Online abuse

This refers to the report ‘Man fined Dhs270,000 for insulting a woman’.

Social media has become one of the biggest challenges in modern life.  If it is used wisely, it helps a lot. But due to numerous fake accounts spread across various social media platforms, concerns are voiced and questions raised on the integrity of genuine users who are adhering to set guidelines. The misuse of such public platforms, at times, targeting individuals on a personal level is beyond justification.

It is obvious people are concerned about their freedom on sharing thoughts and when they are interpreted wrongly, certain individuals and groups take it personally.  I believe that it all comes down to trust in the source and how much information one chooses to reveal in public domains. Even though it is more or less subject to the individual and his or her choice to sharing personal information, humiliation on online platforms cannot be justified.

In fact, the opportunity to use social media effectively is massively being misused at different levels of interaction.

There are educated users who keep sharing their thoughts using abusive languages thereby venting their anger on a public platform. However, in reality, they are only demeaning themselves, knowingly or unknowingly by breaking societal ethics. The most challenging would be addressing the concerns of youth, as they tend to spend a good amount of their time on social media, particularly in the present-day situation with so many restrictions on  movement and physical interaction. For every individual, privacy is a matter of concern and it must be safeguarded without any compromise. Fake and ulterior motives must be penalised and amendments need to be made to relevant laws and regulations if required.

Ramachandran Nair
Muscat