Recklessness, fake news and rushes to incite violence can partly explain the social media use of current time. But self-restraint, honesty and efforts to success the ongoing wide-array reform must substitute the rhetoric on the social media platforms.
Doing so might ring in our mind the saying: ‘easier said than done.’ It seems tough to regulate the social media sector, particularly for countries that lack homegrown platforms.
Another factor that exacerbates the problem is the lack of gray line between what is called open web, freedom of speech and dangerous speech. Most circulate their venomous perspectives under the pretext of the former.
Yet, a great extent of individuals masked themselves behind pseudonyms or fake accounts. What must be clear to all is, however, the ill-intent messages that goes viral on the web is likely to get hundreds of thousands of buyers.
We should not forget the fact that Ethiopia is one of the countries with bulging youth population that could make up over 60 percent of the population, almost half of them unemployed.
No doubt, not few of those who post hate and dangerous speeches are far from understanding the impact of their actions; they only do that to buy fame and get wide circulation or followers.
However, one should not downplay the deliberate actions of the rest majority who are after political gains. Hence, the state must respond appropriately and legally. It is high time to open series of debates at policy makers’ level on ways and means of taming the platform. Its proper use, no doubt, can help democracy to send roots and branches.
The cyber world brings enormous benefits to communities by shaping the way they live. But unregulated cyber media also poses grave dangers. Policy makers should not stand on the fence on this dearly important matter.
The cyber and social worlds have to complement one another. But when the cyber world flexes its muscles to the devastation of law and order, it must be checked with proper measures.
There is no intention to criminalize the social media, but when it starts to bring more harms than good, pertinent bodies have to sit and discuss the issue, if not raise red flag. Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed in his statement earlier this week made government’s stance clear. The statement denounced social media use that goes astray. It has also called on citizens to exercise informed social media use.
While contributing to democratization through genuine dialogue, citizens ought to counter activities on the web that undermine the reform effort, it adds. The clear stance of the government is sure to send message to wrong doers.
Yet, to bring the reform to fruition, the platform plays a huge role. Messages could go viral at a click of a button. And studies show that wrong and negative information has a tendency to go 70 percent faster than the constructive ones. Apart from doing activities, the government has to communicate with the public, in various ways, to enable them understand what has been achieved on the ground.
Thus, far-sighted citizens and friends of Ethiopia must join hands, if not minds, to counter narratives that tarnish works accomplished. And it should be clear to all that this has nothing to do with being critical of the government. This being the case, policy makers are shouldered with huge responsibility of clearly delineating the buffer zone of freedom of expression.
Herald March 22/2019
