Is Facebook a bane or a boon?

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People chant slogans against Facebook - AP

In the wake of the recent exodus of the people of the Northeast, the social media is the latest target. The platform is being blamed for spreading communal hatred, hate speak and incitement to violence so much so that Facebook had to remove content, block pages or even disable accounts of those users who upload content that incites violence or perpetuates hate speech.

“We have received requests from the Indian authorities and agencies and are working through those requests and responding to the agencies. We encourage people to continue to use our tools to report content they are concerned about so that we can investigate and take action fast,” the Facebook spokesperson was quoted as saying.

An SMS and social media rumour mongering campaign led to the exodus of almost 50,000 people of the Northeast from their work places to their hometowns. Are social media websites like Twitter and Facebook being used to spread communal hatred, hate speak and incitement to violence or is the social media being unfairly blamed?

“Why always blame the social media? Is the government fearful of the social media?” asks Abhinav Patwa, a marketing executive. “As the government has failed to check the exodus of people from the Northeast, it has now started blaming the social media. Instead of blocking Facebook, the government should have arrested the people who have allegedly posted speech and pictures that incite violence,” says Tandra, a housewife in Noida.

However, many in the Delhi region say that the government is doing the right thing. “When a house is on fire you don’t debate how to douse the fire, you first take all possible steps to extinguish it and then debate and try to find reasons for the fire. The government has taken the right step forward to further escalate the violence,” says A. Hazarika, an executive with a corporate in Delhi.

Various governments all over the world have time and again targeted the social media. In 2011, the Indian government tried to block or monitor contents on Facebook and Twitter.

In May 2010, Pakistan blocked Facebook because it called on people to draw depictions of Prophet Mohammed. Again in May 2012, Twitter was temporarily banned there because of a “competition” of Prophet Mohammed’s caricatures.

Even British Prime Minister David Cameron said in 2011 that he was considering a limit on social media use.

However, not everyone agrees with the British PM or the Indian government. “The social media is a new beast that various governments want to tame. However, each of them is failing to understand that it is one place where people are free to express themselves. Governments all over the world can use this field to give a broader look at the problems people are facing. It’s a boon not a bane,” says Rekha Shukla, an executive working with a corporate in Gurgaon.