THE purpose of community evolution was to foster interaction, harmony, co-existence and growth. By addressing people’s key concerns, communities promote social welfare. These concerns revolve around ensuring community members’ safety, dignity and individual freedom. Community councils address these concerns in such a society by involving members of society. At a community gathering, people are already acquainted which brings forth their real identities. Community gatherings facilitate face-to-face interaction, fostering a better understanding among people.
If there’s a difference of opinion in a community gathering, people rely on dialogue to find common ground and pave the way for a better future. A social contract is what governs these communities, outlining their rules and regulations. The social contract outlines acceptable conduct to prevent harm within a community. This social agreement fosters a sense of tolerance among community members, enabling them to interact more willingly. Modern civilizations are the outcome of communities that are formed through a social contract to coexist harmoniously.
The birth of social media revolutionized community interaction, replacing physical presence with virtual interaction. The emergence of the social media community created the need for a new set of rules and regulations to manage virtual community interaction, ensuring social peace and harmony. Due to the absence of a clearly defined social contract addressing social media community interaction, we are observing misuse of social media platforms. Nowadays, social media platforms witness interactions that thrive on venting anger, spreading negativity and fuelling disharmony.
It has become a common occurrence that people and communities target each other without considering others’ viewpoints. It has become commonplace to see cases of harassment against both men and women on social media. The harassment experienced by both genders from unknown individuals emphasizes the necessity of a legal code to combat this issue on social media. The etiquette for interacting with individuals and communities on social media platforms is seldom taught in educational institutions. Despite concerns about information authenticity, people see social media as a platform for sharing anything lacking authenticity. People engage on social media without ensuring the credibility of the facts they share, jeopardizing the usefulness of these platforms.
Moreover, social media platforms provoke impulsive responses from individuals towards posts and videos, devoid of rationality. Even posts with a mutually beneficial message are typically met with negative reactions from most people. There is no room for such incidents in face-to-face community gatherings, where all members hold a sense of responsibility to act wisely. Social media platforms have become flooded with worthless content that undermines community norms, values and goals. When viewed through our cultural and moral lens, the content on social media often raises eyebrows. The absence of stringent oversight is negatively impacting the future of our generations.
Furthermore, fakeness has become prominent on social media, with people pretending to be successful and happy. It has become common on social media for people to exaggerate their success and flaunt their wealth. In reality, things are completely different. Many innocent souls fall prey to those who manipulate them using fakeness as a weapon. Social media is now the most dangerous weapon for invading personal privacy. It’s common to see people sharing videos and inappropriate content of those they no longer value, to shame them in society every day. The situation worsens when individuals violate the privacy of families by disclosing family conflicts on social media.
Social media is now the most perilous weapon for destabilizing nations in the modern age. The internet has made the world a battleground with states using social media as a weapon. The global community’s failure to establish monitoring rules for social media platforms has resulted in this. Social media has become ingrained in everyone’s life and will continue to be a significant aspect. To prevent communities from descending into chaos and destruction, it is essential to create a set of rules to regulate its usage. People need to be educated about social media first. Social media education teaches people the rules for interacting on social media platforms. Schools, colleges and universities must include this in their curriculum, tackling important issues such as fake news, hatred, anti-state propaganda, privacy and fake identities.
Additionally, it is crucial to establish a clear rulebook for content sharing on social media. The cultural, social and religious values of a society are at risk when substandard or below-par videos or posts are shared. This poses a severe threat to a nation’s survival by causing extensive damage to its foundations. It is of utmost importance to create a global agreement to combat the misuse of social media as a means for state-sponsored chaos and destruction. The negative propaganda launched by rival states undermines the stability and peaceful coexistence of nations. Cultural, religious and ideological clashes between civilizations necessitate a strong response from the international community to address this curse.
To ensure the ethical use of social media, international law needs to be modified by the international community. The companies and corporations that own social media platforms must be involved in regulating these platforms. People in the modern age are primarily drawn to social media platforms in this technological era. Unless there is proper regulation, these platforms will continue to be vulnerable to widespread misuse, causing ongoing damage to states and communities. Hence, it is imperative for states and the international community to promptly address this threat to avoid potential consequences.
—The writer is an educationist and a Commoner from 44th Common, based in Sargodha.
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