The age of internet and social media
The Internet and social media have brought about far-reaching changes in the world. With its use, while there have been major changes in the way of doing business and business, there has also been a surprising increase in the expression of ideas. According to many experts in this field, Internet and social media have brought democracy in the field of expression of ideas due to which every person has got the freedom to express his ideas. According to some other experts in the field of expression of ideas there has been an increase in anarchy, not democracy. There are millions of users of social media platforms in India. WhatsApp is the most used and is used by around 54 crore Indians. Instagram is used by about 50 crores and Facebook by 49 crores.
Similarly, Facebook Messenger is also used on a large scale by around 32 crore people. About 600 million people use mobile phones to access the Internet and social media. Users of these platforms spend more than two hours on social media and internet every day live in While the sources of knowledge and information have increased through the Internet and social media, various platforms are being used to spread hatred and increase intolerance. Fake news is also found on social media. Extremists belonging to different religions use social media platforms to spread news that increases religious bitterness. Such actions also lead to violence. Usually knowledge and insightful information gets buried under emotional content. In the past, Nupur Sharma and in cases involving Mohammad Zubair, the “army” of social media has been targeting secular and social activists fighting for the rights of the people.
Although social media platforms have developed a variety of software to block hate news and comments and many posts have been removed from the platforms, the world of language is so vast that it is not possible to detect all hate speech. One of the aspects of social media is that the information it contains breaks down the prejudices in the minds of many people and the prejudices in the minds of E people are strong. It is also clear from the research conducted in America that while the Internet gives free expression to civil society, women, immigrants, etc., white bigots who preach hate and oppose women’s freedom are also on the Internet. They succeed in forming their own large groups. Such trends give rise to racist, sectarian and anti-feminist sentiments. People from minority communities are mostly targeted.
Actually we have entered an age where sanctions are not possible. Sanctions are also anti-democratic. That is why racists, communalists and haters can only be confronted with the use of the Internet. The world of internet is sometimes called ‘virtual world’ but now it has become a real world. It is involved in every aspect of life today; it seems impossible to escape.
Virtual World
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