It is the strangest of phenomenon if you think about it: the virtual is more impactful than the physical. Even the terminology belies the anomaly. Yet, an anomaly it is. Hate speech and violence online seems to be proving more threatening and ‘real’ than what happens in the real world.
Think about the woman (unnamed and unidentified here) who carried out a campaign in real life spaces like shopping malls and roads. The worst reaction she got was being ignored, the best was amusement. Yet, when news and details of her campaign hit the online world, and particularly social media, the nature of reactions changed completely. So completely different was the response, that she ran for cover, deleting entirely her social media presence, her speech, her expression. This was done in an attempt to quash the horrifying reaction to her speech on social media. She was made the target of extreme sexualized abuse, threatened with rape, and ultimately with blasphemy and murder.
Take the example of a different woman, who, simply for having stated her political views, was threatened with being taken to Waziristan and raped to death. This too, was done on the social media. Not only were her views the same before the advent of social media, but she had aired them freely on platforms available in an earlier time, like non-24/7 television and newsprint. This particular lady was also shot at after a blog called for her killing in response to her speech.
Take the instance of the actress who provided her services to shoot a 10 plus hour video to shoot instances of street harassment of women in New York. She is simply an actress, not an activist. Yet, because the video she acted in attempted to further the discourse on street harassment of women, she has now become a victim of rape threats.
All of these examples need to bear thinking about. Intuitively, I would think the virtual is just that: virtual. But in reality, to the shock dawning on many with an eye on the online world, the virtual is turning out to be more real than the real and more threatening than imagined. Many times, it spills over into the real world with devastating consequences. Yet, there is so little focus on it by society in general, and institutions in particular.
Having studied online harassment and violence in some detail, I am given to thinking about what makes it tick; what powers it; what enables it. In part, it seems hate speech online has a significant potential to lead into physical violence, given its tremendous staying power. Because of its almost eternal nature, speech online becomes an ongoing gathering point for anyone to come and be part of without any geographic or time boundaries. This allows criminal elements or bigoted minds to find online expressions of thought or speech they may not have had opportunity to access otherwise in real space and time. Without the permanence, or longevity offered by the internet, such events would remain transitory in comparison, and difficult for these elements to react to.
The mere fact that speech online can be accessed anywhere, anytime, the fact that speech online does not disappear with the newsprint it was printed on, or with the television program with a life-cycle only as long as its duration, facilitates hate speech targeted at the source. Audiences build, stay and increase after the event, precipitating a phenomenon whereby lynch mobs form on the Internet.
There are nuances to this menace that are common to everyone, to every human being, every majority and every minority. However, it appears that women, among ‘other minorities’ get especially hard treatment. In one case, men and women expressed the same thought. Yet, this society treated its women differently to the way it treated its men. The women were abused sexually, threatened with rape; the men were asked if their sisters and mothers would like to be raped. This makes one wonder what is wrong with our society. Makes one wonder why every question of morality, philosophy or politics in this society must be settled around a woman. Is it because the woman is still perceived as weak? And men will not dare challenge each other directly? Will our men only ever play an unfair game, targeting each others’ perceived Achilles heels?
This is a matter of serious proportions that most in our society have not woken up to yet. But wake up we must; understand its nature and its devastating repercussions. And it is more complicated than most other types of crimes, for it involves not just ordinary men and women and domestic law enforcement, but international jurisdictions, corporate intermediaries, internet service providers, regulators and law makers. Let us begin to accord it the solemnity it deserves and start a serious dialogue to begin to end this scourge.
The writer is a human rights worker and freelance columnist.
@gulbukhari