SOCIAL media is a good platform for expressing opinions, which is the true spirit of democracy. To bring the public on board in policymaking, social media can provide policymakers with an avenue for analysing issues at the grassroots level. However, we see that instead of voicing their opinions to improve their society, many people fuel the fire of hatred. What is even more troubling is that these hateful monologues come disguised as ‘intellectual’ and ‘philosophical’ criticisms.
The culture of intellectual debate in Pakistan has taken a problematic form, which is evident on social media, especially through the stuff that is posted on the accounts of young students, readers and self-proclaimed ‘intellectuals’. The obsession with giving everything they read and consume a ‘philosophical’ twist is, unfortunately, not leading anyone in a positive direction. Instead, they are using their half-baked ideas to generate capital, gain followers, and, in many cases, threaten people who disagree with them ideologically. In history, philosophical debates have been discourse-based, with cognitive rigidity strongly discouraged, creating space for disagreements and constructive criticism. Such discourses were the whole point of being philosophical. But in Pakistan, things have changed for the worse, especially owing to the social media debate culture. The quoted philosophies are often only partially understood because the desired aim is not to enquire into the ideas, but to use the superficial debates as tools of intellectual dominance. The comment sections of these accounts depict an alarming situation regarding the safety of those who disagree.
The level of tolerance is so low that people publicly abuse and threaten one another. While these threats may not be real, they still cause significant mental trauma and psychological challenges to the person who receives them. Furthermore, the bloc formation of the so-called ‘intellectual class’ launches harsh ideological attacks on one another, so much so that the ones promoting strict interpretations of the philosophies become a life threat to the ideological rival. Hence, these ostensibly ‘critical’ debates often end up carrying more dangerous dynamics underneath. These debates quickly devolve into accusations and character attacks. Many women social media users share messages from their inboxes filled with character assassinations, rape threats and harassment. Moreover, in a society where religious intolerance is at its peak, people do not embrace ideas that do not align with their preconceived notions. In essence, for such intellectually dis-honest people, it is easy to incite followers to launch social media campaigns that can threaten another person’s life. This harmful debate culture should be seen as a non-traditional security threat, which should be addressed at the national level.
MUQADDASA SHAH
LAHORE
Performative intellectualism
