Social Unrest: The Effect Of Social Media

Finding internet connection is not a big task today and this common and easy to access tool is key to social media, one of the biggest and most important communication channels and a source of getting updates from around the world. But the authenticity of the content received online is questionable.

Social media, essential to everyone's daily life today, when it is manipulated, the thought of the consequence is alarming.

Be it the developed countries like the US or developing countries like India, it is easy to observe people being quite transparent about their political beliefs and interests on social media.

While these platforms are synonymous of everyone having a voice and sharing their views, it also holds the potential of turning a peaceful space into a place of chaos and fear.

Many terror groups have been active on social media and are increasing their network to create social unrest and create fear in the minds of the population of any nation around the world they target.

And why not? It is the easiest medium to communicate and has an audience especially, the young minds that can get influenced that will see and share the content posted.

Well, there are a lot of aspects to abuse of social media, it's dangerous effects on the society, and the aftermath of the social unrest caused by the social media discussed below in detail:

Abuse of the Social Media Platforms

Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media platforms have been a very high percentage of youngsters' as an audience. The young audience who can get instigated on issues and then spread the negative and hatred filled messages across different groups.

Today, a common trend is to use the social media pages posting trending memes at first to gain followers but suddenly use these pages to mobilizing youngsters for revolutions and riots by changing the name of the page and post the things that cause disturbances.

Another easy way social media causes the discomfort is by being a platform that can spread rumours, misinformation and creating panic and chaos amongst common people.

In the face of potential social unrest fuelled by social media, many organisations are placed by the government to make sure the tracking of the patterns of information flow on social media and the impact of social media messages that are causing the ethnic conflicts to rise.

In the modern dwelling, when it comes to the inter-communal riots, the social media platforms are dangerous as they cause a threat to national protection with two parties continuously post against each other.

Filled with hatred, these posts are by communities who are divided on the very basis of religion, caste and tradition. This communal rebellion leads to violence especially when these posts tend to reach the Indian media and spread across the country.

News media's role in today's era is also getting impacted by technology and innovations. From spy cameras to voice recorders, news writers today have a ton of options to accumulate data and get it out as soon as possible with the fast compression services available.

The images flashing at the news channels in the drawing rooms are not only reporting the situation to the world but also instigating the violence further.

Should Internet Services Be Shut Down?

In the wake of series of coordinated attacks, communication is the key and at many times, internet services have been blocked by various governments to ensure that the affected area is under control and no one can

While it is also used much time by the government to restrict the protest against their decisions as they are at power to do the same. What happens when internet vanishes?

Well, the preventative approach has two sides; it can be used to avoid disobedience which is used as an excuse by the government while it also creates a sense of chaos in public who are unable people to connect with their family and acquaintances.

Awareness Is The Key

While the government is engaging in the arrangements to curb the misuse of social media by setting up of a cyber-surveillance office and ensure that any malicious goal is identified early and kept in mind to make a suitable move; they are also coordinating with the telecom administrators to anticipate alarm response and square destructive content on the web and social networking along with the lawful power endorsed by the administration to fill the current holes in the Information Technology Act for managing such circumstance, including dissuading pernicious utilization of the web and online networking.

Social media is a medium to communicate and telecast data rapidly, how one reacts is on the person an hence, whether someone takes the content posted and gets instantly or he sits tight for the dependable source and casing his activity which might be agreeable to entire society depends on person himself.