Bullying in viral video

Last Saturday December 15, I had the opportunity to talk as reactor in the 1st Social Media Summit organized by the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Social Communication. The historic event was held at the air conditioned CIT University Gym.

I say the gathering was historic because we have been talking about the benefits and ills of social media these days, especially its ills, but it was the first time that various members of the community – laity and clergy – were gathered together to fill an indoor quadrangle to talk about social media.

The summit’s speakers were Fr. Jessel Gerard “Jboy” M. Gonzales and Most Rev. Dennis C. Villarojo, Auxiliary Bishop of Cebu. Fr. Jboy’s topic was “Social Media: Friend or Foe?” Fr. Jboy is a Jesuit priest based in Ateneo de Davao and he is very active in social media with his Twitter handle @jboygonzalessj. I joined him in the morning session as reactor together with Atty. Maria Jane Paredes, AVP for Public Affairs for Visayas-Mindanao of Smart Communications.

Days before, as I was reviewing some sources about the theme of the summit, I realized that I had written quite a lot about social media in my column. So I decided to share some excerpts of my column articles in last Saturday’s summit.

In April this year, I wrote, “As the internet becomes a fact of life, our ability to think critically must be held important lest we get lost or confused in the maze of the digital information age.” “Like any other modern tool of various eras, social media can exploit human weaknesses and become dangerous if basic instincts get in the way of prudence.” (February 13, 2018)

“This lack of critical judgment as to information shared in social media should now push schools to strongly promote critical perspectives in the area of new media communication.” (July 17, 2018) “It is our obstinate ignorance of the nature of digital information technology and its impact in our world that is serving into the wishes of miscreant communicators and their powerful principals. We must move to correct this now with digital media literacy.” (April 21, 2018)

Aside from media literacy, I also emphasized the critical importance of accountability. “The most important component of communication is accountability. If we value freedom of speech or of expression, we must realize that it carries with it certain responsibilities.” (November 3, 2018)

But like many press observers, I view social media regulation as a slippery slope. There are several bills pending in Congress aiming to regulate the use of social media. With this I urge caution because rushing into reactive legislation without thinking about its implications may end up damaging our most cherished freedom of speech.

Quoting Washington Post analyst Adam J. Berinsky, I wrote, “The most effective way to fight misleading or false political information is for men and women who are considered credible sources by citizens from across the ideological spectrum, to speak out and debunk the false information.”

***

A viral video of an Ateneo Junior High student (a Taekwondo black belter) attacking another student after verbally abusing him raises questions about the propriety of sharing the video on social media considering that minors were involved. Irate netizens, sympathetic to the bloodied victim, have also been spreading more information about the bully on social media.

Ateneo de Manila University president Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ, has appealed to the public to be “mindful of consequences spiraling out of control when specific videos and comments are shared on social media.” The school is investigating the incident and has vowed that “it will not hesitate to impose the penalty of dismissal or even expulsion in cases of grave misconduct.”

I saw the video on my social media feed and indeed it was infuriating to see an innocent boy being verbally and physically assaulted by his classmate. But I held off sharing the video on my FB page because aside from minors were involved there, I think the best way to deal with the situation toward real positive results is to report the matter directly to the school officials and parents concerned. We are, of course, free to comment about the incident but again we must not let our feelings overrule our mindfulness of the outcome we wish to achieve from this unfortunate incident. [email protected]