Hyderabad: While India stands in solidarity with the Kolkata hospital rape-murder victim, a deeply troubling phenomenon is unfolding in the dark corners of social media. Dozens of accounts, shrouded in anonymity, are openly promoting rape and sexual abuse, amassing a following that would make any responsible internet user shudder. A scroll through these accounts, forums and pages, will show a chilling celebration of violence. Posts glorifying sexual assault are attached with memes. The language is often coded, the hashtags cleverly disguised, allowing these posts to slip through the cracks of platform moderation. Yet, the message is unmistakable, and the engagement numbers are even more unsettling.The popularity of these posts is alarming, with many receiving substantial engagement in the form of likes, shares, and comments. Many of the commentators post lewd comments, and the individuals behind these accounts often attract a following by sensationalising violence, creating an echo chamber where such behaviour is normalised and encouraged. “The rise in toxic content, glorifying sexual violence is horrifying. Social media is meant to connect people, not spread hate. We need platforms to step up their game with better moderation and harsher penalties for those promoting these dangerous ideologies, said Nagadurga Naidu, dancer and a social media influencer.In response to these concerns, social media platforms have pledged to intensify their efforts to combat harmful content.Billionaire Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) has increased its content moderation, not allowing bots and certain terms to be tweeted, while Instagram has banned hashtags, which incite violence and rape. However, critics argue that these measures are often reactive rather than proactive, and the sheer volume of content being uploaded on a daily basis makes it difficult for any one platform to effectively police itself.She said that speaking ill about women and children, endorsing rape and abuse, passing extremely vulgar comments in the name of dark humour, this is becoming second nature on social media platforms. These people are adding special characters and purposefully misspelling words to get around content moderation. We must collectively condemn these acts, report harmful content, and create safe online spaces.Vinay Sharma, a security software developer, however, is hopeful. “The rise of violent content online highlights the need for advanced security measures. But there is hope, as social media platforms are investing in AI-driven content moderation and are constantly monitoring the situations. The platforms must also keep adding keywords, imagery and hashtags to the banned terms regularly,” he said.
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