Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1066826
12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 DECEMBER 2018 NEWS hristmas specials • he poer of iral ideo one iral SO what made that video a friend sent on WhatsApp cap- ture the nation's imagination to become a viral sensation and news event? How did 'doughnut guy' – his pot-belly gluttony, his gaze of contempt to the admonishing girlfriend – become a thing? How did the former AFM sol- dier Godwin Schembri become a victim of officious discipline for putting out nothing more than a nugget of good old com- mon sense? Such is the power of the viral video, now not just a part of our vocabulary, but a fact of life in the powerful sharing network of Maltese WhatsApp users, where some end up becoming news headlines, while others have real-life consequences on the unwitting – and some- times – willing actors. Certainly, Godwin Schem- bri's mockery of the Armed Forces 'gate without a wall' at the Pembroke shooting rang- es, divided public opinion. A private video of him driving his fellow soldiers out of the shooting ranges from the side of a newly-erected gate, mock- ing the futile expense, made many laugh. But as the video creeped out of WhatsApp and into Facebook, the natural ecosystem for Maltese social media users, Schembri was sacked. Public opinion was split: Schembri was entitled to make his colleagues laugh in what was a private mobile phone video taken on the spot; others insisted he was guilty of lack of discipline and deserved some form of reprimand. But the Schembri video also illustrates the increased fre- quency of leaked videos and photos, some depicting nudity and sexual acts, that seems to have become regular over the past five years. The mo- bile phone gives intruders and eavesdroppers a unique op- portunity to share the most egregious forms of peccadil- loes: the most glaring example being two youths engaging in full sex in the early hours of the morning as workers are start- ing their day on the steps of a Paceville establishment; the other sharers are those who wilfully boast of their sexual conquests, with women usu- ally the victims, and the shar- ers conveniently anonymised. Arguably, it is the advance of smartphone technology and such devices becoming an ex- tension of oneself, that makes the possibility of being filmed and turned into a viral sensa- tion all the more possible. Police inspector Paul Carua- na, a lecturer in criminology, says the main factor contrib- uting to a video going viral in Malta is the local context. "In this day and age, people can find anything they want on the internet… but what makes im- ages and videos more appeal- ing is the Maltese individual in them," he said. Caruana says the proximity Maltese nationals live in, pro- duces a tight-knit network that makes the scandal of viral vid- eo even more titillating. "It all boils down to human nature. Back in the day you would go to the village piazza and get your daily dose of information there. Today we have group chats, we have social media, and so content spreads in a more rapid fashion as the au- dience is bigger," he said. "Watching someone you know revealing themselves on camera is appealing, not for the sexual aspect but for the informative trait it holds. In- formation is power, it has al- ways been like that," he said. Police inspector Timothy Zammit, who leads the force's cybercrime unit, agrees, call- ing the images circulating on WhatsApp chats a type of "currency". "Once a video or photo starts circulating, owning the con- tent gives you 'power' over those that don't. Therefore, we are witnessing a rising trend in people exchanging photos and videos, in turn making the content much harder to con- tain," Zammit said. Zammit also explains the le- gality surrounding possession of images and videos. "Sex- ting" – chatting of a sexual na- ture – between partners is not illegal and in the instance that one is in a group chat where such content is being shared, he or she is still not subject to criminal prosecution. On the other hand, if those pictures are sent to another group chat, that would be a criminal act. "The law only bars content related to under- age people, where the produc- tion, possession and distribu- tion of such content remains illegal," Zammit explained. Due to the fluidity of social media structures, the proce- dure in arraigning cases is not set in stone. Beyond the legality of the matter, Zammit insisted on compassion when faced with the choice of forwarding the images or not. "We have to be socially responsible. Try to put yourself in a situation where the person in the image or vid- eo is a close family member: would you enjoy seeing the content going around?" Zam- mit said. Zammit recalled various cases petty arguments lead to private content being shared on private forums, resulting in a nationwide leak: whether it is for revenge or plain heinous- ness, leaks of compromising material will happen. "In my work as inspector, we are also seeing the formation of secret groups on Facebook which are admin controlled and require the members to submit content in order to make them an accomplice the case of a leak," he said. "We live in a society which claims to be liberal, but our mentality shows us to be quite a conservative country," Zam- mit said, pointing to the pleas- ure people take in scandal. He also blames the media for jumping on the bandwagon when a video goes viral. "I re- call one video depicting a post- al worker performing sexual acts, making the rounds. Some media outlets spent three days posting articles about it," he said. Timothy Zammit said that when this occurs, people pass through secondary victimisa- tion, condemned to becoming unwitting media sensations or having to experience the shame once again when the video crops up. "To you it may seem like a funny joke, but behind that video there's someone fight- ing for their dignity and one can never underestimate the lengths people go when they are panicked," Zammit said. The ubiquity of smartphone technolog y and the ability to transmit or stream private videoes or public acts of debauchery can turn small peccadilloes into viral sensations Godwin Schembri's mockery of the Armed Forces 'gate without a wall' at the Pembroke shooting ranges, divided public opinion KARL AZZOPARDI