Introduction
Since new media has gradually replaced traditional media as the main information exchange channel for today’s users, online platforms are sought after by the public as a carrier of new media. According to Datareportal (2022), globally, of the 5.03 billion Internet users, 4.7 billion are using social platforms. This indicates that 94% of Internet users use social platforms every month. This is especially true during the new crown epidemic, which is likely due in large part to the out-of-home ban that has residents spending more time on online social networking. However, it is this proliferation of such diverse online media user groups that amplifies the uncertainty and even hazards of digital platforms. Couldry (2015), the Professor of Media at the London School of Economics, then pointed out that an emerged mythical discourse in digital media will seriously affect the analysis of contemporary politics by media organizations and scholars. The above is actually the tip of the iceberg revealed by the online platform. The important thing is that the problematic contents on ordinary users is more obvious, such as violent content and harassment. In addition, who and how to manage these negative factors also key forms the focus of this article.
Violent contents
Violent content makes up the core elements that are most likely to influence users’ emotions and even behaviour, especially teenagers who are easily misled. For instance, Extremists in Bangladesh are using the Internet to attract unsuspecting young people to join their violent extremism (Amit, Barua & Kafy,2021). Additionally, these extremists have been investigating VE (violent extremism) activities through the use of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and have further invaded YouTube – all for propaganda, recruitment and fundraising. In other words, online platforms are gradually weaponized by them. This phenomenon will lead to chaos in today’s peaceful situation and is not conducive to social stability and development. Secondly, Huesmann (2007) believed that media violence greatly raises the chance of viewers or players acting more violently in the short and long terms, and exposure to it increases the risk of children and adults acting aggressively in the short term and aggressively in the long term. He exampled an experiment regarding with violent video games, and concluded that those who played such games for extended periods of time were more physically aggressive towards their peers. The “Desensitization” which is a process that if a person frequently exposure to emotional media or video games, it may lead to a habituation of certain natural emotional responses, Huesmann thought, is a valid explanation for the above phenomenon. In fact, there are more complex situations such as family disharmony, acquired education irregularities, etc.
Harassments
This is reflected to a greater extent in the interaction of users on social platforms, such as comments, retweets, and messages. Firstly, it should be noticed that because of the proliferation of personal sharing and online interaction, sexual harassment has become rampant during this period. Technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) describes a variety of actions in which the use of digital technologies to cause both virtual and in-person sexually harmful conduct (Henry, Powell. 2018. as cited in Fisico, Harkins.2021). Other than that, TFSV victims’ fear of exposure makes them targets of bullying, and this psychological burden can largely lead to apathy, depression, and even suicide (Fong,2022). Fong also provided a report of a 14-year-old Canadian girl who committed suicide after nude photos were uploaded to the internet. Online harassment is no longer simply something that frustrates victims, it is something that society should be concerned about, not downplayed. On the other hand, harassed by the internet for political reasons is an emerged form. Vogels (2021) pointed that snarky comments have become a resident part of the conversation in the political arena, and approximately 20% of American have been experienced harassments online due to their political stances. There are also groups that cite their gender or racial and ethnic background as the reason they are harassed online.
Why violent contents and harassments happens?
Fong (2022) had already pointed the first reason: “The increase in online interaction created by COVID-19 has generated a spike in girls and young women being subjected to what’s called technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV).” Meanwhile, Datareportal (2022) displayed an increase data in numbers of digital users among globe that accelerated the user growth. A large subscriber population means a large audience, which violent media content is viewed in large numbers by many teenagers. As estimated by Huesmann (2007), about 60% of TV programming which deliver to children contains some violent content while even 94% of games which are concerned to be suitable for teenagers that contain violence. However, it also includes heroic violence, this is still something to think about. For online harassments, Maghfiroh and Muqoddam (2018) provided two factors of sexual harassment in social media: The attention that is desired by harassers and desire for the content of images posted by the victims. Political harassment is largely linked to social issues such as racial discrimination and gender discrimination.
Who is responsible and how to stop them?
