Upholding India on teh Internets

The immediate impetus for this article was certain India-related discussions I ran into on rediff and youtube. The rudeness, bigotry and outright stupidity on some of these discussions are (of course) at times downright revolting. But what is even more shocking is that many of us just stand by and watch silently.

Some may say that this is to be expected – it’s teh internets after all. But I don’t think that the assumptions made in the context of Western societies hold in India for the following reasons:

• While the growth of internet has been gradual and organic in the West, in our case it has been more abrupt. Even today, only 5% of Indians are active internet users.
  
  We haven’t had the opportunity to develop the mindsets required to compensate for the free, anonymous nature of communication on the internet. Those of us who do have these mindsets will have to disseminate them deliberately.


• Our country simply has more historical and cultural baggage. We have unresolved internal and external conflicts and deep rooted prejudices. You and I may discount stupid exchanges on the web, but there are people among us who will be genuinely hurt and angered by them.
  
  DO NOT assume that our society at large is immune to hurt sentiments the way you or I would be. This is evidenced in the fact that our political parties have effectively played on regional, linguistic, caste-based and religious fault-lines in the Indian society.
  


• We know that foreign players have instigated communal and regional tensions within India in the past. It’s perfectly reasonable to assume that they will use the new much more effective and widespread medium to attempt to stoke trouble and conduct change of perception campaigns. This is not counting the voluntary, misguided armies of online patriots from other countries who have nothing else to do.

In short, even casual online exchanges between Indians have the potential to influence how India is perceived by ourselves and what values we uphold as a country. Strings of messages of hatred and stupid stereotyping must not go unchecked. They must stand in sharp contrast to messages that are rational, tolerant, and uphold our “fraternity, assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation”. Trolls must be mercilessly called out.

We all complain about how the system in our country is broken. On the web, however, we are not at the mercy of the system. We can and must make every attempt to enforce a more civilized and rational behavior wherever possible.

With this in mind, here is an attempt at a code of e-conduct - a set of attitudes and practices that would make our online meeting places a lot more civilized and meaningful. You do not have to go scouting for unmoderated discussions on Indian sites to clean up, but if you run into one, please do not watch passively when you see a discussion deteriorating. Deliberately plunge in and uphold these values in our online communities until they become received wisdoms.

1. All Indians are equal and deserve to belong to India with dignity.
   
   When you engage others in debates, do so without attacking the cultural or religious identity of the other party. One of the defining characteristics of our country is our diversity. Attacking someone personally because of their cultural or religious background is fundamentally an un-Indian thing to do.
   
   We all want an India that we can be proud of; an India that is not just rich or powerful, but one that’s truly great. Would you be proud of an India where certain groups feel they are under siege or that they have a lesser claim on the country than others?


2. This does not mean that you have to subject yourself to a stifling political correctness. You may have strong views - there is absolutely nothing wrong in being candid. But even while you do so, maintain your dignity. Use the language of reason to get your point across.
   
   Also, let's please stop repeating tired, old prejudices about others. Whatever problems we face today, we have no choice but to solve them together as a people. Why don’t we then find a way to move forward rather than merely keep shouting at each other?


3. If you find yourself at the receiving end of attacks based on your culture or religion, please don’t be quick to take offense. Ditto for extremely abrasive comments about a particular region or religion.
   
   There are a lot of immature people on the internet; it’s easier to be rude when you are anonymous and don’t have to face the repercussions; we all have inherited a set of prejudices from our history. All this is just fertile mixture for some really unpleasant interaction on the internet. Let’s please gain some immunity to all this.


4. An internet troll is someone who posts inflammatory or off-topic messages to derail the discussion and provoke an emotional response from the other users. Do not fall for trolling and get provoked.
   
   But do not just stand by and watch trolling happen either. Most forums have a mechanism to downvote comments or flag them for spamming. Make use of this LIBERALLY.
   
   Note, however, that just because someone’s opinion differs from yours doesn’t mean that the person is a troll. Do your utmost to have good faith in others; hear them out. Always try to give the other party the benefit of the doubt and respond rationally (if you wish to). We will not make any progress in resolving our issues if we don't even listen to each other.

Remember: we collectively own the responsibility for our future. It is easy to sit idle saying that some other party should act first. But this way, NOTHING WILL GET DONE. Someone must make the first move. Let it be you and me.