Don't let a Facebook post make you slander Summer House Café

Social media is a powerful tool. We all know that. It works tirelessly in real time, and like a virus, spreads across the network, connecting people faster than the speed of good gossip. Mostly, it is all for the good, but as times progress, I feel, we forget it can cut both ways. Today, a lot misleading information, masquerading as news, is making people lose objectivity.

While it may be a great source for people to make announcements, we need to remind ourselves that it may not be the best tool for reading a balanced report of an event.

Most recently, on a Facebook group called Food Talk India, a post about how a Delhi bar’s staff beat up a patron for no rhyme or reason went viral. The bar in question was Summer House Café, which was in the news a few months ago, when Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin played an impromptu gig here. Before I say more, I must admit, it is not only a bar I love to frequent, but I know the promoters of it well.

The post, which gave details of the alleged morbid incident, was shared more than 4,300 times. The management of Summer House Café faced a tremendous attack and vitriol on social media. People did not even give them a chance to tell their side of the story. Some even called for a boycott of the venue.

Summer House Café, in its defence, posted CCTV footage of the incident. The findings of it are inconclusive, yes, but they also do not match the alleged victim's side of the story.

I happened to be there at the venue at the time of the incident. I wasn’t even aware that such an event had taken place. I felt the urge to write a story about it, but refrained myself. I was afraid my own biases would creep in.The incident at Summer House Café is no aberration. Delhi’s ever-so-popular Hauz Khas Village area is a place for drunken mayhem and brawls. I have seen many a mini riot-like situation on Saturday nights and can vouch for how unsafe it can be. Yet, we must not lose sight.

We all need to take everything posted on Facebook with a pinch of salt. Reporting an incident needs to be free of biases. If misused, we end up slandering people and establishments, and hosting our own khap panchayats. We must know everything about an incident, before we spit our venom out.