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Remember that politics move quickly, and people and their opinions evolve.
“The Dark Side of Twitter” In Lebanon
June 7, 2012 · Mustapha Hamoui
I just came from travel (yes, I’m now safely in my hometown of Tripoli), and I didn’t plan to post anything today. But as I was browsing the web, I came across this Guardian article by Rohan Talbot, and I thought it deserved a response.
The gist of the article is in the last paragraph:
there is a danger that Twitter, Facebook etc, may increase the infectious spread of tensions in [Lebanon]. If it continues to be a vector for the narratives of those attempting to provoke disharmony in Lebanon, social media may become a force for discord and oppression rather than unity and peace.
The man is reporting the events in Tripoli where people are killing each other with real guns, and the biggest problem he sees is how the Lebanese are panicking on Twitter and on Facebook? The “Battle of narratives” is more dangerous than the battle on the streets?
I understand that in some situations (like with radio stations in Rwanda before the genocide), hate speech can aggravate violence and incite otherwise peaceful people into violence. But Lebanon’s social media “fire” is not really a burning issue (fine, bad pun). Normal people shouting at each other online is if anything a healthy way of releasing steam. The “histrionics” of the online battle of ideas is a perfectly normal noise in any society with free expression. “hearsay, exaggeration and conspiracy” are legal tender in any democratic debate.
I don’t get what Mr. Talbot suggests should be done about this “problem”. Is he suggesting a social media limitation or ban? Does he prefer it if people on opposite sides of the debate don’t talk to each other? I’m not particularly sympathetic to the author’s worry about Lebanese social harmony. “Social harmony” is one of those fuzzy utopias that bring to my mind chinese-style stifling of free speech and dissent in its name. When social harmony advocates like Mr. Talbot call facebook and twitter “a force for discord and oppression”, I start to worry.
Update (July 2012): Here’s Talbot’s response to this post.