must take benefit of their talent. We need to educate and guide our youth regarding the proper use of this talent.