What we know about trolls and the culture of hate they're spreading
Today, to be abusive is considered a sign of honesty. Usage of cuss words is taken as a symbol of freedom of expression. Insertion of slurs in a response is looked at as an expression of settling scores. Addition of ad hominem attacks is described as a weapon to silence a detractor, an opponent, an enemy. The worse the language is, the stronger the defence is. It does not matter who it is that is being answered. The apparent position and the superficial status of a person take a backseat when volleys of abuse are being lobbed. There is an undisguised glee in the process of taking down the enemy. There is an unadulterated feeling of achievement having an "injustice" avenged.
Whether it is the initiator, the aggressor, or the so-called victim, the distinction fades faster than you type the next 280-character string of words that are meant to be a vindication of you standing up for the truth, of being on the right side, of not letting an insult to your leader/idol go by without adding your bit of tit-for-tat, of having the last insult.
Welcome to the new juncture of Twitter-discourse. Gloves off, claws sharpened, knives in hand, a heap of words that cut sharper and deeper than knives, and an army of little people protected behind that shield unknown to warriors in the last century of the last millennium: virtual anonymity. The world of social media where despite your name and photograph displayed as your introductory props there is not much that can touch you when you decide to turn a fabulous apparatus of global connectivity into your personal wrestling pit, where all bets are off, where there are no rules of engagement, and where there are no safe words. From mud-wrestling the scene has shifted, one abuse, one troll attack, one unsubstantiated allegation, one unverified rumour, into a free-for-all arena where the goal is total annihilation of the detractor, the opponent, the enemy. It could be anyone: you, me, us, her, him, them, it.
I see it every day. I see it done to regular people whose humiliation goes unnoticed in the big noise of fast-typing words that are meant to initiate, inflame, enrage, validate, titillate, arouse, instruct, guide, misguide, engage, distort, enhance, diminish, elevate, push, prod, provoke, punish and perpetuate without a plan to end. I see it happen to celebrities who use social media as merely a notice board to announce the happenings in their professional lives, or post photographs of their superbly sculpted bodies and perfectly made-up faces. I see it happen to writers and intellectuals who exist in a world that they presume is above the din and nonsense of those countless tiny figures that inhabit the world they are a part of but with an unbreakable wall of glass separating them.
I see it happen to politicians whose achievements seem to be not as much for the people of their constituencies and, on the whole, the country, but are a point of glorification to belittle their rivals. I see it happen to the public figures who are out to change the world, or silence those who they believe have wronged them.
Be it an Imran Khan or a Maryam Nawaz Sharif or a Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, as long as you are on social media, your name is a guarantee of your entrance into a world of adulation that is unheard of, admiration that is beyond question, reverence to the point of deification, and mass following of virtual sheep that march to the tune of your slogans, the tap of your virtual judgements, the roar of your slogans for change and for justice that are as self-serving as the agendas you present as party manifestos and electoral roadmaps. Yet the virtual armies taking you for messiahs fight your battles, day after day, abuse after insult, knights muddling into creatures of night, multiple personalities jostling under one name, no playbook to consult.
Once they were known as Imran Khan's trolls: merciless, decorum-less, tameez-less. Then came the army of Maryam Nawaz Sharif: more merciless, more decorum-less, more tameez-less. Against one another, united in their no-rules warfare, they have gnawed, scratched and burrowed their way through all that was left of the edifice of decency and civility on social media, proudly displaying the badge of dishonour that is in repudiation of all moral and religious niceties that are a hallmark of the upbringing of anyone who goes by the title of a Pakistani. Additionally: a Muslim Pakistani.
Interchangeable yet unique, essential yet dispensable, pervasive yet anonymous, they are not "trolls" as by the once-given definition of trolls but regular people who are not anonymous but still use the virtual safety of social media as a safeguard against the dirge they dish, the filth they fling, the victimhood they fight, the untruths they propagate, the causes they espouse, the reputations they shred, the truth they push, the indefensible they defend with abuse, the good they ruin with their vitriolic.
With due respect to all decent people from all these spheres who help keep the hope of a civilised discourse making a comeback alive: the new "trolls" are politicians, parliamentarians, ministers, editors, publishers, columnists, writers, intellectuals, social activists, newsreaders, reporters, TV anchorpersons, owners of media houses, teachers, students, businessmen, housewives, diplomats, feudal princelings, religious guides, sportspersons, singers, actors, designers, government officials, lawyers, judges, army men. They are from every profession, and pushing the anonymous trolls aside, they have taken over the dirty business of disinformation, innuendo, gossip, allegations, insults, defamation, name-calling and destruction of reputations. Hiding behind the dignity of their positions they do whatever it takes to protect the personality/narrative/ideology they swear allegiance to, and no price is too big.
Why the surprise? These people are from amongst us, they are us. They use these tactics in their day-to-day life, but it is all hidden from the view of the outsider. They misbehave with their family members, spouses, children, even parents. They use this language with the weaker ones in their lives: serfs, servants, staff members, subordinates. They treat with disdain and scorn the underprivileged of society. Their language is replete with the cuss words that are so commonplace they have lost their potency of damage. Not just many men, even many women use words that are meant to demean and weaken women. The ku**i/a ka bacha, har**mzadi/a, teri maa, teri behn, ga*hti, k*njar/i litter the day-to-day language of not just many males but many females of our society. On all levels.
Then there are those that bring religion into their attacks. While making an attempt to uphold the sanctity of Allah and His prophet, they use epithets and slurs that have no place in any civil discourse, leave alone a discussion about religious matters. While bringing Allah and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his family in their tweets, Facebook posts and WhatsApp retorts, every second word they use is a derogatory word. Defending or attacking a politician, their every second virtual proclamation peppered with abuse and allegation, in non-performing vicious words, they claim to be vigilantes of not merely morality but also religion.
When you abuse or support an Imran Khan or a Maryam Nawaz Sharif throwing filth on the other while appearing to give respect to religious personalities in your virtual rant, the joke is on you. Not only do you show an absence of morality and humanism in your personal conduct, you disrespect your family, the values your parents and teachers taught you, and the goodness of the people in your life.
In addition, you disrespect the very political idols you built with your own smarmy hands, propped with illusionary grandeur in your minds, and whose mouthpieces you become for various ideological, monetary and other material reasons.
And most importantly, during your virtual abusive tirades, you manifest an utter ignorance to religious beliefs of millions of decent people. The concept of reverence. You don't have to be a devout follower of religion to grasp a very fundamental truth of humanity: when you mention someone you respect, rather revere, you don't add filthy abusive words for anyone. A politician's comparison to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his family may be inapt in a certain situation, but it is certainly not "blasphemy". What is absolutely inappropriate, even sacrilegious, is the usage of abusive language and outright filth to defend the honour of religious personalities who do not need your defence - on social media, in person, in rallies.
Will it ever stop? I wonder as I write...