Tweet
Facebook and Youtube Civil wars of Afghans
As you may have noticed, every now and then there is a new eruption of verbal abuse and mockery instigated where people from different ethnic groups attack each other.
What I have noticed is that these eruptions are caused by what politicians say in the media.
For example, when that Uzbek MP called Sadat insulted Pashtuns, suddenly there was a wave of attacks and insults going back and forth between Pashtuns and others.
Similarly, when other prominent figures in Afghan politics issue statements regarding the power struggle suddenly people start making videos ridiculing each other, or photoshoping pictures.
We often blame the leaders for being corrupt and criminal, but if the masses, especially the ones who are educated, able to read and write and use a computer act like this, what should we expect from our leaders? After all, the leaders hail from our own communities.
The most sickening part is, the comments you read on youtube. People insult an entire tribe or ethnic group in response to a statement from a politician from that particular ethnicity.
This sick mentality exists all across Afghanistan and usually the ones who are educated doing all the damage.
The defenders of democracy and pluralism often neglect that the people they want to enable to rule the country via elections are not like the masses in Western countries. People in Afghanistan can't even control themselves, how are they going to control the country?
Denying that this is a widespread problem, is delusional. All of social media is jampacked with foul mouthed keyboard hooligans.
Usually, Afghans don't limit their damage to Afghanistan and its people, they even visit Iranian and Pakistani pages to post barrages of profanity.
It makes all of us look desperate and unable to address anything properly and the environment in the social media nurtures more of the same. New kids who register on to facebook pick up the same habit of their seniors.
Maybe its for the best to ban all internet access for Afghans. Because obviously we can't control ourselves.
What I have noticed is that these eruptions are caused by what politicians say in the media.
For example, when that Uzbek MP called Sadat insulted Pashtuns, suddenly there was a wave of attacks and insults going back and forth between Pashtuns and others.
Similarly, when other prominent figures in Afghan politics issue statements regarding the power struggle suddenly people start making videos ridiculing each other, or photoshoping pictures.
We often blame the leaders for being corrupt and criminal, but if the masses, especially the ones who are educated, able to read and write and use a computer act like this, what should we expect from our leaders? After all, the leaders hail from our own communities.
The most sickening part is, the comments you read on youtube. People insult an entire tribe or ethnic group in response to a statement from a politician from that particular ethnicity.
This sick mentality exists all across Afghanistan and usually the ones who are educated doing all the damage.
The defenders of democracy and pluralism often neglect that the people they want to enable to rule the country via elections are not like the masses in Western countries. People in Afghanistan can't even control themselves, how are they going to control the country?
Denying that this is a widespread problem, is delusional. All of social media is jampacked with foul mouthed keyboard hooligans.
Usually, Afghans don't limit their damage to Afghanistan and its people, they even visit Iranian and Pakistani pages to post barrages of profanity.
It makes all of us look desperate and unable to address anything properly and the environment in the social media nurtures more of the same. New kids who register on to facebook pick up the same habit of their seniors.
Maybe its for the best to ban all internet access for Afghans. Because obviously we can't control ourselves.
Comment