World Wide Web of Hate?
Technology Can Be Manipulated in Positive or Negative Ways
Social Media may be used to spread messages of hate as the Christchurch shooter recently demonstrated by live streaming his slaughter of Muslims worshiping at two mosques in New Zealand on March 15, 2019.
March 28, 2019
Technology is rapidly changing. Newer, better forms of older devices are being made. These devices are continually becoming a big part of everyone’s lives, like the fact that we are currently on the 18th version of the I phone. People use these new devices in a positive way. Many students have a laptop to type essays, do research for projects, and get in touch with teachers if help is needed. But there is also the possibility to use them for destruction and chaos.
Along with the ability to use these devices, we decide whether the use will be good or bad. Due to the human species as a whole being complex and diverse, you have those who wish to assist others and make the world a better place to live, and those who want to ignite fear in the people around them to gain a sense of power.
If we as people want to rid our planet of these negative acts and hatred, we cannot give terrorists power.
— Jacklyne Goduti
An example is the recent heinous incident in Christchurch, New Zealand in which a murderer committed an act of terrorism and took the lives of 50 people, the youngest being a three year old boy. Not only did this monster take the lives of 50 people, but he felt the need to live stream the atrocity.
This would be the point in time that those who are not for social media would blame the otherwise useful platform. If you think about social media as a whole it is like you were writing someone a note. It could be kind note and provoke a smile, or cruel and ruin the person’s mood.
Same thing with social media: it can connect people in times of need, but also be used to spread hatred. It is all up to what kind of person is behind the screen. Whether it be that they are just that kind of person, or something in their life has made them act in his way, these things could decide their outlook on how they see things. There are many explanations or theories as to why people act a certain way.
If deranged individuals take it to social media, like Facebook, then the social media sites need to devote time to remove them. Within the first 24 hours, 1.5 million videos of the attack were taken down to stop any further promotion.
To further stop the spread of hatred, the NZ prime minister Jacinda Ardern refused to name this individual. If we as people want to rid our planet of these negative acts and hatred, we cannot give terrorists power. We cannot give them a name.
The recent debate involving whether or not to release the White Supremacist’s manifesto is almost comical. In an instance like this, why would we make it easier for more hatred to be born, or for his words to influence others to hate people to the point where death is their solution? Among the millions of humans on the earth, there will always be those who seek violence and instigate chaos. But, that does not mean we need to help spread the infectious disease of hatred.
Andrew Lee • Jun 11, 2019 at 10:31 AM
I have to agree with your article. People abuse technology and social media specifically for malicious and unnecessary acts such as the New Zealand shooting. Many people use social media to spread hate, it’s not all too much different from what people used to do, cursing the names of people and ruining people but, social media makes this process a lot more scarier and quicker.