Packs of feral trolls have made swathes of Indian social media as vicious as a jungle raj. The latest high-profile target of online vitriol was foreign secretary Vikram Misri. Warmongers, still boiling with the high-octane heat that the India-Pakistan conflict generated, directed their anger at the senior bureaucrat with 36 years of distinguished service for being the messenger of good news—that a ceasefire had been agreed. To make matters worse, Misri’s UK-based daughter was targeted for abuse and doxxing, which involves revelation of personal details. By acting in such a manner at a time of national crisis, the trolls not only inflicted harm on the individuals, but also landed blows on the face of the government presenting India’s case to the world.
The barrage came not long after Himanshi Narwal, the grieving widow of a naval officer killed in the April 22 terror attack, was set upon for requesting unity and calm post Pahalgam. As polarisation peaks in other parts of the world, too, such attacks are becoming worryingly common. In the US, judges who delivered verdicts not aligned with the ruling administration’s policies are being trolled and doxxed. They have increased the judges’ protection details and offered mental health consultation to their families. In India, political leaders and groups such as the IAS and IFS associations for Misri and the National Council for Women for Narwal have strongly condemned the trolling. When the dust settles on the cross-border conflict, the government must work with parliament to bring down the edifice of this social media menace wreaking private trauma and public violence.
Just as the penal code is applied when the public takes the law in their own hands, the Information Technology Act must be sharpened against those who indulge in harmful behaviour online, including when they are targeted at public servants and their families. TV networks must introspect how not to fan the flames of toxic hatred. Cases like the Misris’ and Narwal’s are not only personal tragedies, but pointers to a dangerous fraying of the nation’s democratic temper—that, even when we disagree, we can be polite with each other. If we consider that being a young nation makes India’s populace more easily combustible, we must direct all the indignant energy towards nation-building. The other road leads to mobocracy.