Photo by [Nextgov]
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, social media platforms have become one of the primary ways in which people interact with one another.
There are numerous benefits to social media. It has allowed access to information, communications and the promotion and marketing of businesses.
However, an equal amount of harm and danger exists within the digital space. It has allowed people access into each other’s lives, making it easier for people to troll, bully, and be insensitive to ethnic and racial differences.
As a result, these digital platforms have strengthened their rules and guidelines, allowing users to report obscene and offensive posts.
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Switching Personas
Social media platforms created a space where individuals can switch their personalities from who they are in real life. It has given them the freedom to post, share and retweet whatever information they like with little to no regard for the consequences of their speech and actions.
Moulana Muhammed Ameer, from the Darul Ihsan Humanitarian Centre, said the digital space had granted a level of protection to individuals who post varying kinds of obscenities and get away with it.
“What is being reflected on social media is actually what is within people. It is their anger, their deceptive nature and aggression … That is showing itself on social media. Social media is merely a mirror and vehicle that is used to vent all these evil traits that are within.”
However, as Muslims, he advised that when using social media, we should not give in to such behaviour. We need to place ourselves in the space of reality and remember that we are interacting with real people. Therefore, we are accountable for our actions not only to them but to the Almighty as well.
Navigating the Challenges of Social Media
Communication is an essential aspect of everyday life, and social media is the vehicle through which we communicate. Therefore it is not practical for people to do away with it altogether.
Ml Ameer said we could not ignore the benefits of social media. Instead, we should embrace it with its inherent challenges and be able to protect ourselves from harm.
“It’s not as easy as we speak about it because we know the challenges are immense, they are huge, and sometimes these things are beyond us. We can see what’s happening to our youth as far as social media is concerned. It’s ravaging marriages and breaking down relationships … I think the first thing would be to take a balanced and moderate approach. To take an intellectual approach, to understand the pros and cons and to embrace the benefits. To be firm and strong in resisting the temptations and the wrong in it.”
He continues to state that Muslim people should be taught and educated in workshops on safely and correctly navigating this space per the Islamic creed of moderation, balance, good character and consciousness.
