EXAMPLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
The fundamental human rights where listed to include `freedom of expression` as an item in what has been revised to be municipal and international laws with no distinction in standards but regarded as one are moral principles guiding human behaviour.
These are laws which a person is entitled to by virtue of being human and one thing you must not forget is these laws are egalitarian and active or operational by association- they are offered alongside empathy and such entitlement should not be taken away, save by moral imbalances under specific circumstances.
The invention of social media has, to an extent promoted the cause of this universal charter by providing vices and audiences through social media establishment. It has established its power through individual popularity and brand influences and when there is one to speak and exercise his `freedom of expression`, there is always an audience to listen.
Let’s face it, social media has aided in information propagation and granting access to such information that would have been slow or impossible to trickle down through the chain of power and the ruling classes to the almost ignorant minorities; speaking of information like the national budget of a country. Notwithstanding, demarcation is drawn in the quality of information being circulated and with what motives. Genuinity is brought to question as there are no stated guidelines to `freedom of expression`; it could as well advocate for hatred the much it does for constructivism, although social media managers are still putting effort into strengthening their policies on privacy and taking their stand against cyberbullying.
The conflict between these two (2) fronts- social media and fundamental human rights is created by the necessary existence of the freedom of expression as an item in these moral laws, and the power given to the ungoverned social media engagements and traditions.
Despite the importance of the media, its violation of human rights have been recorded to contain more of chaos from such unmonitored acts of indiscipline, than actual good to the society at large.
The UN has affirmed that digital rights must be protected just as they are offline against the following outlined threats:
- Data theft
- Virtual voyeurism
- Communication surveillance and interception
- Hacking and unlawful access
- Data retention
- Breach of confidentiality
- Trains-border flow of data
Many today consider social media and human rights to be a blinding contradiction as while trying to bridge the gap in the information and communication industry, social media creates an express for several non-peaceful demonstrations and mainstream political movements. Considering context we will examine two (2) of the world`s most popular social media platforms.
- Facebook: with over 2.2 billion active users on this platform, optimists can only imagine the level of productivity to be achieved here; while the very careful and observant optimists will too imagine great possibilities but will also consider its cons. Let’s talk about Facebook`s failed attempts to uphold civil rights; hate speech against Muslims and Jews in southern countries, her attempts at manipulating or not policies to guard the personal interests and controversial posts of U.S. 45th President Donald Trump which was a clear violation of its policies. This platform acknowledging its efficiency in disseminating information has also been effective at retaining wrong information on political advertising amongst others. Despite measures set in place for surveillance, it has been a major highway for misinformation mostly. Facebook has suffered several charges over the years with charges of `civil rights infrigement` being the most repetitive.
- Twitter: Let it be known that social media has played an integral role in some of the most significant crises in the world today and these ones as will be mentioned were effected by little tweets.
- The Neda Effect (CNN Effect): the June 2009 murder of Neda Sotan, a bystander in a peaceful anti-Ali Khamenei demonstration in Iran after it went viral on Twitter.
- Jasmine street protest
- Tunisia`s mass popular protest in 2011 following Bouazizi`s tweet
- Ukraine`s Orange Revolution in 2004
Social media has contributed to several uproars and chaos provided by misinformation or information leaked to unapproved sources. where these social media shaves failed to put up ensure or rules against human rights violation, the debate as to take active participation in social media activities has more surprises to its threat list.
