The Internet, Social Media and Messaging Indoctrination and Mind Bending Vortex that Most Sign on to, Unwittingly

 

I am increasingly convinced that not only are sizeable sections of Indians cowards, they are also slavish followers of certain friends & guys they consider to be the trend-setters & leaders. These folks are typically technically challenged and hence happen to be greatly resistant to change & to upgrading themselves periodically. 

If one is barrelling down an expressway, one must familiarise oneself with the basic rules & safeguards of driving down an expressway first.

I could go on & on about instances of this but I'll restrict myself to the exponential growth of Facebook & Whatsapp in India which has had much to do with BJP's embrace of these two platforms for spreading disinformation & propaganda to the targeted segments from 2012-13 onwards. Little did most people realise what they were getting sucked into and how they were getting manipulated & brainwashed by the BJP's aggressive embrace of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter & WhatsApp. Soon they were discovering reasons like how all their friends were on these platforms and how they had invested a lot of time & effort in learning how to navigate these platforms. Given the 90-9-1 internet & social media metrics ( read more details about these, if you are interested, here: The dynamics of active & passive users and lurkers on the internet and social media ) clambering on to Facebook & messaging channels like WhatsApp (also owned by Facebook) became the go-to destinations on the internet and social media.

Suddenly, for most of these folks, it became almost mandatory to be on FB or WA, because one could read all the news & gossip there & stay in touch with friends (most of them Internet & SM friends one doesn't even know personally). 

Given the fact that the vast majority of  such people were lurkers & passive users, it didn't really matter to the large numbers of users who clambered on to these platforms feverishly. Their posts & comments were few and far between & most restricted themselves to perusing content periodically and clicking 'likes' at times.

China the Surveillance State

As it so happens, these platforms soon became a treasure trove of data & information for govts. & authorities in India (and many other countries too) & the platforms readily complied with govt. 'orders' about making data & metadata regarding institutions, groups & individuals, wanted by govts. & authorities, available, because it suited both their growth & business models and the need of the authorities to mount all-encompassing surveillance when needed.

Govt. stifling voices of dissent & cracking down hard on criticism

Safety no longer lies in being a passive user or a lurker because if one is following groups or individuals who are often critical of the govt. & its various actions, one falls into the 'suspect' category automatically in this new scheme of things.

Given that India is now effectively run by an autocratic, fascist junta, who make up the rules as they go along, there are no assured ways of avoiding that dreaded midnight knock on one's door. I suspect that most users, active or passive, don't even realise this. 

You may be doing a yeoman service to many of your friends by educating them about these realities. If they are still indifferent or unwilling to listen, don't waste too much of effort in making them see the ground realities. Let some of them experience it all first-hand and live to share their grim experience with select friends and associates. 

--Raja Mitra