Objectionable content going viral on Facebook

Misuse of social networking sites in terms of publishing objectionable content and using it as a tool for spreading hatred is nothing new.

Making the argument for the monitoring of the social networking sites stronger, another campaign was floated on Facebook, recently.

A picture showing hundreds of dead bodies lying amidst Buddhist monks with a caption ‘The body of Muslims slaughte(re)d by Buddhist’ is the latest on the list.

These photos were floated in the background of sectarian violence in the Rakhine state in Myanmar, in which several Rohingya Muslims were killed.

Actually this gruesome picture is no way related to the violence in Myanmar.

It was taken in 2010 after an earthquake in Tibet where monks are engaged in rescue operations.

Another photo shows that a youth is running with fire flames all over his body and the caption of the photo read “This is media: A Muslim was burned in Burma and journalists are taking pictures instead of saving him!!” This photo was taken when a Tibetan youth was engulfed in flames as he tries to immolate himself during a protest staged ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Delhi in March 2012.

“It is part of a larger propaganda as the origin of this photographs are not from here.

We are tagging the same and posting comments without knowing the truth,” said Shameel K, a member on Facebook.

What is more astonishing is that hundreds of Malayalis from across the globe are sharing and liking the photographs and are also posting sensitive comments.

“Here is a news that the media in Kerala which is obsessed with Love Jihad and CPM, choose to ignore.

No news have appeared about the murder of thousands of Muslims in Myanmar,” reads a comment posted on Facebook.

According to Shibu Baby John, Minister of Labour Rehabilitation, and who is an active member on Facebook said that social media was a powerful network but it was being widely misused.

“There should be some kind of control on publishing contents on Facebook and other such sites.

But the question is that how the censorship is possible and the better way is to create self-regulation.

” Though such fake photos and misleading comments clearly question the credibility of the social media apart from creating tensions among people, authorities says that they are completely handicapped in taking action.

“We are not entitled to act on issues like this,” said Iqbal M, DySP, Cyber Crime Police Station and SCRB.