Both of these phenomena, which are of a serious problematic nature, need to be regulated and prohibited by a special organization. In the national perspective, there is a need to speed up the construction of Internet supervisory authorities, to establish a mature Internet monitoring mechanism, to strictly investigate the content of youth and children’s media, and to improve the classification system, as according to Huesmann (2007), children and adolescents are easily exposed to recreational products with violent elements and in a permanent state. In addition, warnings and penalties should be imposed for harassing comments, special laws should be established to regulate people’s behavior on the Internet for sexual harassment, and more features should be added to underage accounts, such as the need for secondary review of messages and pictures instead of sending them directly. Additionally, a theory of Countering violent extremism (Khan, 2015.as cited in Amit, Barua & Kafy,2021) provided a model for implementing the technology. She defined, this is a form of non-coercive blocking of any individual or group from engaging in violent activities and participating in or supporting ideological terrorism. There are many forms of online Countering violent extremism techniques, the core of which are two: disengagement and deradicalization. Among them, the anti-narrative technology is the most successful and universal. Currently, redirect method (RM) had become one of the milestones in online CVE technology which is also based on an anti-narrative technical support. Amit, Barua and Kafy (2021) claimed: “This method targets audience members who actively look for IS content and redirect them towards curated YouTube videos disproving extremist ideologies or themes.” An observational experiment (Lichtenberger et al., 2014.as cited in Amit, Barua & Kafy,2021) yielded that Operation RM reached almost 320,000 subjects and potentially led them to watch up to 500,000 minutes of anti-war videos. While some experts predict that if a person is actively looking for extremist content, they may still find it again even if they are redirected. It’s hard to deny that the short-term effect of this technology is not significant, and it can only be used in specific terrorist situations. I think it still provides an idea worth studying to combat violence and harassment.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Today’s rapidly growing online population is accompanied by an increasing number of users choosing to disseminate, produce, and inform each other on virtual platforms, and more people willing to engage in virtual community interactions is essentially a virtuous cycle, but importantly the platforms are flooded with uneven media content and user feedback that misleads, distorts, and even negatively influences the audience. Violent products, for example, tend to foster equally violent emotional habits, especially among teens and children, potentially increasing crime rates. Online harassment, on the one hand, is depressing and can trigger extreme behaviours such as depression, anxiety and even suicide in severe cases. Political harassment, on the other hand, goes against the political will of citizens and limits freedom of stance. Then, some national control measures are cited such as legislation, monitoring, penalty mechanisms, and an implemented technology CVE (Khan, 2015. as cited in Amit, Barua & Kafy, 2021) can also be part of the regulatory tools.
References
DATAREPORTAL. (2022). DIGITAL AROUND THE WORLD. Retrieved from https://datareportal.com/global-digital-overview
Couldry, N. (2015) ‘The myth of ‘us’: digital networks, political change and the production of collectivity’. Information, Communication & Society, 18 (6): 608-626. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.sydney.edu.au/10.1080/1369118X.2014.979216
Huesmann LR. (2007) The impact of electronic media violence: scientific theory and research. J Adolesc Health. Doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.09.005.
Amit, S., Barua, L. & Kafy, A.A. (2021). Countering violent extremism using social media and preventing implementable strategies for Bangladesh. Heliyon, Volume 7 (Issue5). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07121.
Vogels, A, E. (2021) Online Harrassment & Bullying. The State of Online Harassment. Page1-6.Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/01/13/the-state-of-online-harassment/
Fong, A. (2022). Legal reform is needed to protect young women from the growing threats of online sexual violence. University of Toronto. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/legal-reform-is-needed-to-protect-young-women-from-the-growing-threats-of-online-sexual-violence-174498
Fisico, R., Harkins, L. (2021). Technology and Sexual Offending. Curr Psychiatry Rep 23, 59.Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-021-01269-1
Maghfiroh, V.S., & Muqoddam, F. (2018). Dynamics of Sexual Harassment on social media. In Solfema, T. Hermaleni, Z. Fikry, & M. Pratama (Eds.), Major issues and other topics related to Mental Health, Neuroscience, and Cyber-psychology. (pp. 154 – 162). Padang: Fakultas Ilmu Pendidikan. https://doi.org/10.32698/25272
