*by Malladi Rama Rao
Misuse of social media is an accepted reality. So is the presence of trolls with their hate garbage.
Long before, Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri was forced to block his FB account for his unwelcome guests, the likes of Amitab Bachchan faced music literally. His fault was that he did not offer a comment, well patriotic outburst, and when he did the ceasefire was in place.
Many other filmi personalities like Sai Pallavi, who is presently essaying the role of Sita in a Bollywood production, faced ridicule and humiliation in the eco-system that has over taken the Instagrams, Messenger, TikTok, WhatsApp, and Telegram.
These trolls are literally swarming the FB and Twitter which has since become X.
Bewildering is the phenomenon of targeting newsworthy personalities not merely for their posts/ comments but also for their silence on burning issues.
These cyber miscreants appear to have written the rules of the social media and anyone who does not fit into their scheme, are viciously targeted.
If anyone thinks that these trolls are Ram Bhakts are mistaken.
They belong to all schools of thought.
And have enough spare time on their hands to display their jingoism on the key board.
Result is that the surge is not only in volume but in victim diversity.
Photo mutilation, revenge porn, ransomware attacks, and impersonation have multiplied manifold not only in India but elsewhere in the world as well.
NEPAL SCENE
In neighbouring Nepal, the social media bullies have taken to cybercrimes, which are just evolving in India. The Kathmandu Post says cybercrime has exploded in the Himalayan Republic over the past five years. From just over 2300 complaints in 2019-20, the number soared to 19,730 in 2024.
The spike is as much a reflection of growing digital footprint as the expanding tactics of online criminals.
Facebook and Messenger are the hot spots preferred by the new age criminals for harassment, defamation, sextortion, and cyber bullying.
There are also reports of cyber stalking, child exploitation, website defacement, and banking and financial crimes. From all accounts, Facebook is the central hub of cybercrime in Nepal.
During the past four months, the Police complaints crossed 7000 mark. China centric Tik Tok is not far behind; it is the second- most used platform for cybercrimes in Nepal, official reports say.
Others like Instagram and WhatsApp are catching up.
Like in India, in Nepal too, online investment, lottery scams, romance, fake flat or property deals, employment scams, and shopping frauds, are on the rise.
A reality in India and rest of the developing world, where English is still in demand is that the Police are ill-equipped to keep pace with the spreading cyber nuisance.
Their biggest challenge is their SOPs that date back to the colonial era; police also lack advanced tracking software; there is also shortage of skilled IT personnel, which is primarily due to low, unattractive pay packets.
RELOOK AT SOCIAL MEDIA
In the modern age, cyber policing cannot be left neglected lest it becomes a self-inflicted wound for the society at large.
The emerging social media landscape dominated by abusers demands firstly a relook at the very orientation of the social media and secondly at the regulations to make them responsive to local concerns, and local laws.
Registration with local authorities and opening of local offices is welcome and so is the new practice of setting up servers outside the parent countries.
These are not enough. These platforms must become amenable to the laws of the country concerned.
Sadly, the tendency on the part of worthies at the helm of social media platforms, which are new age MNCs, is to delete the abuse posts in the country where they receive a complaint. It means that these objectionable posts are there to see elsewhere in the world. If one has a VPN, one can see it even in the country where the objectionable posts are blocked.
Public lament over falling public standards is not the answer.
Nor rallying in support of the victim of cyber bullies, like it happened in the case of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
What good these support posts are when Misri publicly suffered indignities for doing a job entrusted to him.
Also, when his daughter was targeted for the simple reason, she is the daughter of a person the trolls do not like.
It is time for the law to catch up with these hate brigade. The nation wants to know why these nuisance-walas are not hauled up within minutes, since they can be tracked easily.
The earlier the government wakes up the better for the society – Sanatan and Modern alike.
(*Malladi Rama Rao is Delhi-based senior journalist n avowed watcher of subcontinental politics. He is now senior analyst at Deccan Council)
