A Social Media Revolution

A Social Media Revolution

The number of people in India with access to the Internet, particularly with the popularisation of ‘smart’ phones, has been growing exponentially. It will continue doing so, via the millions, high and humble , who are already connected by mobile telephony, even as the cost of smart phones keep coming down. Add in the spread of fibre- optics, broadband, the use of computers, tablets and so forth throughout. The jungle drums will have grown wings, the grapevine new sinews.

 Juxtaposed to the  raging debate about fallen firebrand Tarun Tejpal, tying himself up in more humiliating and hypocritical knots with every passing day; there is a remarkable keeping up with the twists and turns of the story. And also loads of derisory commentary from ordinary people.

 Almost everyone has noticed the pointed silence on l’affaire Tejpal from the Congress Party and  its camp followers. This even as the same people continue to bay for harsh action  in other  such eruptions such as  the Asaram rape case. There is a blind and polarised morality afoot, an ‘us and them’ set of rules, applied without embarrassment. Or perhaps this is what Mr. Arun Jaitley half- jokingly called “secular rape”.

Thankfully, the mainline media has, this time, joined Social Media in its outrage. But the commentary online has fuelled the opinion formation almost on par with the mainline efforts in this salacious case. It shows what it is capable of in the long run.

By way of contrast, and with every intent to smother, the highly articulate, erudite, urbane, otherwise modern and suave Union Law Minister Mr. Kapil Sibal, has been attempting to gag the Social Media for quite some time.

And this, while seeming quite happy to face the storm of protest and criticism for his efforts. But all the angry opposition to his moves has not stopped him from trying time and again to cat’s paw this attempt at blatant censorship. A censoring and taming of civil society opinion that is. And not just the reprehensible child pornography, or offensive/dangerous incitements of hatred, which should certainly be curbed.  

But the attempt to stifle free electronic communication on matters of import, is actually reminiscent of Mrs Indira Gandhi’s ham-fisted Emergency manoeuvres, which were accompanied by the jailing of senior journalists to boot.

And this wanting to regulate and control a reasonably spontaneous medium is allegedly at the behest of the topmost levels of the Congress Party. How the current Government must long for the old days of AIR and Doordarshan, those convenient  newsprint shortages, the very limited numbers of papers and magazines.   

The current Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Mr. Manish Tiwari, another prominent lawyer , also appears uncomfortable with Social Media. This perhaps because it is truly democratic, can be anonymous, and is essentially uncontrollable. The I&B Minister in days of yore pretty much told the media what to do, which photographs and documentaries to show, what to write, and when. But here is the swift to react Social Media, gone all electronic and digital, using mobile telephony, tablets and computers. News or comment spread instantly on self- operated communication devices, almost free, once you’ve paid for and possess a device that can access the Internet, and a ‘plan’ that makes it work.

One part of failing in the attempt to muzzle the Social Media is the technical difficulty of stopping messaging/blogs/ tweets/whatsapp/bbm/text/You Tube/Instagram/MMS etc. via platforms, mobile networks and servers when located abroad. The other part is a desire to use the powerful medium to counter- blast  the Party and Government’s own views. This, particularly since the Opposition BJP, and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra  Modi is so adept at using it. There is also the frustration of trying and failing to suppress such communication. Lastly, it is difficult to bribe or intimidate hundreds and thousands, maybe millions of people, into submission and conformity.

Of course, laws do exist, and others are being framed,  to check abusive, false, inaccurate or intrusive use, to malign, scare- off, slander, incite etc. and this is as it should be.

But while all this portends the brave new world we live in, much of ‘old media’ finds itself compromised. Many journalistic standards have plummeted. Not only has editorial authority been subordinated to the marketing department, but ‘paid news’ has become commonplace.

There  are whisper campaigns about the allegiance of large media houses, including the alleged acceptance of large wads of cash, to highlight, debunk or ‘spike’ features on various issues in a manner that smacks of blackmail and motivated reportage.

Without naming names, most people interested in current affairs know which groups lean towards the  Leftist Congress, and which, much fewer in number, support the Right- of -Centre BJP. There are also hosts of publications and TV channels that cater to regional interests with leanings of their own.

Not only is this positioning reflected as a political preference, in analytical tonality; but the media houses are seen to be willing to run motivated, sometimes untruthful and propagandist campaigns against the opposing political formation.

The scams that matter are evidently only the ones the opponents are involved in! The victories and good news highlighted are those of the home party. The funding of the media houses and their initiatives are also rumoured to be supplemented by those whom it serves.

Some of the money obviously comes in the form of advertisements, from the Government, various State Governments, Political Parties, Government departments, private companies, individuals, educational institutions, and so on. This too is expected to extract favourable news coverage.

The fallen image of much of the mainline media also allegedly involves other clandestine amounts paid to journalists for that variation of paid news. There is also the out- and- out ‘sponsored’ item which is declared as such, but nevertheless occupies much more space or TV time than heretofore.

The only irreverent and unbridled commentary tends to be on Social Media, with wide fluctuations of unsupervised quality, though even here, various Websites, Blogs  and You Tube offerings do have their political leanings and funding from ‘interested’ sources. Others, many fora are free, and host  largely unpaid and voluntary interaction between citizens. It is this chatting, commenting, posting and joking, largely spontaneous, that is difficult to control.

It remains to be seen how the current combination of a largely ‘committed’ old media and freer, possibly less manipulated ‘new media’, add up to votes for one or the other possible formations. Or indeed the third, or multiple contenders in this forthcoming  general election. In the end, given the level of disenchantment with the incumbents, it is likely to throw up a new coalition led by the BJP.

(1,107 words)

November 26^th, 2013

Gautam Mukherjee