Clamping the Internet –A Therapeutic Misuse for Web Abuse
Many grew up before the ‘www’ phenomenon and many after it. The world has changed and is changing with strides, much bigger than can be handled or coped with. Then descended the smart-phone as the reincarnation of ‘the man Friday’, without whom living looks unlivable. This is the new anaerobic life of mankind.
From the nanny of a toddler to the comforting pal of a recluse, from a banker to a matchmaker, the internet has invaded all invincible parts of human life. Commerce and communication have picked up enormous speed, which used to be fantasies of few unread sci-fi stories decades ago. This is a discovery and a technology with impacts similar to what fire and penicillin probably had on mankind.
Stealthily and speedily, web technology has outgrown in size, reach, and capacity, posing challenges, so much so that it needed to be regulated, monitored, snooped, and clamped if and as necessary.
It seems to have all started in Jan 2011 with the United States introducing a bill in the Senate to empower the President to shut down parts of the country’s internet as a countermeasure against a cyber attack. A few days later, the autocratic Hosni Mubarak’s regime took entire Egypt offline as part of its strategy to quell the January 25th Egyptian Revolution.
Tremors of the Egyptian internet blackout propagated worldwide, with hue and cry, especially in the progressive democratic nations. The proposed US bill which was designed to safeguard the nuclear and other vital installations, though not expecting a cakewalk, faced powerful arguments against it for likely misuse. Germany, Austria, and Australia were the first few nations to immediately assert the citizens that their governments will not seek similar powers.
There have been, however, many instances of shearing of internet connections in various parts of the world even before the tabling of the US Bill in Jan 2011. This did not steal much of limelight as these steps were perceived as routine brute-force measures often adopted by these nations and regimes to counter uprisings.
In the neighborhood, Nepal was the first to severe its internet services when King Gyanendra assumed the throne in 2005. Myanmar did it in 2007 to counter anti-government demonstrations. China, Tunisia, Syria, Ethiopia, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and a host of other countries followed suit curbing the internet as a tool to quell civil disturbances. And undoubtedly, the best performer in this skillful art, qualifying as the ‘Master of the Game’ is none other than the President Kim Jong-un of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea as known, even though a misnomer), who through a most undemocratic diktat denies the entire civilian population access to the net without authorization.
Nations have thus seen the growth and the growing power of the internet over the past few decades, together with boon and bane; policies also have been formulated and drawn accordingly. However, impetus seems to be more focused on the protection of data, privacy, and anti-snooping activities as a reactive policy-making rather than a foresightful approach. From the reported hacking of a computer in the Nuclear Power Station at Kudankulam to the tempering of websites of Ministries and leading Political Parties, the Indian policymakers seem to have been adequately tinkled and sensitized.
Hacking is one part of the story, where technology can be brought in for safeguard and as a countermeasure. What is more worrying and challenging is the proliferation of internet-enabled smart-phones to the hands of the antisocial and anti-national elements. This has given them a new weapon. This is the ‘Weapon of Mass Communication’, with a fallout area which grows much faster and larger than of a nuclear bomb. The launch of this destructive weapon in India can very well be traced to the propaganda machines selfishly and foolishly deployed in the past few elections, which many aplenty celebrated, rejoiced and chorused, as a change in the style of humour, not knowing the aftermath. This is the rebirth of another Frankenstein Monster much akin to the creating of the Taliban by the ISI, the nuisance of which Pakistan and the entire world have to face today.
Propaganda is part of age-old psychological warfare to induce attitudes and behaviors favorable to the originator’s objectives. It is used as an instrument for promoting and disseminating war-aims, social cohesion, ideologies, voicing opposition, etc. The originators may range from governmental agencies, political parties, commercial concerns, charities, non-governmental organizations, to protest and special-interest groups. The social media posts of today have swiftly taken over the role of the posters and publications used earlier in campaigns and conflicts. While the posters and publications had limitations in terms of intellect, cost, spread, and reach, social media posts have no such limiting factor or boundary.
Menace of net abuse or fake news patronized and propagated by the antisocial, anti-national elements is not going to die down very soon, as a large portion of the population in India is yet to get into the groove of social media. The political parties cannot exclude themselves from this misdeed on a basis of self-certification, presenting as holier-than-thou. The onus is clearly on the people of the country and their elected government, irrespective ideology and affiliations, to understand that ‘actions are the seeds you sow of the crop you harvest’.
