Journalists denounce trolling on social media

New Delhi : Online abuse heaped on a dead Gauri Lankesh lays bare the “hostile atmosphere” people are facing today on social media where an army of trolls is either “intimidating dissenters” or fomenting tension, according to leading journalists. Shocked at the gunning down of the 55-year-old journalist -activist, an outspoken critic of Hindutva politics, many journalists and activists concurred that a “climate of fear” was being built by “paid trolls” on Facebook and Twitter to silence those holding divergent views or to “spread disinformation”.

Senior TV journalist Ravish Kumar said that he felt like he was a “dead man walking” ever since he heard about the chilling murder of Lankesh at the entrance of her home in Bengaluru, an eerie reminder of the killings of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar and former vice-chancellor of Hampi University M M Kalburgi. “Gauri Lankesh’s killing is not a one-off case. She was silenced because she bravely and fearlessly aired her views. People have been killed in the last few years just because they had a divergent opinion or dissented against an idea.

“Even after her (Lankesh’s) death, many on social media are using abusive language to describe her. Look at your timelines (on Facebook and Twitter), there are people watching, what you are writing. She was killed to send out a message to all of us that if you dissent, you will meet this fate,” Kumar said at a gathering yesterday. Senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, who was trolled for an article recently, shared how the world over people were fighting an “organised army of trolls, paid for by those with vested interest, either political or corporate”.

“And, especially the extreme-right-wing people are using the techniques and the tactics in a Goebbels-like manner to spread disinformation, which is a propaganda, for a purpose, which is extremely pernicious. Fake news is being spread through WhatsApp and other media to foment hatred and tension, like in the Muzaffarnagar riot case,” he said. Facebook has more users than the population of China and it’s is only growing. “So, it cannot be ignored or wished away,” Thakurta said.

“It (social media) is like a surgeon’s scalpel. It is sharp and can be used to remove a diseases part of the body and the same tool can be used to injure, maim or even kill somebody. Facebook and Twitter are becoming a difficult terrain, especially for journalists and outspoken people,” he added. Amid an outrage over the cold-blooded murder of Lankesh, scores of fellow journalists from various media houses yesterday gathered at the Press Club of India here, and also expressed concern over tasteless jibes being hurled on social media, for the political views she held.

JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar said, hours after her death, there were people on social media, who described her with demeaning epithets. “It is a tough time for journalists. And, even RTI activists and environmental activists have been killed in the past. Now, social media is being used to intimidate and threaten people. If you have a different opinion or if you dissent and air your view on Facebook or Twitter, you will be trolled and harassed,” he said.

General Secretary of Broadcast Editors Association Ajit Anjum said it was a difficult time for journalists and people expressing divergent views, especially on social media. “People are being killed on social media first,” he said. Noted Supreme Court lawyer Vrinda Grover, who was present at the protest meet, expressed her horror over the killing, and said, “We are living in very dangerous times.”

“This was not a one-off, random case. Lankesh was killed because she stood and fought for ideas of justice and values enshrined in our Constitution — liberty, equality. And, even after her death, people are using abusive language for her on social media. People being abused or intimidated on social media to silence them, is a very dangerous trend,” she added.