Are trolls bullying you into silence? Don’t let them

This is a story I wish I didn’t have to tell. It began several months ago, when on a TV panel I questioned a rather racist comment made by a Union minister. On watching the show, a senior journalist warned me of the consequences. As predicted, next morning the online trolls, a word I barely knew, had let loose their vitriol on me. For those less versed in internet slang, trolls — which the Webster dictionary defines as a mythical creature of very ugly appearance — refers to something similar online: those who post intentionally inflammatory and disruptive messages and upset those they are attacking. And experts enlighten me that some of them are actually paid for it.
The emergence of this online behaviour has managed to prove wrong the cliché that ‘there is no smoke without fire’. It is easy to spread messages online without a kernel of truth. So, soon after the TV show, Twitter was flooded with angry criticism of a statement I never made: “All men are potential rapists.” I was shocked, so I tweeted back, “I’m being falsely quoted. Never said all men are potential rapists. What kind of a stupid generalization is that? Sad one has to even explain this.” After all, in 140 characters that is all one could say, but then what more was needed?
The false quote got tweeted again and again, and for the first time I saw a completely fabricated quote turning into a ‘fact’. On social media people can make stuff up, and we don’t hold people to the same level of responsibility and accuracy as we do of mainstream media. Though at times, they are no different. A friend finally traced the false quote to a sub-heading of a 2013 article in The Times of India on sexual harassment in the workplace. The article otherwise had nothing to do with me and was written by someone who I had never spoken with!
Over the last 15 years, I had barely read or watched anything about myself. It helped me remain sane as both flattery and brickbats were kept at bay. But, today, in the age of attract-traffic-at-any-cost media and its amplifications online, I wonder whether it is wise to turn a blind eye. It actually managed to damage my work as an advocate of women’s rights. I have always maintained that it is not a battle between men and women, but what patriarchy does to both. But that made-up quote gave an impression of someone who is an irrational extremist.
My father, husband… all were dragged into it. But the last straw was when photos of my son, who is just five, appeared with a caption—‘potential rapist’. How does one counter an attack of the lowest denominator? I am aware that the trolls indulge in daily mudslinging, with the aim to provoke or silence those whose ideology, values or politics differ from theirs. Their screaming and abusing goes unchallenged, and often a civil discourse is shouted down with venom. But what is hugely worrying is how this disruptive outrage, fuelled by a small number of people, is becoming an unchallenged source for mainstream media and, often, even driving it. What finally made me want to reflect publicly on this matter was the new manufactured controversy over my alleged endorsement of the ministry of women and child department’s Beti Bachao campaign. Neither was I invited to be part of the campaign nor did I approach them. I had participated as a narrator in a documentary film called Girl Rising, along with other actors like Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit. And the producers much later partnered with the government’s campaign to spread the message through the film.
The trolls went berserk accusing me of being opportunistic in supporting a Modi government initiative, while being critical of their party ideology. The outrage is wrong-headed not just because it has no basis, but also for the assumption that supporting a good initiative of the government is synonymous with political support. Some forget that in a democracy there is a difference between the two. And, while they often overlap, we in fact must remind people of keeping them separate.
We all know the good social media can do. If Twitter did not exist, we wouldn’t have had the Arab Spring, and certainly we would not have reconnected with our childhood friends without Facebook. I am a recent entrant into social media, and the intent was only to be able to share interesting ideas, events and writings of others that I felt were worth a read. Sadly, it seems to be far outweighed by mindless abusive trolls. Somehow, in the virtual world we have lost the civility that we expect of each other in the real world. To lose a democratic space is to close open dialogue. And we must not let that happen.