E - PAPER

CURRENT ISSUE

LAST ISSUE

VIEW ALL
  • About
  • Team IMPACT
  • Contact us
  • Subscribe
  • HOME
  • COVER STORY
  • CMO INTERVIEWS
  • TALKING POINT
  • CREATIVE ZONE
  • SPOTLIGHT
  • INTERVIEWS
  • AD VIEW
  • BACKBEAT
  • VIDEOS
  • HAPPENINGS
  • E-PAPER
  • EVENTS
    • IMPACT TOP THIRTY UNDER THIRTY 2021
    • IMPACT TOP 50 WOMEN 2020
    • IMPACT TOP 30 UNDER 30
    • IPOY-2019
search
  1. Home
  2. Talking Point

FREEDOM OF SPEECH VERSUS TYRANNY OF ANONYMOUS ABUSE

The Tanishq issue is a great opportunity to regulate some social media sites and make KYC mandatory when signing up, writes Abhik Santara, Director & CEO, Atom Network

BY Abhik Santara
20th October 2020
FREEDOM OF SPEECH VERSUS TYRANNY OF ANONYMOUS ABUSE

The Tanishq issue is not a moral commentary on respecting the role of advertising in a society but a wake up call about something which is playing deep with our thinking for the vested business interests of few.

Of course, the portrayal and intended messaging of Tanishq is absolutely not wrong. Of course, a progressive brand having a POV on culture is not wrong.
Of course, ASCI finding it not in violation of any code is not wrong. And lastly, Tata withdrawing the ad to protect its employee is not wrong.
No one is wrong! I don’t think this merits any debate at all.

There have been countless examples in advertising, where brands have expressed their POV on society, culture, humanity – Surf Excel, Red Label, Google, Fastrack, etc. These brands had all brought in a POV and hopefully made a large impact in our thinking. And they were right. What cinema used to do societies (and probably still does), advertising should and must do the same. Nothing wrong in it either.

But lately, there has been something drastically wrong. And we can easily fix this – the liberty and power that has been handed over to faceless, nameless, crass, abusive trolls by a few social media channels. The ones who fire up at anything and everything to get some thrills. This twisted mentality comes at the cost of people, lives, society, culture, and mental health. Yes, freedom of speech is crucial to our fundamental right, but the freedom to fire in a cache mode is not.

And it is a sick and a coward mind who triggers such conversations for some other innocent fellows to follow. Anonymous social media access has given them an easy handle to create such furore at the click of a button. And no real effort.

Tanishq was forced to pull down its advertisement featuring an inter-religious marriage, after much outrage from social media users. The controversy has sparked off conversations across media and advertising circles about the threat to freedom of creative expression.

But we can stop these misdirected frustrations of such faceless people. By introducing a stringent KYC on such social media sites. Social media is not just an entertainment corner now. It is manoeuvring people, transforming lives, selecting presidents, starting global movements and whatnot.

If Airbnb has made KYC mandatory for all users, why can’t giants like the Facebooks and Twitters of the world? They are providing more than bed and breakfast, and we spend more time on their websites than in any BnB.

The moment the twisted minds get a face, they will go back to their holes. And they can’t afford to get exposed, because then they will be publicly shamed. I wonder how many such trolls will ever come to be recognised and stand up to provide a valid explanation if asked.

The Tanishq issue is a great opportunity to propose and regulate some social media sites to make KYC mandatory to open an account. It might reduce the concealed business agenda of generating traffic, engagements for various brands, political leaders, influencers in the short term- but it will surely help these sites to stay credible, provide real quality engagement and metrics for many years to come. It’s their responsibility. It’s our responsibility. And it is not wrong.
#IntroduceKYCForSocialMedia

  • TAGS :
  • advertising
  • Tanishq
  • opinion
  • freedom of speech

RELATED STORY VIEW MORE

THERE’S A NEW YOUNG MOMMY IN TOWN
HOW TATA STARBUCKS IS BREWING ITS WAY INTO CONSUMERS’ HEARTS
BHARAT WILL CONTINUE TO DRIVE THE GROWTH OF INDIAN ECONOMY

TOP STORY

WHO WILL BE IN IMPACT’S TOP 30 UNDER 30 THIS YEAR?

A high-powered jury led by Avinash Pandey, CEO, ABP Network is set to finalise the 30 achievers in media and advertising for the property’s eighth edition


‘PLAYING IT FORWARD’ WITH MATTEL


JIOSAAVN: BECOMING THE SOUNDTRACK TO CONSUMERS’ LIVES


NEWS LETTER

Subscribe for our news letter


E - PAPER


  • CURRENT

  • LAST WEEK

Subscribe To Impact Online

BUY IMPACT ONLINE


IMPACT SPECIAL ISSUES


  • Your Best Coffee Ever

  • 14th-ANNIVERSARY-SPECIAL

  • 13th-ANNIVERSARY-SPECIAL

  • TOP 50 MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN

  • TOP 30 UNDER 30

VIDEO GALLERY VIEW MORE

What the future holds for the Indian media Industry?
Get connected with us on social networks!
ABOUT IMPACT

IMPACT was set up in year 2000 with the aim of publishing niche, relevant and quality publications for the marketing, advertising and media professionals.

Useful links

HOME

COVER STORY

CMO INTERVIEWS

TALKING POINT

CREATIVE ZONE

SPOTLIGHT

INTERVIEWS

AD VIEW

BACKBEAT

VIDEOS

HAPPENINGS

E-PAPER

EVENTS

OTHER LINKS

GDPR-COMPLIANCE

COOKIE-POLICY

SITEMAP

PRIVACY-POLICY

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Contact

ADSERT WEB SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD. B-20, SECTOR 57 NOIDA (U.P)

Connect With Us !

+ (0120) 4007700


Copyright © 2019 impactonnet.com