While social media started as a way of connecting with people and getting information about them, over the years it has become a tool for knowledge-gathering and sharing.
As Bangladesh entered the digital age, the use of social media increased steadily over the years. With this increase in social media use, more voices are heard, voices of not only the public figures, but also of the otherwise invisible and voiceless common people.
Unlike offline platforms, social media was deemed to be more equal and equitable, partly due to the fact that expressing opinions through it is cheaper, easier, and more convenient than writing a journal, holding an assembly, or talking at a procession.
Interestingly, many people tend to express their idiosyncrasies through online behaviour, which is much similar to their “offline” or real-person behaviour. They exhibit their personal attitudes, beliefs, and values via social media posts.
Social media use has had a positive impact on society by bringing the freedom of expression and access to information to our doorsteps. Many people who otherwise would have remained voiceless now have a digital voice.
However, the darker side cannot be ignored. Once thought to be an equitable platform, today social media is acknowledged to have become the virtual equivalent of real-life platforms of social, political, sexual, and religious abuse.
It is easy and convenient not only to voice one’s opinion about a public or personal issue, but also to bully people over social media. We can notice how people use social media to spread fundamentalist, misogynistic, political propaganda.
One way of attack and manipulation happens through the comments section of social media handles, groups, and pages. Arguably, the social media platform creates a screen between the writer/user and the intended audience, which makes it easier for the user to speak without the possibility of immediate repercussions.
The resulting floodgate of reactions and feedback often result in bullying, attacking, and manipulation. The lack of physical presence means the users resort to discursive strategies for displaying power.
This phenomenon was first recognized in 2011 by social scientists Bennett and Segerberg. Known as the networked individualism theory, this theory maintains that people engage on social media not so much to politically engage and participate, but more to confront.
So we see men cyber-stalking women, cyber-bullying, and Facebook posts that hurt religious sentiments -- all these attacks on social media platforms have created a power structure online where the majoritarian users manipulate and ultimately silence the “minority” users.
Often, these online attacks portray the same power dynamics as those in offline attacks. In the absence of physical power, social media attacks depend on social power, ie the attacker’s asymmetric control over valued resources which are created from, and in turn create, social status.
Thus a person enjoying ethnic, linguistic, religious, and gender majority might use these factors in attacking weaker users through social media posts.
These online attacks, if happened offline, might have attracted redress through the legal system, but the online world is still relatively unregulated. Law enforcement have little understanding of it, and while there are overarching draconian laws like the ICT Act 2006 and the Digital Security Act 2018 of Bangladesh, most people have a tendency to minimize the gravity of such attacks.
All these factors together make it hard to identify online bullies and attacks.
The impact of such incidents on the rights of the people is far-reaching. Fearing criticism, individuals follow the trends and remain silent on controversial issues.
Users holding dominant opinions are motivated to get louder, whereas the minority remain quiet. This is how social media silences the minority. This is known as the spiral of silence.
In a society like ours, where not only religion and ethnicity, but also gender and sexuality impact one’s freedom to exercise basic rights, responsible use of digital media is indispensable for a rights-based society. The state and non-state actors have to join together to ensure that the boons of ICT and digital platforms can also curb the perils of irresponsible internet use.
Arpeeta Shams Mizan is a sociolegal analyst. She is a Global Shaper at the WEF, and teaches at the University of Dhaka.