Beware, Facebook and WhatsApp are no angels!

WhatsApp has become an integral part of all our lives; many of us cannot live without it. Probably the first thing many of us do as we wake up and the last thing we do before we sleep is to WhatsApp a friend. We are not alone. Statistics reveal that 1.5 billion users in 180 countries makes WhatsApp the most-popular messaging app in the world. This is with an excess of 0.2 billion more than its stablemate: Facebook (FB).

India is FB’s biggest market given its 340 million users. In April 2020 FB announced it was investing $5.7bn (£4.6bn) in cut-price Indian mobile internet company Reliance Jio. This would give FB a major foothold in India, where its WhatsApp chat service has 400m users and is about to launch a payments service.

FB owns all the four most downloaded apps (Facebook, Facebook messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram) of the decade according to app tracker App Annie. Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg oversees all of them. FB and WhatsApp became social drivers of information. They are used by police to track eve teasers etc. Also, a lot of people use it as a business tool.

But, there is another side to this: According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, FB ignored its hate speech policy and allowed anti-Muslim posts on its platform to avoid ruining the social media company’s relationship with India’s ruling party. The opposition parties and Non-Governmental agencies have strongly condemned FB for interfering with electoral democracy in India, favoring the ruling party. Interestingly, Roger McNamee recently said, “Facebook is a threat to whatever remains of democracy in the US”. There it is, your WhatsApp and FB can also be used as a dangerous tools. How you use them is critical to the future of the nation and of course to your future too!

Some suggestions for responsible use

The easy availability and reach of these apps make it practically impossible to avoid them. However, we can be more responsible and creative in using them.

First and foremost, the user should be aware you are using an instrument, which is being used against the minorities of the country/world and is a powerful tool in the majoritarian agenda of the country. Facebook and WhatsApp are all becoming instruments of injustice.  Forwarding whatever is received is no more a wise action.

Second, use this app for spreading the message of love, in a culture where hatred is widely spread and promoted. Some of the recent riots against the minorities were shrewdly supported by these apps. Thus from just passing on any message, let’s move on to passing messages of harmony. Share stories of hope, suffering and resilience. Remaining preoccupied with personal or clannish issues only, in our use of these apps, will be an escapism from our duty of being a responsible citizen. We can and must use these apps as tools of building friendships across religions, castes, class and gender. May be we can build a new humanism using these apps.

Third, use this tool for educating ourselves for critical consciousness. Our country is going through a great churning. Thousands of individuals and Non-Governmental organizations are coming together these days to protect our identity as a sovereign, democratic, secular, socialist and just nation. We have to realize injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere and we cannot be mute about any of them. Remember in critical times, neutrality is not an option. Neutrality is incorrect. For instance, when you know that hundreds of Dalits are attacked every day and there are rapes and molestation of one woman every 45 minutes in this country, shouldn’t we be speaking up?

Bottom Line

COVID times have brought huge suffering to the poor and marginalized. Millions are falling into hunger, have lost their employment and have no medical aid. However, the media is busy talking of suicides of film stars, nationalism and global leadership.  Brilliant ways of distracting gullible minds. The poor are now invisible. Therefore, their needs will become invisible too. The world is forgetting the poor, the migrants, the displaced, the victims of war and violence. Can we talk about them? Help them!

Next time when you are on Facebook/WhatsApp, please remember you are holding a sharp edged sword. Would you use it as a surgeon’s knife or a rioter’s dagger?  You may use your apps to serve the poor or pander to the wild imaginations of the pampered. You have a choice, choose wisely!