The 21st century is also known as The Age of Information. It is an era marked by rapid adoption of new technologies, social media, smartphones, and the use of computers to store, retrieve, transmit, and manipulate data or information at an immense rate. The use of such technologies have aided us in carrying out many essential functions such as e-governance, and has enabled easy access to the media, which provides us news with just the click of a button. It seems that technology is very beneficial to the world. But if it’s so easy to spread any kind of news on the Internet, isn’t it dangerous if used inappropriately? Every coin has two sides, and it’s a must to know technology’s other side, in terms of it’s harm to democracy and its people.
The media influences our day to day lives. It shapes our views and opinions. It creates and spreads awareness and keeps the people informed. We are dependent on the media. But what if it’s misused? It can be dangerous and violence provoking. Because, any misinformation can be easily trusted by many citizens. If the media wants to promote propaganda and portray someone in bad light, it can do so very easily by just spreading false news that will be easily trusted by thousands citizens.
‘Horrifying revelations about Indian media: Instances of its unscrupulous involvement in financial, criminal, civil and sexual crimes in an organised attempt to destabilise the nation have been recorded.’ This fact was consolidated by The World Economic Forum which has recently tweeted that The Indian Media is the most corrupt media in the world.
The Indian Government has pressured advertisers and even shut down channels to shape and alter the information that 1.3 billion people receive. The 'Media One' anchor Vinesh Kunhiraman went on air on March 6, ready to tell the station’s 5 million viewers in Kerala about the death anniversary of a beloved comedian, and the latest news in the Covid-19 pandemic. Just a few minutes into the broadcast, he saw the managing editor rush to the studio floor, gesturing wildly, “I realised something was not right”, Mr.Kunhiraman recalled. The station’s uplink suddenly went dead. Mrs Kunhiraman’s image dissolved into a blue screen. A bland message told viewers that there was no signal. “We regret this inconvenience”, it said. But this was no technical difficulty. The station had been cut off by an order from India's Ministry Of Information And Broadcasting. The government decided to block the channel for 48 hours because it had covered February’s biggest news story- The mob attacks on Muslims in New Delhi- in a way, that seemed “Critical towards Delhi Police and R.S.S”, as said in the order. The R.S.S is a Hindu nationalist social movement with close ties to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bhartiya Janta Party.
Social media is involved in our day to day lives and it influences us. It helps us discover, share and create. It has given a new chance to all the talented people. It’s very easy to use. But, let’s look at the other side of the coin.
A company named CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA was involved in a data scandal through Facebook. Facebook itself claims that Cambridge Analytica stored the information of 87 million users. The same company helped President Donald Trump illegally in winning the elections by manipulating people through social media handles. The blueprint for how Cambridge Analytica claimed to have won the White House for Donald Trump by using Google, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube was revealed in an internal company document obtained by The Guardian. The 27 page presentation was produced by the Cambridge Analytica officials who worked most closely on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. They also proposed an offer to the Indian National Congress for the 2019 elections, but Congress rejected it. This clearly shows the direct attack on democracy and one of its most important factors- ‘voting’.
Our country is using EVMs for voting although they don’t claim legitimacy by passing the three tests of a free and fair election. The recent assembly elections- the last major polling exercise before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls- were not devoid of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) malfunctions. Though, the discourse at present does not make any distinctions between a ‘malfunction’ which suggests a technical defect, and ‘tampering’ manipulation aimed at fraud, there were several reports of misbehaving EVMs. Alarmingly, in Madhya Pradesh alone, the number of votes polled did not match the number of votes counted, in 204 out of 230 constituencies. The Election Commission’s (EC) explanation is that the votes counted is the actual number of votes polled- a circular logic that preludes cross verification. This is the reason why many prominent countries of the world have banned it including The United States Of America, England, Italy and Germany.
“ I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots” said Albert Einstein.
This statement may now refer to gamers who play games on their device constantly. This is not necessarily backed up by the government to cause propaganda, but it is a threat to democracy. Using electronic devices can be very helpful, and some games may also help you. This reference is specifically to electronic games and platforms that cause addiction and have very little benefit in increasing the skills or providing beneficial knowledge and only cause the individual to keep sitting hours and hours on end, wasting their own time. These apps or platforms can be harmful. They keep the individual from looking at what’s going on in reality and decrease their awareness. The world is facing so many problems and if people remain uninformed, especially the youth, these problems will engulf us and we will notice them only when it’s too late.
“Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master".
We should always keep these words of Christian Lous Lange in mind. In the end, technology is just a resource and it’s effects, whether good or bad, depend on how it’s used. These problems will be non -existent if people will be informed about them. Always remember, there is a solution to every problem if you know how to look for it.
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