Pune: Maharashtra has witnessed several incidents of violence triggered due to improper use of social media and the situation has been no different in some other parts of the country.
Despite several warnings and caution raised by the government, there is no end to the lynchings and mob violence incidents. Mohammad Azam, a techie from Hyderabad, was lynched at Murki village in Bidar on Friday.
The violent mob suspected Azam to be a child lifter and then launched an attack on him and his friends. In year 2014, Maharashtra was fighting with a similar menace when images of iconic figures were morphed and broadcast through social media to create unrest in the State.
The incident had also claimed the life of techie Mohsin Shaikh from Hadapsar. Speaking on the issue, cyber expert Pankajj Ghode, founder of Global Blockchain Foundation, said that there is need for people to question the need for such social media sites.
“We must ask ourselves what is the value addition after use of such media sites and hence government should intervene and think about usage of such sites. Many countries have banned such sites because they are aware of the damages done by them. There is no KYC (Know your customer) rule followed. In the web world, I can call myself Rahul Gandhi, as there is no person to verify the fact, which is risky,” added Ghode.
Speaking about the role of technology in curbing such incidents, Ghode said that such incidents were happening in the past and it will continue to happen unless people take a stand against such sites.
“There can be various safety features embedded in such sites, which can prevent broadcast of such fake messages but it is up to the company running such sites to roll out these features and, similarly, it is the consumers, who should raise a demand for such safety features,” added Ghode.
The cyber expert highlighted that the fake messages are crafted in a manner that it is bound to cause damage and so it is up to the people to raise their voice and prevent further damage.
Another cyber expert, Anil Raj of Cybervault Security Solutions Limited, said that Indian masses are unaware of the damages of technology and they should be made aware of the difference between real world and world of Internet and social media.
“There is need to make people aware about fake messages, fake profiles, and other things, which is there on the Internet. We should also understand that we are at war, which is called cyberwar and damages can be seen in real world. If people are ignorant of these things, it will cause major damage,” added Raj.
Speaking about various safety features, which is expected to be embedded in these social media sites to prevent such incidents, Raj said that people should not shift the onus of safety on third person and should take steps by themselves for being safe from damages of Internet and social media.
“Millions of messages, videos are created on social media on a daily basis and though it is a mammoth task to scrutinise messages hampering society, it is good if people take the lead and use social media and Internet in a proper and responsible way,” Raj further added.
